Hey guys, I'm new here so go easy on me

I'm from OZ and have just bought my first camaro, there aren't exactly many over here so I don't know a lot about them yet. So for starters I have a real easy question:

Should the rear hatch be able to open by itself under the strength of the gas struts? Mine doesn't but I think it'd be kinda cool if it did.
I just need to know if a new set of standard struts will be enough to lift the hatch without me touching it or if I need to get some made up with a bit more pressure in them.

Thanks

 

It will on my IROC, but not on my Firebird due to the HEAVY solid urethane spoiler.

Lon

 

Will it cause me any problems if I install some struts meant for a hatch with spoiler and wiper (i have spoiler but no wiper)? I'm sure that it will have the neccessary pressure open by itself then but I'm wondering if it will put too much pressure on the automatic hatch pulldown lock thing when closing. (Brand new hatch seal already puts a little extra pressure on the 20 year old unit)

 

Just buy the correct struts for the options on the hatch. Also, NO to the rest
of your questions.

 

I've highlighted in red the only part of your question that is a problem. When you install new hatch seals you must relocate the frame of the pull-down unit up a bit. Otherwise there will be too much strain on the clear plastic motor housing and it WILL break. Most likely when your car hits a pothole or goes over a railroad track crossing. To do this, mark the existing location of the frame to the body. Then loosen the 3 13mm screws attaching the pull-down frame, then raise it up and re-tighten the 13mm screws. Now test the hatch pull-down unit closing the hatch. You want the pull-down motor to easily travel the entire down cycle then CLICK (which is the sound of the reversing switch tripping to end the down cycle). If you hear it slow or strain before the CLICK, then it still needs to be adjusted up some more. You just want the pull-down motor to seal the hatch seal, not compress it.

Lon Salgren

 

lonsal, I think you just answered my question. I'm putting everything back together. I have a brand new rear hatch seal. I had no idea about adjusting the pull down unit. I just ran power through the car for the first time the other week, and the hatch pulled down for the first time. Since then, I just opened the hatch, now it will not close again. I noticed the motor casing was pretty warm, so I unplugged everything, thinking it may be an electrical problem. I haven't even driven the car yet, so if what you say is true, it doesn't even take a pothole or RR tracks for things to fail... When I was disconnection the battery, I heard a motor from the back buzzing away, I had thought it was the fuel pump, but this is all making more sense the more I think about your post. Thank you very much. The only thing is now, I don't know why the hatch won't latch back into the unit, I was hoping after reading that the motor just hadn't gotten into reverse cycle, but maybe something broke causing it not to latch?

 

If the hatch motor runs, yet it fails to move up or down the gear nut is broken. I sell it on my web site. Download the instructions for the 101170 aftermarket nylon guides from the lower left side of my site under "Documentation". Or look at the Tech Article I wrote that is posted on TGO.

Lon Salgren