I got one of those rear cargo area covers and the rear panel that has the lock holder and ledge.
I tried to put in just the cargo cover with my 86 rear panel but it wouldn't close flush, so I tried the one that came with the cover and noticed that it was not as deep since the car it came off of didn't have a power hatch motor.
My question is, what is the best way to get this cover to go on the car? My motor doesn't work so I can remove it if it;s possible.

Thanks

 

I think your just going to have to switch rear plastic peices. I removed my old hatch motor long ago but still have the same plastic. I picked up a rear hatch cover but was dissappointed to find it wouldn't fit. I hadn't even thought about the rear plastic peice being different. The only thing I can thing to do is just get the different rear plastic peice. Or you could look for a different cargo cover that was made for the electric hatch motor.

 

If the motor can come off of the assembly, then the rear hatch piece should fit fine, just need to know if it comes off or if it is part of the whole assembly. Didn't have a chance to look at it tonight since it was cold and dark and I was tired from helping pull apart my friends LS1. He's doing cam, springs, retainers, LS6 intake and some other stuff.

 

I don't remember for sure but I know most if not all of the hatch motor can be removed, its all seperate, its not just one big assembly piece. Its been awhile since I've done mine. I just removed mine and then rigged it up to work like a manual latch. I think the plastic should fit fine once you remove all the extra crap you don't need.

 

Cool.
Now all I have to do is dye the tan parts black and I'll be good to go.
What did you do to bolt the hatch cover to the car?
How did you line it up?

 

Well I need either a different plastic peice for the back or a different cargo cover so I don't have mine installed, but my car did originally come with the option. So it has IIRC, 4 'studs' if you want to call them that, at the back area where that would mount. I don't remember if they are welded on or epoxied, or whatever it was the factory used. You'll either have to rig up something like that or just drill some holes and screw it to the hatch area. I'm not sure what a good way of determing where to drill those holes exactly would be though.

 

I'll try and tackle this tomorrow, before I head over and help on the LS1.
I'll take some pics of the 2 rear pieces so you can see what they look like and how the cover sits.
You might have the cover that works on mine and I may have the one that works on yours. Maybe do a swap if that is what it is.

 

I can get you a pic of the cover and plastic I have if you want, and I could probably get you a pic of the 'studs' that the cover mounts to if you want. It probably wouldn't be until tomorrow or monday though.

 

That'd be cool.
Thanks.
I'll do the same and post the pics here.

 

Well I had a few minutes so I went and snapped a few pics. Here is a pic of that latch, I removed most of the motor but it appears that its still going to hit if you get the other plastic that fits the non-electric one. I don't have one on hand though so I don't know for sure. That forward most piece in the pic might be able to be removed but it looked like the black cable on the left is attached to it and thats what opens the hatch so I didn't mess with it. Mine is just ghetto rigged right now, if you can see there is a screw on either side where I have the latch held down. I have a manual latch on the way but I don't think its an unbolt/bolt-on operation.

 

Here is a pic of the factory cover mounts to the back of the hatch. I didn't get a pic of where it is exactly on the car but this is what it looks like.

 

A few pics to show that my cargo cover doesn't work with my rear plastic, I assume the cargo cover is made for a non-electric rear hatch, unless the plastic was a different shape in different years or something? I'm not for sure...

 

Again to show it doesn't fit, it contacts in the middle but the sides aren't close at all.

 

I bet I have the one you need. When I put the cover down, it seems like it is too long with my electric hatch panel, while yours is too short.
Measure the length of the cover. I'll see if I can grab some pics in a few. It seemed like there was a hurricane outside earlier, came out of nowhere. The entire house was shaking from the wind and rain.

 

Well that isn't exactly where it needs to be either. The cover needs to be down more. The middle part wouldn't fit either if it was in the right place, it would hit the cover before it got all the way down. I was just showing that I think the middle part of the cover needs to be indented more to actually fit my plastic. I'll run into town here in a little bit and get some measurements.

 

Ok, I see the problem. that is exactly how mine is.
I have the rear piece that you need to make it sit flush.
I know the two parts I got yesterday work since I took them both out of the 83 Trans Am. I could get the latching assembly from the car too, but I have an electric hatch release button on my dash and I don't think the 83 had that. That is a feature that I use a lot since I hate trying to get the key in the hole.

 

I'm pretty sure we both have the same cargo cover. We both need different covers and you need a different rear plastic piece too. I have a hatch release button in my Iroc but it hasn't worked since I got it and I can't figure it out, so I have to use the key.

 

I have 3 options. Get a different hatch cover and rear, or mod my hatch lock so it doesn't stick out too far so that I can use the rear piece I have, or get the hatch release from the 83 and use all the 83 parts I have.
If I decide to ditch this project, do you want to buy the pieces I have?

 

Sure, if you ditch it then let me know, just email me or something when you decide and I'll pick that stuff up from you. If you still want the rear cover option we could always trade rear plastics, but then you'd still have to find a cover to fit the power hatch motor. Oh, BTW, my rear plastics are carpeted. Is this one? It doesn't really matter much to me because I plan to hopefully get rid of all the carpet as I don't like it much. But I think they have indents for the carpet so if you don't have that in your car then my plastic might not work for you.

 

Hmmm, I can't remember if the 83 rear piece has carpet on it or not. I must be getting old. My car doesn't have any carpeted panels in the rear. I've been so lazy today and with the rain, I didn't even leave the house.

 

here is the rear panel that I got from the 83.
I can drill out the hole for the 3rd brake light contact pad, but need to make the hatch motor smaller.

 

I wanted to put one in RAIF, but had the same problem Zepher. I found some people on here who said that actually some 85 and above w/ power motors had that cargo lid. ANd that they have a deeper contour to fit the larger bulged rear section. In fact, I'm getting a lid soon out of a camaro, so I will not have to change my rear pieces. But yes, the ones w/o power pull downs had the shollower rear sections. This was typical in the 82-82 cars. On my 82, I think I'm going with RAIFs interior and then I will be switching a black interior into RAIF.

 

Maybe I'll tackle it tomorrow.
Today my friend and I changed my motor mounts and I cleaned up the garage a bit since we are going to do 2 LT1 swaps in the near future, 86 and his 82.