Hey guys, I've screwed with my electric pull down quite a bit and just want to go the manual route. Can I fab up an appropriate sized adapter plate, and buy a regular manual style trunk latch? Any cars that have manual trunk latches that are close to the Third Gens?

 

If you look at the entire electric hatch pull down assembly you will see two "plates". One plate is bolted to the body of the car by 3 screws that allow you to adjust the assembly. The other plate is attached to the plastic guides and moves up and down when the electric motor goes up and down.

You can line these two plates up together in the position that they sit when the hatch is closed. Then drill a hole and bolt them together. This way the assembly is now in a fixed position, allowing you to manually close the trunk like any other car.

 

Here's a pic of the manual "POP' hatch latch set-up used from 82-85,.... It could be bolted, riveted or welded to the body to convert to the early style.

 

Did this and it worked great! Thanks for the easy solution.