utjmac

Guys, the 86 is up and running, and I'm slowly taking longer trips out to insure she's reliable. Other than a few erratic movements in the gauge cluster, all seems well mechanically.


My rear hatch is broken like most. I didn't even know there was supposed to be a liner in the female portion, it's entirely missing. The male portion also has the crack on the passenger side that many discuss. Current state of the latch is it will "click" down when pressed, but can be pulled back up with little force and no key. Also, when driving down the road, it just pops up, and sometimes latches back down when hitting a firm bump.

I've got a new receiver portion that I've ordered from Roger and waiting for that to arrive. I hope I can use my top portion, even with the crack. My hatch also looks like it's slid back, but my first attempt at moving it back up resulted in similar fitment as before.

On to my question - Is there a common temporary fix to get the hatch to stay down until receive the parts to fix my latch? Any recommendations of order to repair? Am I at risk of breaking new parts if things are not done in the correct order?

Here a few pictures of current condition:

Gtaebr

The catch is on the forwards edge of the both parts and the Plastic cam on the upper section wears.

Make up some shims about 1/8" thick and insert One on the rear side of the lower receiver this should hold the latch closed if not add a second one.

Randy V

Using a screwdriver covered with a piece of rubber you should be able to pry that raingutter end cap back into place.

utjmac

thanks. I tried to shim it vertically, but hadn't tried to change the angle. I'll give it a try. Thanks for the tip on the raingutter. anyone have a picture of an "adjusted" rear hatch gap ?

utjmac

Are these hatch assemblies aluminum? Has anyone tried tig welding them as a repair? If the wear parts are available for sale, but the bodies are hard to find/expensive, why wouldn't a R&R be the next possibility?

It seems like a crack would be pretty easy to weld, grind flush, repaint and reinstall?

utjmac

Turns out those raingutters just needed to be pressed toward the body and the clip tightened. It looks much cleaner now, thanks! I apologize in advance for my poor picture taking ability. I finally inherited a "Garage only" digital camera, and the close up pictures continue to look poor. Still working on that.



Unfortunately, shimming didn't seem to work. I attempted to shim the rear lower up, even from about 1/16th to 1/4 of an inch. I also attempted to shim the male portion as well. I had to slide the lower hatch assembly all the way toward the rear of the car so that the upper assembly didn't hit the lower upon closing.

Upon further inspection, it almost looks as if there is a clip inside the lower section keeping it from latching? Is this part of the lock mechanism, or is this the standard position it should be in?

Is the top portion too far cracked to be salvageable? Any other suggestion to get this to latch? These (horrible) pictures show the current condition of the latches and the furthest I can close the rear hatch.

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

John

Temekun

I had the same issue and solved it by replacing the top portion. The crack in the top allow too much play.

Roger was great in supplynig the correct replacement. As a note I put in a non alarm version and just disconnecetd the plug. I just have to remember to turen off the alarm before opening the latch with the new key.

Roger also has a new liner for the lower section but I think there is still a waiting list.

Tim

Tampa 928s

Just a warning when I removed "two" of these top hatch parts, the nut was rusted and broke inside the upper hatch. It's welded in place and once it breaks free the bolt will not come out. You may want to soak it first, I was able to rig a nut and added a turning stop after cutting the bolt off to reattach it.

heinrich

"temporary closure" ... don't worry, it will re-open after the school break ... seriously, you can insert a long zip-tie or string into the hatch or top part, even the wiper mechanism, and close the hath leaving the string inside. Then, once closed, crawl back there and tie it to the inside structure.

utjmac

I've been able to remove the top bolts already, so I'm not worried about that. Thanks for the heads up though. I am worried about how that affects your alarm. I have not found out how the factory alarm works yet. I have an aftermarket alarm on bypass and so far have not had issue except the first day I brought it home.

I guess I'll fix both top and bottom. Can you explain why you have to do an extra step because you used a non alarm hatch plate?