1982 CE owners
02-24-2017, 05:52 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
1982 CE owners
This is a 'feeler thread'.
Specifically for the 82 CE peeps.
Yes, legendarily the hatch hinges are a PIA. I've been hearing this for thirty-five years. And it's true. Not Chevy's finest hour.
I'm a new CE owner, but a heckava mechanic and a mechanical Engineer, so this stuff doesn't throw me.
The Hatch on my 17,700 mile CE was totally skew-wiff. The hinge pot metal castings have spread out, (the 'C' got bigger) by 1/2 inch.
So much so that the glass was almost hitting the rear deck, the top gasket wasn't sealing at all....and the BIGGIE...COULDN"T EVEN OPEN THE HATCH.
The latch pins were jammed against the cast keepers.
I figured it all out and I fixed it. It took 12 hours...and my back is not liking me very much. But it came out perfect.
So does anybody want me to write the procedure on how to fix this?
A hint...there is really only .250" of hinge adjustment...so what do you do when you've run out of adjustment?
Anyway, it's fixed...I re-tensioned the cables and the latches and fixed the hinges....and now it's a two-finger pull to open the hatch, which opens with a 'shoosh' like the hatch on the Millenium Falcon.
The window is now centered in the opening.
Interested, or am I 'Joe on the Hill' or should I say McLellan.
UnkaHal
Specifically for the 82 CE peeps.
Yes, legendarily the hatch hinges are a PIA. I've been hearing this for thirty-five years. And it's true. Not Chevy's finest hour.
I'm a new CE owner, but a heckava mechanic and a mechanical Engineer, so this stuff doesn't throw me.
The Hatch on my 17,700 mile CE was totally skew-wiff. The hinge pot metal castings have spread out, (the 'C' got bigger) by 1/2 inch.
So much so that the glass was almost hitting the rear deck, the top gasket wasn't sealing at all....and the BIGGIE...COULDN"T EVEN OPEN THE HATCH.
The latch pins were jammed against the cast keepers.
I figured it all out and I fixed it. It took 12 hours...and my back is not liking me very much. But it came out perfect.
So does anybody want me to write the procedure on how to fix this?
A hint...there is really only .250" of hinge adjustment...so what do you do when you've run out of adjustment?
Anyway, it's fixed...I re-tensioned the cables and the latches and fixed the hinges....and now it's a two-finger pull to open the hatch, which opens with a 'shoosh' like the hatch on the Millenium Falcon.
The window is now centered in the opening.
Interested, or am I 'Joe on the Hill' or should I say McLellan.
UnkaHal
Last edited by L-46man; 02-24-2017 at 05:55 PM.
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02-24-2017, 09:13 PM
#2
Racer
PLEASE DO THE PROCEDURE!! I have tape on mine to keep the interior dry. My hinges have expanded so much I can't open the window. I know of no one reproducing the hinges so if you can help it will be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Hugh
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Philip Pritchard (05-14-2021)
02-27-2017, 11:48 AM
#3
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
1982 CE HATCH HINGE FIX procedure.
Thanks guys; bear with me here, I also have a business to run.
This is going to be a living document...
I'll write what and when I can.
Engineers notes;
As said already, the actual hinges stretch, and yield. The 'C's open up due to constant and very forceful pressure from the hatch struts.
Mine had opened up about 4° from normal. I found that 1° is about 1/8th inch of extra droop/ displacement to the rear of the car.
Chevy underdesigned the castings and the hinge itself...they didn't have a second model year, nor the time to see what would happen, developmentally.
Chevy puts about .250" of adustment into the hinge. Mine were so far gone that someone had already 'taken that up'. So, I still had to move the entire assembly FORWARD 1/2 inch. It was just touching the rear deck
As a consequence of all that....the pins in the glass hatch had already worn a 'U' shaped channel into the latch keepers on the deck...1/2 inch. They were locked in place. In fact the actual release(s) were not contacted anymore. The passenger side one was completely locked in place.
Read the proceedure a couple of times...aquaint yourself with the sequence....
CAUTION! YOU'RE WORKING ON GLASS...PINKY FINGERS IN THE AIR! GLASS/GLASS/ $3000 WORTH OF GLASS!
TAPE AROUND THE BASKET HANDLE AND LOWER DECK WITH BLUE TAPE, TWO LAYERS, IN CASE ANYTHING SLIPS...NO SCRATCHIE THE BEAUTIFUL SILVER BEIGE PAINT.
