i went to the junkyard the other day and found a manual hatch latch to replace my pull down motor cuz its junk,so i grabbed it thinking i could just bolt it in well im sure everyone but me knows that doesnt work.

Who has done it and is it a PITA?

 

all I did is just drill/bolt (some people weld) the sliders in place...

 

Ive welded the sliders in place on my IROC and on my TA. Works like a charm. I retain the release solenoid, and remove the motor and gearbox. SO I still have my remote release, but the hatch just shuts like a normal trunk now, or just like a 4th gen. Shoulda been that way from the factory IMO....

 

Do you really have to slam it for it to shut? And does it still seal good?

My motor works great on my 86 since its low miles and was taken care of. I rebuilt the one in my 87 with stuff from top down solutions because the motor housing busted and all sorts of stuff was bad. I dont want to spend that money again if/when the 86 stops working.

I just dont want to have to slam the crap out of my hatch every time. Im also switching to a fiberglass spoiler when I re-paint, so I wont have that weight from the rubber spoiler to help.

J.

 

When I bought my car, the hatch motor was laying in the trunk pan, so I went to a junk yard and got a motor out of a 90 iroc. It was the kind with a motor, but for some reason it didn't move at all. I found out later it's been welded tight, and I love it. I can't stand the motorized hatches, so this was a blessing for me to find.

here's a photo of it

 

It depends on where you have the rubber stops set to, and where you have the latch adjusted to. I have my rubber stops set so that the deck lid is level with the quarters. Then I lower the latch just so the deck lid is snug when closed. On both cars I have it set that you just apply firm pressure from about 4-6" above the latch and it will close tight. No rattles over bumps or anything.

 

Im guessing the 93-02 latches wont work with our hatches will they? I havent actually seen a 4th gen latch set up..but they're all manual. Wonder how hard they'd be to use. I only mention that because theyre easier to find than the stock thirdgen ones...at least in the yards around me.

EDIT:...Nevermind. Found some pictures and the mounts are way different. Too much work for little payoff.

 

I've had a couple Camaros with the manual hatch. They're a pain to close. You slam that giant hatch down and all that air has to go somewhere. It works great if the weatherstripping in the car is shot, or if the windows are down, or doors open. The rest of the time it usually took several tries to get the damn thing latched, and more then once that thing would come open driving across town because it wasn't latched. That's always fun when it's raining or 10* out.

GM didn't go to the power hatch pull down because they wanted to make the car more expensive. It makes closing the hatch super simple, and eliminates the need to slam a heavy piece of glass. If it were me I'd just fix the damn thing. The parts aren't that expensive. Fortunately out of the 8 thirdgens I've owned with the power hatch, none of the pull downs were broken. I've had three extras in storage just in case and I've never needed one. As long as no one slams the hatch on the pulldown, they never break anyway.

 

My '85 is a manual hatch, never had any problems closing it, didn't have to slam it.

 

the gears in my '86 just plain wore out, thats what went bad. Maybe its the way I have my latches and stops adjusted but closing the hatches on both my cars just isn't that bad at all. They are a little harder to close than my wife's Bonneville but again, it's really not that bad. I'd do it again in a heartbeat...

 

yeah maybe i will just fix mine..looks like someone did slam it..the plastic case where the worm gear sits is busted

 

Ive had 4 3rd gens now, my favorite the 89 had motorized latch, the only problem I had with it was people would slam it shut thus ruining it, but I just went to the junk yard picked up another replaced it and it still worked fine, and I no longer allowed people to close my lid. The manual ones, you dont have to slam them, out of the four Ive had i have 2 left and there both manual just pull the hatch down almost all the way until you reach 3 inches or so then just give it a nice push and your good

 

i did bout 15yrs ago.........sorry forgot what all it took lol.

 

i took the motor off mine because it was dead and it was holding the hatch up.. after taking the motor off, it was a simple matter of adjusting where the latch was sitting by turning the shaft. haven't had to touch it for over 2 years..

 

Lightweight version.

 

The plastic slides in mine shattered and the motor burnt out. I just made a quick bracket and it's closed and sealed geat for a few years now. I have a perfect pull down to put in, but I don't really want to. It's nice being able to press the button in the car and take my sweet time to open the hatch without having it close again or try to crush my fingers