Hey everyone,
I have a 1987 Pontiac Firebird with a rear hatch that closes fine...well...sort of. It closes completely except that the passenger side is not flush with body when it completely closes.I tried to adust the rubber stoppers to compensate but there is still a difference in flushness,(is that a word....).It almost seems like the body is twisted , so I'm looking for a step by step procedure to re-align the hatch.The hatch dampers need replacing,but this shouldn't affect the alignment...or does it?
Any suggestions are appreciated!!!

Thanks Alot
Ron

 

Cool avator

Id like to know too so heres a bump

 

You can either realign the entire hatch (very difficult) or realign the deckplate. It's probably most easy to realign the deckplate, so I'll briefly go over that.

Once you pull the interior trim off the rear hatch, you will see a black metal plate on the inside of the deck plate. You will need to loosen only the bolts that go through it and through the glass. Once these are loosened, you can adjust the alignment of the rear deck. Basically, eyeball the alignment, re-tighten the bolts, and check to see how it actually fits. Whatever you do, do NOT close the hatch while the deck plate is loose -- you'll probably break the glass.

 

A good start would be to read the Hatch Align 101 tech article. Not hard to do but, slightly tedious.

 

Perhaps this photo will help. I will definitly look at that Tech Article,Thanks alot everyone for the help