DETERMINE HOW FAR YOU WANT TO MOVE THE GLASS FORWARD.
REMEMBER THIS DIMENSION. IT SHOULD BE CENTERED IN THE OPENING/GASKET. mARK IT WITH BLUE TAPE.
First thing to try is to see if you can get EITHER of the latch pins to release.
1. I was able to reach up under the Pass side and grab the cable and yank it....THE PIN DID NOT RELEASE. see above...but I tried.
2. I was able to release the LATCH and GENTLY pry up the DRV side.
3. (THIS IS THE PART WHERE I SAVE YOU THE PAIN....LOL)
4. Remove the basket handle trim, extend the seatbelts all the way and pull the trim away from your work area. I gently clamped the upper retractor belt with a plastic clamp to keep it fully extended.
5. You do not have to touch the center divider trim.
6. You can see the hinges now.
7. Remove the allen headed 3/16th button head from the hinge-to- glass button keeper. Repeat both sides. Free the hinge, disconnect it. Swing the hinge down. It'll kind of pop and swing down.
7.1 I untaped the defroster wires off of the hinge and let them dangle.
7.2 the hinges (black C's) are labeled RH and LH....they must go back in the same place.
8. There are little wire 'bales' holding the ball-ended hatch struts on.
9. Once you have removed the FORWARD bales, be prepared to have the struts shoot forward into the car....with some force!
10. Remove the lower hatch strut ball mounts.
At this point the hatch is essentially 'free'.
11. Have someone pull on the release or you might have to dive and do each manually...while someone gentle but forcefully wiggles the hatch FORWARD...to the center of the hinge latches (opening).
12. A little bit of piddling and wiggling and the hatch SHOULD open.
REMEMBER ITS NOT ATTACHED TO ANYTHING SO JUST POP THE LATCHES and lever it up a couple of inches...put a wood block or something kind under the edges so the hatch wont relock. Some tape will act as a hinge on the basket handle.
13. You can remove the hatch and put it on your wife's side of the bed as a conversation starter...or just put it somewhere very safe. You can take the other ball-ends off the other end of the hatch struts. TRY TO ALWAYS CARRY GLASS VERTICALLY... LESS STRESS ON THE GLASS.
14. Now we can do something about the hinges, themselves.
Draw on the hinges with a sharpie..Forward/ Right/ Left, and positions of the adjuster holes underneath as you saw them. Remove the 4 bolts that hold the hinges into the birdcage structure under the basket handle... remove the hinge assy.
Use Dave Mcllelan's middle name...for he was playing politics while he should have been paying attention....HmmF!
15. Orient the hinge assy exactly as it was in the car....dont flip the hinge mount up-side down...this will confuse you. Mark it TOP. Forward.
End of disassembly phase...hopefully.
Gotta do some stuff now...I'll come back to this a little later.
Don't break anything whaile I'm gone!
This is going to be a living document...
I'll write what and when I can.
Engineers notes;
As said already, the actual hinges stretch, and yield. The 'C's open up due to constant and very forceful pressure from the hatch struts.
Mine had opened up about 4° from normal. I found that 1° is about 1/8th inch of extra droop/ displacement to the rear of the car.
Chevy underdesigned the castings and the hinge itself...they didn't have a second model year, nor the time to see what would happen, developmentally.
Chevy puts about .250" of adustment into the hinge. Mine were so far gone that someone had already 'taken that up'. So, I still had to move the entire assembly FORWARD 1/2 inch. It was just touching the rear deck
As a consequence of all that....the pins in the glass hatch had already worn a 'U' shaped channel into the latch keepers on the deck...1/2 inch. They were locked in place. In fact the actual release(s) were not contacted anymore. The passenger side one was completely locked in place.
Read the proceedure a couple of times...aquaint yourself with the sequence....
CAUTION! YOU'RE WORKING ON GLASS...PINKY FINGERS IN THE AIR! GLASS/GLASS/ $3000 WORTH OF GLASS!
TAPE AROUND THE BASKET HANDLE AND LOWER DECK WITH BLUE TAPE, TWO LAYERS, IN CASE ANYTHING SLIPS...NO SCRATCHIE THE BEAUTIFUL SILVER BEIGE PAINT.
DETERMINE HOW FAR YOU WANT TO MOVE THE GLASS FORWARD.
