I recently bought an 87 firebird. The hatch will not open with the key i have. And i do not have an electric switch. Thus resulting in the inability to take off the rear panel to fix anything that may be broke behind if. If anyone has any advice or experience with this, i'm all ears. Thanks

 

I'd drive it to a Locksmith and let him open it.

Just to be clear you don't have a Solenoid Hatch release but a Manual Cable Hatch release that's not working correct.

 

drill the lock. and replace. thats what id do. skip the lock smith use that money to get a new lock. or crawl to the back from inside the car, take the plastic screws out the access the lock and pry the mechanism apart, youll see what im talking about.

 

well i cant get the plastic off the back without breaking it

 

You can pull out the small light on the back trunk plastic from the inside. If you look through the opening with a flash light, slightly to the right you will see a round indentation with a slot in it. You can insert a straight slot screwdriver in the slot and turn the latch and it should open. That is how i opened mine when i had the same problem. Hope that helps!