Does anyone here know anything about how to align the hatch? i've tried aligning using the hinge to body mounts, however i just cant seem to get it right. i think the hatch must have been aligned using the hinge to glass bolts but i cant get those loose. the whole bolt turns no matter what penetrating oil i put on it. any help would be much appreciated!

 

if i remember right, those bolt heads are real short and rounded over. so i guess vise grips or channel locks arent gonna do it?

 

yep rounded over and its plastic so, i dont really want to tear em up. im stumped for now. i just keep spraying PB Blaster on it. the guys at advance auto said it was way better than anything else.

 

I was thinking that was just a cap to cover the head of the bolt. Anyone know this for sure??

 

my hatch looks misaligned, it "hangs" out more on the left than the right, i will get a picture of this. Is this a sign the car may have been in an accident?

 

i dont think that says its been wrecked because mine was way off and its never been hit. my dads t/a was rearended and fixed, and a guy backed into his rear quarter panel and that was fixed; the shop never touched the hatch and its still in line.

 

The bolts that you need to get too are NOT the ones that go through the glass, they are the ones that go through the body.
You will have to remove the interior piece on the headliner that is next to the back glass, to get at the nuts.

But this will be a waste of your time, as you won't get enough movement at that point, to make enough difference to line up the hatch.

You are trying to get the painted part of the hatch to line up with the quarter panels, right?

If so, the only way you're going to get things lined up, is to realign the painted metal part of your hatch that is mounted to you hatch glass. This is a bit tricky, but it can be done. I did it on my brothers 91 Firebird. It's worth the effort though, be careful, and have a helper, that glass is VERY heavy.

And as far as the hatch being out a little is quit normal, I 've seen many, and all seem to have this problem. It doesn't mean that it has been wrecked, just shotty workmanship on GMs part


Leon.

 

1tinindian is right. Adjusting the hatch hinges is usually not enough to get it aligned properly. Here's a decent write-up I did when I aligned my hatch about 6 months ago. Mine's still not perfect, but it's a whole lot better than it was. Here you go:

To adjust that piece, (don't forget a friend to help!) just remove the plastic trim piece towards the rear and underside of the hatch on the (4 screws), then remove the side runner pieces that holds the metal trim piece that runs all around the edge of the hatch glass (2 screws on each side). Remove the hatch struts from the hatch (1 bolt on each side, and have a friend help you hold it cuz' it's pretty heavy). After you do this, you will see 8 13mm nuts that were under the plastic piece. With the hatch glass supported, loosen the 8 13mm nuts until they are pretty loose. Now you should be able to slide the rear body panel part attached to the hatch glass in and out a little. Adjust it to where you want it, tighten down the nuts, tighten down the hatch metal trim piece, put the hatch struts back on, and test it. If it's good, just put the plastic piece back on and your done, if it's still off, repeat the steps until it's right. It took me some time to get it right (it's still not exactly right to be honest, previous owners wrecked it too many times ), but it's well worth it.

I can go into more detail if necessary, just let me know. And, good luck!

 

looks normal on right side:



looks totally off on left side:

 

Yep, looks just like my brothers car before I fixed it!

No big deal, really

You would not believe the amount of adjustment there is, once that panel is loosened up.

You just NO WAY, can get that kind of adjustment out of the hinges, with out it hitting the roof, when fully open.

Leon.

 

Excellent information, and an added note. The Glass Bolts for the '91 yr are still available GM Dealer Parts, request Nuts with order as they are special. You will need a 4" and a smaller Grinder to remove present ones. Use caution with safety glasses at the least. Note: After removing old bolts, could not remove nuts until use of blowtorch. If glass aligned properly, remove the inner bolt on each side to stabilize with newer bolts. Good Luck!