REMEMBER THIS DIMENSION. IT SHOULD BE CENTERED IN THE OPENING/GASKET. mARK IT WITH BLUE TAPE.
First thing to try is to see if you can get EITHER of the latch pins to release.
1. I was able to reach up under the Pass side and grab the cable and yank it....THE PIN DID NOT RELEASE. see above...but I tried.
2. I was able to release the LATCH and GENTLY pry up the DRV side.
3. (THIS IS THE PART WHERE I SAVE YOU THE PAIN....LOL)
4. Remove the basket handle trim, extend the seatbelts all the way and pull the trim away from your work area. I gently clamped the upper retractor belt with a plastic clamp to keep it fully extended.
5. You do not have to touch the center divider trim.
6. You can see the hinges now.
7. Remove the allen headed 3/16th button head from the hinge-to- glass button keeper. Repeat both sides. Free the hinge, disconnect it. Swing the hinge down. It'll kind of pop and swing down.
7.1 I untaped the defroster wires off of the hinge and let them dangle.
7.2 the hinges (black C's) are labeled RH and LH....they must go back in the same place.
8. There are little wire 'bales' holding the ball-ended hatch struts on.
9. Once you have removed the FORWARD bales, be prepared to have the struts shoot forward into the car....with some force!
10. Remove the lower hatch strut ball mounts.
At this point the hatch is essentially 'free'.
11. Have someone pull on the release or you might have to dive and do each manually...while someone gentle but forcefully wiggles the hatch FORWARD...to the center of the hinge latches (opening).
12. A little bit of piddling and wiggling and the hatch SHOULD open.
REMEMBER ITS NOT ATTACHED TO ANYTHING SO JUST POP THE LATCHES and lever it up a couple of inches...put a wood block or something kind under the edges so the hatch wont relock. Some tape will act as a hinge on the basket handle.
13. You can remove the hatch and put it on your wife's side of the bed as a conversation starter...or just put it somewhere very safe. You can take the other ball-ends off the other end of the hatch struts. TRY TO ALWAYS CARRY GLASS VERTICALLY... LESS STRESS ON THE GLASS.
14. Now we can do something about the hinges, themselves.
Draw on the hinges with a sharpie..Forward/ Right/ Left, and positions of the adjuster holes underneath as you saw them. Remove the 4 bolts that hold the hinges into the birdcage structure under the basket handle... remove the hinge assy.
Use Dave Mcllelan's middle name...for he was playing politics while he should have been paying attention....HmmF!
15. Orient the hinge assy exactly as it was in the car....dont flip the hinge mount up-side down...this will confuse you. Mark it TOP. Forward.
End of disassembly phase...hopefully.
Gotta do some stuff now...I'll come back to this a little later.
Don't break anything whaile I'm gone!
Last edited by L-46man; 10-05-2017 at 02:58 PM.
02-27-2017, 12:53 PM
#4
Race Director
Well done!
You can't blame Chevrolet too much for the crappy hinges though. The hatch was designed and manufactured by Cars & Concepts, though Dave McClellan and Chevrolet Engineering did have input.
Cars & Concepts was (is?) a company that did automotive conversions, such as T-Tops, sunroofs, and even complete convertible conversions and concept car creation for automakers. When the big back window came out in 78, a lot of people were surprised to see that it didn't open. Cars & Concepts saw this as an opportunity to expand their conversion business, and came up with the Corvette hatchback back window. You could have the hatch installed a various sunroof companies around the country. GM got complete hatch kits from Cars & Concepts, to do the 82 Collector Edition conversions in house.
I have Chevrolet Engineering Center paperwork that shows that Chevrolet originally planned on installing the hatches on 81's built at Bowling Green, as part of a special 81 Bowling Green Introduction edition. The plan to offer the hatch on 81 Bowling Green cars was cancelled on September 20, 1980, but no reason was given.
You can't blame Chevrolet too much for the crappy hinges though. The hatch was designed and manufactured by Cars & Concepts, though Dave McClellan and Chevrolet Engineering did have input.
Cars & Concepts was (is?) a company that did automotive conversions, such as T-Tops, sunroofs, and even complete convertible conversions and concept car creation for automakers. When the big back window came out in 78, a lot of people were surprised to see that it didn't open. Cars & Concepts saw this as an opportunity to expand their conversion business, and came up with the Corvette hatchback back window. You could have the hatch installed a various sunroof companies around the country. GM got complete hatch kits from Cars & Concepts, to do the 82 Collector Edition conversions in house.
