Were all 3rd gen F-body hatch lids equipped with the auto locking mechanism, or was an ordinary manual lock available? Ever hear of anyone getting rid of the auto lock system and replacing it with a manual lock?

 

i would also like to know. all the ones ive seen have had power hatch pulldowns.

 

Early F-Body cars had manual lock units. I want to say '82-'84 had manual units availible. The deck lids are VERY heavy and closing the hatch with the manual unit can sometimes be a pain. Are you having trouble with the electric unit? I rebuilt mine and it works great.

 

1982-85 slam latch
1986-91 motorized hatch pull-down (with a metal frame)
1991-92 either a motorized hatch pull-down or slam latch (both have a tan colored molded plastic frame)

I sell all the parts to repair your hatch pull-down unit to better than new condition. I reinfoirce the clear plastic motor housing where they commonly break. My aftermarket guides are superior to the OEM and have a 5 year warranty. Check out the Tech Article I wrote a few years ago on repairing the 1986-91 hatch pull-down units.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

Lon,

You might not have followed the rest of our thread in the convertible forum, but the 91.5-92 slam latches are not on a tan plastic frame. They are solid metal. I think this has lead to a lot of the confusion from people ordering the electric release for 'metal' framed units and finding out it doesn't fit.

Here's a link to a picture of the one I sold: 91.5-92 slam latch

Kevin D.

 

Thank-You to Lon for the motorized hatch release info !!! Almost paid 250.00 for a well used one !! Hail