Ok I've done some seaching and I noticed that Hawks sells two different hatch pulldown assemblies. Mine is completly shot. I have a screw driver jammed into the track to keep the hatch shut. I have searched ebay and the classifieds here I have found a few cheap 88-91 pull down motors will these fit my 86 IROC?

 

Yeah, they changed it in late '91 (my '91 GTA has the old style also)... So yeah, as long as its not a '92 pulldown assembly, it will work.

 

theres aparently 2 differnt styles 86-87 and a 88-91, Im trying to find out if a 88-91 style will fit my 86 IROC

 

The only two styles are '86-early '91 and late '91-'92 models. I have put an '89 model in my '87 without any problems. The only difference in the '86-'87 ones and the ones starting in '88 are the plug which the power connects to, re-pin and you'll be set, but physically they are the same unit. In '88 they went to a more standardized wiring, which is why you can almost always find power seat wiring in cars with no power seats.

 

thanks exactly what i was looking for if i had to i could splice in my own wiring, found a used one for 30$ instead of a rebuilt unit from Hawks at 300$

 

There were minor differences in construction of the 1986-87 & 1988-91 pull-down units. Regardless they are interchangeable. The main difference that would effect you is the plug on the blue wire. 1986-87 had a large white plug on that wire. 1987-91 have a small black plug. 1986-87 have a more robust design to the guides used compared to the 1987-91. However neither OEM guides are as strong as the aftermarket ones I manufacture. If you find you need to repair yours or the one you get from eBay, then take a look at the Tech Article I wrote. You can find the repair parts on my web site as well. Just click on the TDS sponsor link above.

FYI, that isn't a rebuilt unit, but a re-manufactured unit. Here's the difference as I've defined it. A re-manufactured unit has the wear items replaced with all new components (new gear nut, new motor and reinforced motor housing, new aftermarket guides, new reversing & striker-sensing switches and new relay). It also has a 1-year warranty. (Even GM never waranteed their new units). When I was offering it, a rebuilt unit had a new gear nut, new guides and new reinforced motor housing, but had a used motor, reversing and striker-sensing switch and relay.

Regarding the $300 price, that is the old price. The current price is $240 plus a refundable $75 core charge. (I still need to let Hawks know of the recent price change). You get the $75 core charge back when you return your old unit using the pre-paid shipping label.

Good luck,

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

Lonsal
I doubt if my unit is repairable, but i will be in touch 240$ for something that is going to last sounds better than 30$ plus a headache. kid i got the car from hacked it up and right now it has a screwdriver jamed into the track to keep the latch from falling when i close it ( good thing im not driving the car)

I will try to take a picture and ill be in touch

 

This may sound like a dumb question, BUT has anyone eliminated the hatch pull down and just put in a regular latch from an older car, or one not equiped with the auto pull down? If so what year parts should I look for?

 

Well the only dumb question is the question that was never asked. Go to your local JY and pull a regular assembly from any third gen without the hatch release and there you go. It should bolt right in.

 

The 1982-85 slam latch won't bolt up to a 1986-91 or 1991-92 car without modification. It has a very different bolt pattern to moount it to the body. You'd need to cut the mount for the older style slam latch from a donor car and fasten (bolt, rivet, screw, weld, etc.) it to in place of your current body attachment for the power pull-down unit. You could also convert your existing pull-down unit to a slam latch by welding or bolting the latch portion to the frame.

Lon

 

So there was no slam latch used on 1987's? All of them were electric pulldown's.............?

 

TO CONVERT TO SLAMMER STYLE:
remove pulldown unit in its entirety (sp?) with the 3 black bolts holding it to the frame. strip out everything not needed to hold the hatch closed. when you are done you should have a latch assembly on a sliding mount. there should be nothing preventing it from sliding oun of its place.

now reinstall the "pulldown" unit. latch the hatch shut. get a friend to apply downward pressure on the hatch to put it in the position you want it when it is closed. use a "C"-clamp to hold the sliders in place (at this point you will be in the car laying on the rear hump). now open and close the hatch a fiew times. it shoult close easyly. if you have to slam it to close it the unit is two far down. if you leave it to far up your hatch will leak so you may want to test that. (hose).

once you find the right position remove the unit and drill two holes in each set of guide rails and blace bolts throug them. tighten with nuts. voiala

or avoid this "hackjob" solution and buy a unit from LON. he only sels quality goods. i have purchased other items from him in the past. i would purchase a pulldown unit to replace the one in my GTA, but the prior owner butchered it as described here... so it's no good for a core.

 

Thanks for the info- I guess I have already done a similar botch-job........i disconnected the wires with the latch in the pulled down position, then used the adjusting bolts to make it fit just right. I wouldn't mind replacing the motor.....where do you recommend buying a rebuilt one?

 

You can't just leave yours with the power disconnected and use it as a slam latch. It won't last long. The reason why is you're still relying on the plastic pieces of the motor housing to hold it together and the plastic guides to keep it aligned. These parts aren't designed to be slammed on. You're just asking for major trouble. Your options are to convert it to a slam latch, repair yours or buy a re-manufactured unit.

All the parts to repair your power hatch pull-down unit, (including a completely re-manufactured hatch pull-down unit with a 1-yr warranty) are available from the TDS (Top-Down Solutions) web site. Just click on the sponsor link at the top of this page.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

I checked out the web site you mentioned..........there are clearly allot of choices. would you recommend the "newer style " one for $87.........or the deluxe rebuild kit for 107??

 

It is easy to diagnose and decide that on your own. Follow either the Tech Article I wrote or the Instructions for the TDS 101170 nylon guides to see how to disassemble the hatch pull-down correctly. Remove the reversing switch and apply +/- 12v to the two terminals that are exposed on the motor. Reverse the wires so you test it in both directions. You want the motor to run strong with no major vibrations indicating worn bearings. This will tell you if the motor should be replaced. The only downside to a new style motor is that in the future IF you have to replace the clear plastic motor housing again, but the motor is still OK, you're stuck. You HAVE to replace the entire motor and motor housing again because I don't have a source for just the clear plastic portion of the assembly.

Lon

 

I purchased the rails from Lon a year and a half ago and they worked great, but then my motor housing cracked to hell, so I welded the rails and made it a slam style.
I never welded before so it was a very crappy looking job and only lasted about a year then one of my welds broke.
I then used the hatch assembly from my 90 parts Formula and the Lon rails from my old assembly and got it working again. the Lon rails actually survived the heat from the welding job I did.