I have Chevrolet Engineering Center paperwork that shows that Chevrolet originally planned on installing the hatches on 81's built at Bowling Green, as part of a special 81 Bowling Green Introduction edition. The plan to offer the hatch on 81 Bowling Green cars was cancelled on September 20, 1980, but no reason was given.
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L-46man (02-27-2017)
02-27-2017, 01:13 PM
#5
Administrator
Member Since: Jul 2000
Location: About 1100 miles from where I call home. Blue lives matter.
Posts: 51,422
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Feel free to post procedures on repairing these items.
Please do not post commercial promotions regarding a Non Supporting Vendor who has been heavily promoted on this site in the past, thanks.
Please do not post commercial promotions regarding a Non Supporting Vendor who has been heavily promoted on this site in the past, thanks.
02-27-2017, 03:08 PM
#7
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
I love the NCRS
I love that they exist. That they are the keepers of the flame...and as a restorer...I BELIEVE.
However, I've been working on corvettes for 40 years...I've had 4.
1969 350/350 two tops convt.
1969 350/350 Coupe
1971 LT1 Coupe
and the recent one the 82 CE.
As an Engineer if I see a better way to do something...then I'm going to do it.
Better processes, materials, electrical etc..
I wonder what they would say to the $500 worth of stainless steel fasteners in my 69 Roadster! the HORROR! lol
They would have a conniption fit! So not a member...anymore.
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carriljc (05-10-2021)
02-27-2017, 03:21 PM
#8
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
C&c
Well done!
You can't blame Chevrolet too much for the crappy hinges though. The hatch was designed and manufactured by Cars & Concepts, though Dave McClellan and Chevrolet Engineering did have input.
Cars & Concepts was (is?) a company that did automotive conversions, such as T-Tops, sunroofs, and even complete convertible conversions and concept car creation for automakers. When the big back window came out in 78, a lot of people were surprised to see that it didn't open. Cars & Concepts saw this as an opportunity to expand their conversion business, and came up with the Corvette hatchback back window. You could have the hatch installed a various sunroof companies around the country. GM got complete hatch kits from Cars & Concepts, to do the 82 Collector Edition conversions in house.
I have Chevrolet Engineering Center paperwork that shows that Chevrolet originally planned on installing the hatches on 81's built at Bowling Green, as part of a special 81 Bowling Green Introduction edition. The plan to offer the hatch on 81 Bowling Green cars was cancelled on September 20, 1980, but no reason was given.
You can't blame Chevrolet too much for the crappy hinges though. The hatch was designed and manufactured by Cars & Concepts, though Dave McClellan and Chevrolet Engineering did have input.
Cars & Concepts was (is?) a company that did automotive conversions, such as T-Tops, sunroofs, and even complete convertible conversions and concept car creation for automakers. When the big back window came out in 78, a lot of people were surprised to see that it didn't open. Cars & Concepts saw this as an opportunity to expand their conversion business, and came up with the Corvette hatchback back window. You could have the hatch installed a various sunroof companies around the country. GM got complete hatch kits from Cars & Concepts, to do the 82 Collector Edition conversions in house.
I have Chevrolet Engineering Center paperwork that shows that Chevrolet originally planned on installing the hatches on 81's built at Bowling Green, as part of a special 81 Bowling Green Introduction edition. The plan to offer the hatch on 81 Bowling Green cars was cancelled on September 20, 1980, but no reason was given.
Before I bought the CE...because I was having such a un-productive time finding the CE...I was considering a 82 and converting it. (Go try to find a retro-fit kit, 35 years later!)
I bag (a little bit) on Dave.
1. I spent a week with him. The C-4 had just come out.
2. Dave was cut of a similar cloth to J.Mays...an 'administrative' engineer.
3. Zora sweated the details and had his guys do the same....to the point of him getting sick for months while the '68 was gestating.
4. Dave's retired.....very well mind you. He can take it! lol.
I wonder who has got the original aluminum casting molds for the hinges.
They are not poorly designed...just the metalurgy needs upgrading.
anyway Thanks...I'm a glutton for the details of history....satisfying!
this is a fantastic forum....truely! Ya/all should be proud!
