im so damn sick of that hatch pulldown motor in my 'bird that i am about to take a hammer to the whole back half of my car. who at GM had the brains to say "hey, this latch mechanisim works just fine, why dont we put a motor in it, make it 3 times as expensive, half as reliable, and call it a feature? hell why dont we make the thing out of PLASTIC so it breaks all the time?!!!!"

oh well, now that ive vented my anger, is it possible to convert that power hatch to a standard latch? are the mounting brackets the same and everything? or is there some way i can move the motor to make the hatch close all the way just by letting it drop? as it is now, the entire hatch hangs about 1'' above the weather stripping seal which looks like crap, not to mention it squeaks like a drunk church mouse. anyway, has anyone done this???

please help im really not in the mood to remove hammer marks from my taillights....

 

If you use a screwdriver, you can 'trick' the motor into pulling down all the way, then unplug the wiring from it so it won't go back up. Then adjust the mounting position so that it will latch when the lid is down tight. Leave the remote release solenoid hooked up so you don't lose that feature.

Pete

Hmm...Rereading this, it seems like the motor quit on you partway down...unplug it and see if you can adjust the whole thing down far enough..

 

Well I ahd this same problem, and I could sometimes fix it but it would just mess up later on. I could never get that screwdriver trick to work, or find the black button that I've read about, so I took the motor off the latch assembly, then stuck a small file in the hole where the motor gear went and moved the other gear to make the hatch go down (slowly but it went) until it was the right height (your gonna have to check that by closing the hatch and adjsuting the gear again so it's not too high, or too low and won't shut) then put the motor back in by lifting the copper "tabs" on the white peice, then insert the motor gear, then slip on the housing without the gear coming out (it's magnetic) bolt it back on and your set. You have to put the motor back on though or the hatch will still rattle and loosen up again.

This may sound confusing jsut reading it but when you actually do it it's real simple. If still need to know more just ask. But hopefully you can get the screwdriver/button trick to work.

 

this is getto and im not really advising it butttt...

in the 'yards i see a few cars where they moved the latch to the proper height and tac welded the sliders together so that it doesnt move... then you just disconnect the motors wires and it stays there.

 

I have the same problem and I need to fix it fast because i failed inspection (thrid brake light won't come on if hatch is not all the way closed). I'm looking to do the same thing, replace the pulldown with a standard latch. I've seen it done, but I was hoping someone could explain how to do it.

 

Another way similar to that is drilling 2 holes into the rails and bolting it together and disconnectin the power to the unit.

 

Well... I don't know about the standard latch, but I am currently working on a different idea.

I guess that someone at some point broke into my thirdgen, but it wasn't mine then. I bought it how it is. Well, anyway, the back lock actuator has been ripped completely out and the motor was busted. So now I have a pull down unit that doesn't work at all. You can't even unlock it without being a contortionist.

Well, back to my idea. I was wanting to do a pull lever like the hood. Get a hood latch system, run the cable to behind the drivers seat, in the side panel. Then you just pull it, it pops the hatch, and the struts lift it up. However, I have not actually done any measuring to see if the hood latch would be reasonably close to matching up, but I figure I might as well try.

Just an idea.

 

i have a MUUCH easier idea for you.


goto a junkyard, or look online

find a car taht had the stock elec hatch release.

remove the one bolt that holds the cover and silinoid on the junked car.

remove your stock key only release with the one bolt



your current stock assembly works like this

when you turn the key. the lock turns this plastic ***.. the *** pulls on a cable. that cable is on the "cover" for the release and it lets the hatch latch loose.


with the factory elec release, its the exact same. except theres a silinoid hooked to the same thing that the cable is hooked to.


just put the new one on, put a ground wire under the bolt when you tighten it.

wire up a switch to give +12V to the noid and it will pop the hatch when you press the switch.


much simpler to do. i did mine on the vert in about 10 mins.

 

ok i fixed it. i tried everything minus welding and i got nothing so i figured it was time for some Georgia technology...threw a piece of wood on the bandsaw, cut 2 little wedges, put them in the tracks with the motor all the way down, and beat those bastards with a hammer. normally i wouldnt be so ******* but my motor was literally sliding up and down freely. i didnt think it would hold but i tried pulling up as hard as i could and it wont budge. ill update you guys in a few days if its still holding.

the bad part is when i was doing it i saw the HUGE dent in my 1/4 panel that must have happened when it was in the shop yesterday.

time to jump over to the appearence/detailing boards....

 

MrDude_1:

Yeah, that is nice idea and all except for some points here... The key hole(a.k.a. lock actuator) has been ripped out. Because of that, the metal that would hold a new actuator is bent to hell and back.
Also, I would have to pay money to get a matching set of keys, along with putting in a new actuator and getting the sheet-metal straightened out.

So, in my opinion, it is much easier to mold myself a new center panel that says Pontiac without a keyhole, take a hood latch, which I could get for free, and rig up something completely original.

But, as I said, I haven't done any measuring yet, but I am confident that I can get it to work.

 

I got tired of the damn things in both my 86 and 87. Simple fix was to rip all the motor crap out, get it positioned close to correct, drill a hole in the each of the rails and run a bolt through it. Then when you put it back in the car the square mounting holes leave you some room to position the whole unit to the proper position for the hatch to latch all the way down, yet still be easy to close. Doesn't take long either...

If you have it wedged with wood in the right position, you're halfway there. Just mark the position the latch is on the rails, remove the whole thing and drill it/bolt it so it's permanent and won't slide on the rails anymore, reinstall in the car and problem solved...

 

noooo... im talking on the actual hatch release.

the lock that is on the outside of the car is irrelivent.
if you want, you can skip the entire key lock part and just put the silinoid part on there..


if i was still in texas on my roomates PC id show pics. but im not

 

everybody has this problem id love to see some pics of your fixes please

 

I was wondering this very same thing myself. I wanted to make mine completely mechanical also. Although everything still works on my car. Im sure it will fail at some point.

 

I had a couple of extras laying around (all of them broken of course) so I just took one and welded it up as described.
Seriously, I love it. It took a little bit figuring out where to set it but I tacked it up and bolted it back together with no further problems.

It's more red neck then ghetto though IMO.

 

Any new ideas on this have to fix the one in my 86

 

same situation, my motor is broke and my car was brutally attacked from behind, no homo anyway my trunk rattles and will not close all the way whats the cheapest way to get a latch i can pop and stop the rattle

 

I drilled holes and bolted it together on my old 86, it worked like a charm....

 

does it still rattle at all and how far down did you push the latch?

 

I no longer have the 86, but I know there were zero rattles. I cant tell you how far I adjusted it before drilling.

 

thanx i'll give it a try then

 

Or just fix it correctly... it's not too hard.