I just bought my 91 z28 this summer and now that it started raining, the rear hatch leaks. It looks like there was some body damage in the right rear corner that was professionally repaired, but the hatch sticks back about 3/8 " the glass has a *** gap around the whole area where it sits in. Is it pretty easy to adjust the rear deck that mounts to the hatch glass? How will adjusting that affect the rear hatch pull down? also, the gasket around the top seems like there isn't much pressure in it. should I put some generic 1/4" sticky weather stripping onto the body, or can I adjust the whole deck lid down to put more pressure onto the gasket so it doesnt leak? thanks

 

I would not move the hatch if it lines up properly, check the lines around the tailights and rear quarter to get an idea, also check that the gap is between the metal hatch piece and the rear quarter is the same on each side. When it is in place corectly you should work with the hatch seal. a new one might help but it would be easier to get some thick adhesive weatherstriping to stick to the hatch glass that will meet up with the rubber seal and close your gap. Its also a good idea to put some permatex around the nuts that hold the hatch in place in case it leaks there.:lala:

 

I have a 91 GTA. My hatch was misaligned also and found most of it to be with the rear deck that slid out. So by removing the gas shocks and loosening all the deck nuts I was able to slide the deck back in place and tighten it up. However, when the shocks are reconnected I am noticing a tendancy for it to push the hatch back out again! I figure that when it gets jostled from driving it is going to push it right back out over time. Is there anyway to permantenly fix this from happening or is this just a 3rd gen quirk I have to put up with?

Now I didn't mess with the adhesive weatherstripping where the deck meets the glass. Maybe that is not holding as good as it should be. I just figured that the bolts are what mainly should hold the deck in place from moving, not the weatherstripping. And except for getting some moisture and fogging of my rear window when it rains, my rear hatch doesn't leak at all. I didn't want to have to take the whole deck off to replace the weatherstripping if I don't have to, but I would rather fix it permanently now while I got things apart. Is the weatherstripping that strong where it will prevent the deck from sliding?

So any suggestions or opinions on any of this? Has anyone replaced the rear deck weatherstripping and aligned the hatch with it never to slide out again? And does anyone else get alot of moisture/fogging of the windows when it rains (provided there are no real leaks of course).

Thanks,
Rob

 

I have replaced the weather stripping around the hatch of my 82, it's no big deal really. Just get the seal from one of the sponsors of third gen.org or go to GM or Year One, etc to get the seal. I got 3-M weather adhesive to put on with it and take your time working from the bottom in the middle up and around the hatch opening till you get back to the bottom. You will probably need to trim it to fit at that point, and put the piece that slides into the ends to hold it together, along with some adhesive to seal it up. I put adhesive on every few inches or so. I also re-aligned my hatch since it was pretty screwed up. No problems since then. As for the aligning of the hatch, it was tricky but not real difficult once I figured out how to hold the hatch in place when I loosened the bolts. Just don't go overkill on the tightening of those bolts or you can break the glass. The seal only seals out the weather, it doesn't hold it in place, that's up to those bolts. Hope this helps..