02-27-2017, 03:47 PM
#9
Administrator
Member Since: Jul 2000
Location: About 1100 miles from where I call home. Blue lives matter.
Posts: 51,422
Received 5,331 Likes
on
2,775 Posts
For me;NCRS is a little too er ah 'persnickety'.
I love that they exist. That they are the keepers of the flame...and as a restorer...I BELIEVE.
However, I've been working on corvettes for 40 years...I've had 4.
1969 350/350 two tops convt.
1969 350/350 Coupe
1971 LT1 Coupe
and the recent one the 82 CE.
As an Engineer if I see a better way to do something...then I'm going to do it.
Better processes, materials, electrical etc..
I wonder what they would say to the $500 worth of stainless steel fasteners in my 69 Roadster! the HORROR! lol
They would have a conniption fit! So not a member...anymore.
I love that they exist. That they are the keepers of the flame...and as a restorer...I BELIEVE.
However, I've been working on corvettes for 40 years...I've had 4.
1969 350/350 two tops convt.
1969 350/350 Coupe
1971 LT1 Coupe
and the recent one the 82 CE.
As an Engineer if I see a better way to do something...then I'm going to do it.
Better processes, materials, electrical etc..
I wonder what they would say to the $500 worth of stainless steel fasteners in my 69 Roadster! the HORROR! lol
They would have a conniption fit! So not a member...anymore.
02-27-2017, 05:30 PM
#10
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Nc ps
They're my brothers and they ain't heavy.
So I wanted a Corvette Color that didn't exist...something between
Steel Cities Gray and Cortez Silver...
In 2002 Chevy (corvette) finally did it (to my satisfaction.)
Corvette PEWTER....the C-5 guys know of what I speak....
I painted the 69 that color. It was Burgundy (meh!)
The NCRS is spinning at 10,000 rpm. LOL
02-28-2017, 01:29 PM
#11
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Phase Two; fixing the problem(s).
Thanks guys; bear with me here, I also have a business to run.
This is going to be a living document...
I'll write what and when I can.
Engineers notes;
As said already, the actual hinges stretch, and yield. The 'C's open up due to constant and very forceful pressure from the hatch struts.
Mine had opened up about 4° from normal. I found that 1° is about 1/8th inch of extra droop/ displacement to the rear of the car.
Chevy underdesigned the castings and the hinge itself...they didn't have a second model year, nor the time to see what would happen, developmentally.
Chevy puts about .250" of adustment into the hinge. Mine were so far gone that someone had already 'taken that up'. So, I still had to move the entire assembly FORWARD 1/2 inch. It was just touching the rear deck
As a consequence of all that....the pins in the glass hatch had already worn a 'U' shaped channel into the latch keepers on the deck...1/2 inch. They were locked in place. In fact the actual release(s) were not contacted anymore. The passenger side one was completely locked in place.
Read the proceedure a couple of times...aquaint yourself with the sequence....
You will need to get the hatch open to remove the plastic trim shelf....you can remove the little pieces that trim the ends of the hatch strut forward positions...as you remove the basket handle trim.
CAUTION! YOU'RE WORKING ON GLASS...PINKY FINGERS IN THE AIR! GLASS/GLASS/ $1000 WORTH OF GLASS!
TAPE AROUND THE BASKET HANDLE AND LOWER DECK WITH BLUE TAPE, TWO LAYERS, IN CASE ANYTHING SLIPS...NO SCRATCHIE THE BEAUTIFUL SILVER BEIGE PAINT.
TAPE OVER THE UPPER HINGE RETAINER BUTTONS ON THE GLASS SO THAT THEY MAINTAIN THEIR ORIENTATION AND DON'T POP OUT.
DETERMINE HOW FAR YOU WANT TO MOVE THE GLASS FORWARD.
REMEMBER THIS DIMENSION. IT SHOULD BE CENTERED IN THE OPENING/GASKET. mARK IT WITH BLUE TAPE.
First thing to try is to see if you can get EITHER of the latch pins to release.
1. I was able to reach up under the Pass side and grab the cable and yank it....THE PIN DID NOT RELEASE. see above...but I tried.
2. I was able to release the LATCH and GENTLY pry up the DRV side.
3. (THIS IS THE PART WHERE I SAVE YOU THE PAIN....LOL)
4. Remove the basket handle trim, extend the seatbelts all the way and pull the trim away from your work area. I gently clamped the upper retractor belt with a plastic clamp to keep it fully extended.
