Ok, I was at one of the local yards the other day, and here's my dilema. A few of the parts I was looking for are in the rear hatch compartment, and I was looking at getting a new decklid as well, but all the 'maro's in the yard either had closed hatch lids, or they were removed completely.

How do I go about opening the hatch? Most of these cars had the interiors gutted already, so the release is out, if it even works without power to the car. A lot of times this particular yard leaves the keys in the ignition for just such an application, but most of these camaro's have been there for a while and I had no such luck.

I did a search, and it seems there are two methods, one drill out the lock cylinder, or two, crawl back into the hatch. I'm 6'3", so I'm not sure about the second one, and I don't go carrying a drill around me when I go to the yards usually. Is there any other options available?

Oh, and what do you guys expect to pay for a deck lid?

Mathius

 

cant u just take a screwdriver and a hammer to the lock? doesnt that work?

 

If the car had a power hatch it's easy to pop them from inside the car. Pull off the driver's side door sill and you'll have access to the wiring. The thick black wire that runs to the back of the car is the power hatch release. If you connect that wire to the positive post of a battery and ground the negative side to the door striker the hatch will pop. Of course, you need a battery or jump box to pull this off.

 

I've always used a screwdriver and hammer. Always worked for me w/no problems. After you hammer it just twist it to the side and it'll pop.

 

if u do a search ull see where i told someone how to do this like a week ago, pull the lock out, to do that u will need a hammer and a flat head screw driver, hammer the screw driver around the edges of the lock an it will pop out, then stick the flat head screw driver in the hole where the lock was, u will see a slit about 1/8"wide by 1/4" tall, stick the screw driver in there and turn it, POP the hatch opens

 

yea crawling sucks. im only 5 8 but when its 90 outside and ur inside the trunk bah **** that **** lol

 

The screw driver and hammer theory works pretty well.


Just out of curiosity; what was the name of the yard you went to?

 

When I was looking for a hatch motor, I had the same problem. Luckily, the lock cylindar was gone, so I just had to stick a screwdriver in there and turn and it popped right open.

I didn't find what I needed though. Try PMing lonsal , he has all the hatch motor parts

 

It's called Allred's something or other... Allred's Salvage? It's on Case Rd, which runs behind LC community College. The owner's name is Red, or he's called Red or something. I've met the guy, he doesn't talk much. Much easier to deal with his wife. They don't have a ton of F-Body's, but they usually have good pricing, and a lot of the cars/trucks they get in there are just parked, they don't even have any damage on them. I bought a radio from them for $20 a few years back, and the car it was in still had power to it. I turned the key and was able to test the radio and make sure it worked.

Mathius

 

Beat a dent puller into the lock and pull it out. This may avoid damaging the surrounding area.

 

Screwdriver and hammer are the best ways to open doors without keys.

 

instead of climbin in the back u can just shatter the hatch i know it will suck for someone who wants the glass but atleast hey ur gettin to ur parts

 

Ok, another thing occurred to me.... There's a tech article about aligning the hatch that explains how to remove the decklid, and I did a search of course, but everything I read says to remove the hatch. How hard is it to swap deck lids without removing the hatch?

Mathius

 

Not too hard, the hardest part was getting all the tary weatherstripping between the deckid and hatch glass to separate. I did it by myself, which is a huge risk of breaking the glass or having it fall on you. Get a friend to hold the glass while you separte the deck lid. You'll see what I'm talking about when you do it. Make sure you re-seal where the decklid and hatch glass come together to prevent any future leaks. Good luck.

 

Prices usually range from $10 to $50...I have been quoted many different $. Now I would STRONGLY recommend having someone help you with this, but it can be done alone...

I swapped the 82s alone. The one on my 87 I had help from 2 others. Once you have done it once, its not as hard to do alone...Alone you will need a broom stick to prop open the glass. use a towel or something to protect your tint from harm...I would pull a decklid off a yard car before you even touch your car. Get a feel for what you are working with!

First you take off the plastic panel on the bottom of the decklid...then you will see the nuts that hold the decklid to the glass. Start to loosen the nuts a touch while the hatch is still supporting itself. Now on either side of the decklid there are screws thru the trim piece that runs around the hatch glass. You will need to remove them.

Now I would brace the glass with the broom stick. You will need to detach the struts now. You will have to remover the bolts and then take off the struts. This usually requires you to lift the glass to its highest point and they will then come off. Now the glass is very heavy, don't drop it. Slowly lower it to the broomstick...make sure it rests securely...

Now take off the nuts... Chances are the black metal brace on the bottom will come down very easy. Make sure you lower it slowly there are plastic disks that will are stuck b/w it and the glass and you should retain these. There are also rubber strips that fit on the edge of the glass. Save these as well.

The decklid will still probably be on the glass firm as ever. The sealer they used is really good. You will have to pry and rock it to get it loose, but it will finally let go and the sealer will act like pizza cheese. It is sticky and nasty and will ruin your clothes, so be careful.

Make sure you keep up with all the hardware. Now even if this is a yard car I would reatin all the hardware, just in case you need it on yours (lose or damage a piece) I also think the decklid had white disks that are on the stud. They sit b/w it and the glass.

To put it back on...this was pretty easy alone the 3rd time around...

