Anyone rigged up a trunk release (popper) on a 92? I don't want the suck down motor just the instant release from hitting a button on the console. Mines a 92 and I know they are different so give me some info and how best to wire it from a button in the middle position in the console.

 

some of the last verts had a solid trunk latch. Not the pulldown kind.

 

Yes, mine has the solid latch and was one of the last made but is there some type of bolt-on popper like the 2nd gens had that will work? I have two 81 Z28s and I rigged the popper from trans ams from that era to work since it is the same trunk. Surely there is someone that has done this.

 

Oh I gotcha now, I musta zoned out. thats a good question!

 

On the earlier style (86-early 91) yes you could just remove the manual latch release and install a solenoid latch release. In your case the options aren't as easy. The late 91-92 style pull-down motor has a hatch release button on the dash or center console, but the release method is COMPLETELY different than the earlier style. On the older style pull-downs the solenoid releases the latch, which opens the striker-sensing switch to start the "up" cycle. On the late 91-92 style pull-down unit you press the hatch release button which starts the "up" cycle of the motor. As the latch assy travels up a lever on the back side of the latch contacts a ramp block that is screwed to the frame of the pull-down unit. When the lever makes contact with that ramp block it rotates roughoy 90 degrees to release the latch. At this point a coil spring in front of the latch pushes up the hatch hook so the hatch is free to travel up.

The easiest way to install a hatch (trunk) realease on the late 91-92 'vert is to swap in the late 91-92 pull-down motor and the associated wiring and hatch release button. IMO the harder way to do it is to cut the body mount for the older 86-early 91 pull-down from a donor car, then weld or otherwise attach it in place of your existing pull-down mount. Then you can add the more problematic and heavier 86-early 91 pull-down unit along with the necessary wiring.

Lon Salgren

 

Thats a real pain in the A$$. I thought there would be a small metal solenoid devise like on the 70-81 trans ams that takes one bolt and a single wire to a yellow button in the glove box. I don't like any of the pulldown motors since they wear out and cause problems. This might be a good project to come up with using a 70-81 trunk release adapted to a 91-92 style. And why did GM change the trunk motor at the end of the production in late 91. That is just stupid knowing only there's one more year with this body style. And why are these little trunk lids on our verts as heavy as a late 50s caddy frame. There's a lot of things that don't make any sense to me and my IQ is over 100.

 

The change to the smaller and lighter pull-down in late 91 was an improvement. They break far less than the design that used a pull-down motor from a Caddy adapted to fit into a matel frame to work in the Camaro and Firebird. The problem with the 86-early 91 version is the guides and the clear plastic motor housing. The plastic motor housing worked fine for the Caddy, but the Firebird and Camaro have the largest and heaviest formed piece of glass that existed. When the hatch struts fail there is a big risk of breaking the plastic motor housing. Also the change in 88 to guides that used half the amount of plastic as the 86-87 version was also a bad move. Great for GM for it saved on material cost and brought the car owners back to the dealership to have their pull-down units repaired.

The switch to a slam-latch on the 'verts was fine, since the trunk is far lighter than the heavy glass hatch on the coupes.

FYI, the 82-85 slam latch also had an optional solenoid hatch release. So if you want to keep a slam latch you could try to adapt the 82-85 slam latch to your car and also swap the hatch hook. The latch is not a direct swap, but it is closer in size to the slam latch in the 91-92 'vert, so it may be easier to do the conversion.

What would **** me off if I owned a 91-92 'vert was how GM went cheap in other ways during these final two years. The wiring gauge in the trunk got smaller. Also they deleted the trimmed plastic side panels in the trunk in favor of formed carpet pieces. Also the availability of a V6 as the base engine was yet another cheapening of the car IMO. The added reinforcements using structural adhesives were the only things off-hand I could say were an improvement.

Lon

 

I kinda like the formed carpet in the trunk. To me it looks a lil better than the hand trimmed plastic panels. Some of the plastics I've seen, sadly, just look super hacked up..