5. You do not have to touch the center divider trim.
6. You can see the hinges now.
7. Remove the allen headed 3/16th button head from the hinge-to- glass button keeper. Repeat both sides. Free the hinge, disconnect it. Swing the hinge down. It'll kind of pop and swing down.
7.1 I untaped the defroster wires off of the hinge and let them dangle.
7.2 the hinges (black C's) are labeled RH and LH....they must go back in the same place.
8. There are little wire 'bales' holding the ball-ended hatch struts on.
9. Once you have removed the FORWARD bales, be prepared to have the struts shoot forward into the car....with some force!
10. Remove the lower hatch strut ball mounts.
At this point the hatch is essentially 'free'.
11. Have someone pull on the release or you might have to dive and do each manually...while someone gentle but forcefully wiggles the hatch FORWARD...to the center of the hinge latches (opening).
12. A little bit of piddling and wiggling and the hatch SHOULD open.
REMEMBER ITS NOT ATTACHED TO ANYTHING SO JUST POP THE LATCHES and lever it up a couple of inches...put a wood block or something kind under the edges so the hatch wont relock. Some tape will act as a hinge on the basket handle.
13. You can remove the hatch and put it on your wife's side of the bed as a conversation starter...or just put it somewhere very safe. You can take the other ball-ends off the other end of the hatch struts. TRY TO ALWAYS CARRY GLASS VERTICALLY... LESS STRESS ON THE GLASS.
14. Now we can do something about the hinges, themselves.
Draw on the hinges with a sharpie..Forward/ Right/ Left, and positions of the adjuster holes underneath as you saw them. Remove the 4 bolts that hold the hinges into the birdcage structure under the basket handle... remove the hinge assy.
Use Dave Mcllelan's middle name...for he was playing politics while he should have been paying attention....HmmF!
15. Orient the hinge assy exactly as it was in the car....dont flip the hinge mount up-side down...this will confuse you. Mark it TOP. Forward.
End of disassembly phase...hopefully.
Gotta do some stuff now...I'll come back to this a little later.
Don't break anything whaile I'm gone!
This is going to be a living document...
I'll write what and when I can.
Engineers notes;
As said already, the actual hinges stretch, and yield. The 'C's open up due to constant and very forceful pressure from the hatch struts.
Mine had opened up about 4° from normal. I found that 1° is about 1/8th inch of extra droop/ displacement to the rear of the car.
Chevy underdesigned the castings and the hinge itself...they didn't have a second model year, nor the time to see what would happen, developmentally.
Chevy puts about .250" of adustment into the hinge. Mine were so far gone that someone had already 'taken that up'. So, I still had to move the entire assembly FORWARD 1/2 inch. It was just touching the rear deck
As a consequence of all that....the pins in the glass hatch had already worn a 'U' shaped channel into the latch keepers on the deck...1/2 inch. They were locked in place. In fact the actual release(s) were not contacted anymore. The passenger side one was completely locked in place.
Read the proceedure a couple of times...aquaint yourself with the sequence....
You will need to get the hatch open to remove the plastic trim shelf....you can remove the little pieces that trim the ends of the hatch strut forward positions...as you remove the basket handle trim.
CAUTION! YOU'RE WORKING ON GLASS...PINKY FINGERS IN THE AIR! GLASS/GLASS/ $1000 WORTH OF GLASS!
TAPE AROUND THE BASKET HANDLE AND LOWER DECK WITH BLUE TAPE, TWO LAYERS, IN CASE ANYTHING SLIPS...NO SCRATCHIE THE BEAUTIFUL SILVER BEIGE PAINT.
TAPE OVER THE UPPER HINGE RETAINER BUTTONS ON THE GLASS SO THAT THEY MAINTAIN THEIR ORIENTATION AND DON'T POP OUT.
DETERMINE HOW FAR YOU WANT TO MOVE THE GLASS FORWARD.
REMEMBER THIS DIMENSION. IT SHOULD BE CENTERED IN THE OPENING/GASKET. mARK IT WITH BLUE TAPE.
First thing to try is to see if you can get EITHER of the latch pins to release.
1. I was able to reach up under the Pass side and grab the cable and yank it....THE PIN DID NOT RELEASE. see above...but I tried.