You will brace your glass up as you did to take off the old decklid. You need to have all your hard ware handy. I cleaned off all the old sealer and replaced it with butyl (sp) tape I got from the parts store. Worked great! No leaks... Feels like clay...

Ok I got the butyl on and got the decklid to the car. I set my glass so it was not over my head. It was about level b/w my shoulders and elbows. It a bit easier to handle this way. The decklid will support some of its own weight and balance on the glass. Now before you Start to put on the deaklid...get those 2 rubber glass edge guards and put them back on... Now get the decklid and put it up on the glass. The studs are to line up with the holes.

This is the tricky part...you have to balance the decklid and get the black metal plate up to the glass and line it up with the studs...now don't forget the black round disks. They go b/w the metal plate and the glass. Nub goes up and the stud goes thru the hole. I put mine on the metal plate and raised it up as a unit. Its a pain to get them all in the right spot. But once you get them lined up you can started the nut will hold the decklid...

Now don't tighten them all the way down. The decklid still needs to be adjusted. You can raise it up and reattach the struts. Now you can remove the broom & check the deck placement. You may have to adjust ti left to right or front to back. Our cars always have a hatch misalignment and this is the best time to fix it! You may have to raise andlower it a few itmes to get it just right, but once you are happy, tighten down then nuts snug. Now the 2 screws you took out of the side of the deck lid will probably not line up anymore. You will have to drill new holes. Now you can put the plastic panel back up!

I think I covered it all. But I ahve not done one since January, so the memory could have missed something... Let me know if I left something out. Check the tech articles before doing this.

 

Thanks Shannon. I mostly skimmed over the re-installation part, as I'm gonna look that over at my leisure when I get a chance, but the only part I don't understand about the removal part, is why do I need to detach the hood shocks?

Mathius

 

Well you don't have to, but it makes it easier on a nice car. You would not really need to on a yard car. Dead struts anyway...

See with good hatch struts the black plate is putting pressure on the decklid, holding it, as you take it off. You will have to remove all the nuts and then lift the whole thing up to its full open position. Then the black plate will drop down with the hatch struts. There is a greater chance you will loose the plastic disks, or not see how the were positioned. Now during this time you are holding up the deck lid which is holding the glass, but only by the urathane sealer...In most cases this is enough to keep the unit together, but think if the sealer is not as strong as most. the glass weighs a ton and it may just let go from the decklid and crash down. Now hopefully you have a brace for the glass. If it comes down too fast the glass will break. If you don't have a brace the whole thing could come down on the black plate and hatch struts and could damage them!

I guess you have a bit more control if you take them off...

You will want them off at the install because its a pain to line everything up with it forcing you to do it way over your head...

 

IMO its much easier to get a whole hatch, glass and decklid, but i assume ud need to paint it, ohh, nm u would have to paint the new one anyway, unless u have tint, id go for a new glass too, much easier, thats what i did on my old camaro, seemed to hard to put the new deck lid on, the old glass,and there was only a $5 differance between the deckld $25 and the decklid with glass $30, but as i have seen by a few people on this site, they do not like going the "easy" route, they have there own hard route that is better than mine

 

Wow! It was only $5 difference...cool. I guess in that situation... Well i had tint, so that way would not have worked for me. Sure you could do that...You just need to take a friend to help you get the darn thing off the car...

 

That would certainly be a lot easier, but there's a lot of things to consider in that. I don't know for certain it'll be only that much more for the whole hatch at whatever yard I happen to go to, plus I don't have my third brake light in my spoiler, so I have to find one that accomodates that feature as well. I'm not saying your idea isn't better, because it very well might be if I can find one with the glass not scratched up or whatever, but I would have to meet all these expectations in order for it to fit my needs like I want it to.

It would be a whole lot easier to paint the deck lid tho, unattached to the glass.

Mathius

 

i dont think all the extra work involved with replacing the lid would justify if an entire hatch is available. and it wouldnt take but 2 or 3 minutes to mask off the glass for paint.

 

why couldnt u use the spoiler u have on there now?

 

I can use the spoiler I have on there now, that isn't a problem. My point was, if I pick up a whole new set of glass, and it's off a car with the spoiler third brake light, then I wouldn't have a third brake light on my car, that or I'd have to drill holes in the glass I think to install, and I'm not doing that.

Again, I'm not saying that it isn't better to get a whole new hatch, but it just needs to meet those conditions. I haven't looked into pricing at all around here, but I still have a feeling it'll be cheaper to get just a decklid and not a whole rear glass. Truthfully it's been too cold to investigate my own hatch, but it my be that I can repair mine.

My concern was, when I took off my spoiler (i'm starting to strip the car down) I had some heavy-looking rust around the spoiler cap holes, and I'm concerned that it's rust through, and the spoiler caps won't fit back on, which will just make the problem worse.

If it isn't rusted through, I can sand it down possibly and bondo it for appearance, but I have a feeling the deck lid is shot. Some of that rust just _has_ to be on the inside, and I don't see how I'd be able to get to that to clean it up.

Mathius

 

ok, i understand the brake light thing now, i thought u meant that yours was in the spoiler, if hte pricing is bad lk, 100 or hte whole hatch or 15 for the decklid id understand that, id be worryed about leaks from attaching the glass to the decklid, but ive heard many time it does work out fine and seals perfect if not better than the orginal did