2. I was able to release the LATCH and GENTLY pry up the DRV side.
3. (THIS IS THE PART WHERE I SAVE YOU THE PAIN....LOL)
4. Remove the basket handle trim, extend the seatbelts all the way and pull the trim away from your work area. I gently clamped the upper retractor belt with a plastic clamp to keep it fully extended.
5. You do not have to touch the center divider trim.
6. You can see the hinges now.
7. Remove the allen headed 3/16th button head from the hinge-to- glass button keeper. Repeat both sides. Free the hinge, disconnect it. Swing the hinge down. It'll kind of pop and swing down.
7.1 I untaped the defroster wires off of the hinge and let them dangle.
7.2 the hinges (black C's) are labeled RH and LH....they must go back in the same place.
8. There are little wire 'bales' holding the ball-ended hatch struts on.
9. Once you have removed the FORWARD bales, be prepared to have the struts shoot forward into the car....with some force!
10. Remove the lower hatch strut ball mounts.
At this point the hatch is essentially 'free'.
11. Have someone pull on the release or you might have to dive and do each manually...while someone gentle but forcefully wiggles the hatch FORWARD...to the center of the hinge latches (opening).
12. A little bit of piddling and wiggling and the hatch SHOULD open.
REMEMBER ITS NOT ATTACHED TO ANYTHING SO JUST POP THE LATCHES and lever it up a couple of inches...put a wood block or something kind under the edges so the hatch wont relock. Some tape will act as a hinge on the basket handle.
13. You can remove the hatch and put it on your wife's side of the bed as a conversation starter...or just put it somewhere very safe. You can take the other ball-ends off the other end of the hatch struts. TRY TO ALWAYS CARRY GLASS VERTICALLY... LESS STRESS ON THE GLASS.
14. Now we can do something about the hinges, themselves.
Draw on the hinges with a sharpie..Forward/ Right/ Left, and positions of the adjuster holes underneath as you saw them. Remove the 4 bolts that hold the hinges into the birdcage structure under the basket handle... remove the hinge assy.
Use Dave Mcllelan's middle name...for he was playing politics while he should have been paying attention....HmmF!
15. Orient the hinge assy exactly as it was in the car....dont flip the hinge mount up-side down...this will confuse you. Mark it TOP. Forward.
End of disassembly phase...hopefully.
Gotta do some stuff now...I'll come back to this a little later.
Don't break anything whaile I'm gone!
Maybe, NATIONAL CORVETTE PRESERVERS SOCIETY....been doing my part! 40 years. lol.
They're my brothers and they ain't heavy.
So I wanted a Corvette Color that didn't exist...something between
Steel Cities Gray and Cortez Silver...
In 2002 Chevy (corvette) finally did it (to my satisfaction.)
Corvette PEWTER....the C-5 guys know of what I speak....
I painted the 69 that color. It was Burgundy (meh!)
The NCRS is spinning at 10,000 rpm. LOL
They're my brothers and they ain't heavy.
So I wanted a Corvette Color that didn't exist...something between
Steel Cities Gray and Cortez Silver...
In 2002 Chevy (corvette) finally did it (to my satisfaction.)
Corvette PEWTER....the C-5 guys know of what I speak....
I painted the 69 that color. It was Burgundy (meh!)
The NCRS is spinning at 10,000 rpm. LOL
16. As we have noted Chevy (C&C) has designed in about 1/4" of forward adjustment. For most of us that is not enough. I needed DOUBLE that.
17.Now that you have the hinges in your hand, I recommend temporarily taping (blue tape) the hinges and the 'keepers' (the part bolted to the bottom of the basket handle/birdcage) in the normal or as installed position. So it doesn't swing around and confuse you.
18. Next thing you'll notice is that there are four oval slots in the hinge hat section (bent like a hat)....EXCEPT the slots run east-west, not north-south!!!!???? Totally useless for our purposes! We need to remedy that to provide more adjustment.
19. You can only add an additional .250" (1/4") of adjustment this way. For many of you this will be enough. For some, like me, STILL not enough....but we'll get to that.
Carefully draw with a sharpie four 'T' shaped slots on the centerline of the existing oval slots. We are going to cut a 'T' slot into all four positions on the bracket.
20. Just for giggles hold the hinge bove you in a normally installed orientation....you can see that the new slots will be facing the BACK/REAR of the car...so that the hinge can slide forward an additional .250".
21. you can cut these with a Dremel type grinder...slow but accurate...I used an actual sharp tipped die grinder. Go slow....be neat, remove burrs.
For many of you this is coming toward the end.
21.1 You can look at the little plastic bushings that act as the hinge bearings, they are black DELRIN nylon and see if there is a bunch of slop in them...of course replace the bushings if this is the case {where to get them from???? they look really 'stock' off-the-shelf.
Mine were okay so I re-used them. I found that the hinge bolts were perfect and they were tight.
21.2 I painted the upper hinge hat sections in flat black and let dry.
22. I got some slightly oversized washers in stainless steel to help spread the load around the slots evenly.
22. If your dimensions work out, you can reinstall the BUTTON HEADED allen screws that hold the hinge to the glass retainer buttons, do them a little more than finger finger-tight for now.
23. Slide the hinges into the correct WAY FORWARD position and make sure RH and LH are in the right positions.
24. Center the glass, measure a bunch of times.
25. BUT wait! the rears keeper latches arent latched!
26 We will attend to them now. You can prop the glass open....have someone hold it open for you or any combination thereof...UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES LET THE GLASS FALL...EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO TAPE A STICK TO IT!
27. You can now see how the latch pins will interact with the latches....you can adjust the latches very easily...they are a #11 metric bolt....there is quite a lot of room to move them around.
Rules of thumb; The latch pin shoulder (the flat on the pointy arrow part) should fall just under the retracting 'shelf' keeper....so you aim basically for the middle of the oval slot. The latch keepers will likely move a bit backwards. It is better that the pin should JUST contact the movable shelf/ release pawl....too loose is, for right now, better than too tight and you can't release the pin again! Sneak up on it.
The pins should be in the center of the oblong hole in the latch.
28. You can adjust the cables, so that the latches 'open' at exactly the same time....there are adjustment nuts to accomplish this. Do this now. Verify operation.
29. Using White lithium grease...lube the latches and pins.
29.1 You Can now slowly shut the hatch and verify that everything is lined up.
30. Suppose it is...yay! Now we need to 'finely' adjust the latches. You might have to move the latch keepers under the pin shoulder so the shelf fully engages the pin shoulder....this will keep the hatch from popping open under vibration....just mark, sneak up on it, adjust and try again.
31. Close the hatch until it latches EVENLY....you should hear a click/ click as the latches latch. The pin length is adjustable...and depends on the quality of your gaskets...Gentle pressure on the gasket is all that is needed...there is a wrench flat on the pin to adjust the length. I had to adjust the passsnger side on so the two latches poped at exactly the same time.
32. Verify adjustments, verify dimensions...adjust as neccessary.
33. Tighten all the bolts and allens down to about 8 ft lbs.
34. Re-install the gashatch struts.
35. Pull the handle and the hatch should open automatically with a satisfying SHOOSH!
Next installment; WHEN DESPITE ALL THIS...THERE STILL ISN'T ENOUGH ADJUSTMENT! (THIS WAS MY PROBLEM).
05-22-2017, 05:13 AM
#12
09-10-2017, 02:12 PM
#13
Advanced
1982 CE hatch hinges
Phase Two FIXING THE PROBLEM.
16. As we have noted Chevy (C&C) has designed in about 1/4" of forward adjustment. For most of us that is not enough. I needed DOUBLE that.
17.Now that you have the hinges in your hand, I recommend temporarily taping (blue tape) the hinges and the 'keepers' (the part bolted to the bottom of the basket handle/birdcage) in the normal or as installed position. So it doesn't swing around and confuse you.
18. Next thing you'll notice is that there are four oval slots in the hinge hat section (bent like a hat)....EXCEPT the slots run east-west, not north-south!!!!???? Totally useless for our purposes! We need to remedy that to provide more adjustment.
19. You can only add an additional .250" (1/4") of adjustment this way. For many of you this will be enough. For some, like me, STILL not enough....but we'll get to that.
Carefully draw with a sharpie four 'T' shaped slots on the centerline of the existing oval slots. We are going to cut a 'T' slot into all four positions on the bracket.
20. Just for giggles hold the hinge bove you in a normally installed orientation....you can see that the new slots will be facing the BACK/REAR of the car...so that the hinge can slide forward an additional .250".
21. you can cut these with a Dremel type grinder...slow but accurate...I used an actual sharp tipped die grinder. Go slow....be neat, remove burrs.
For many of you this is coming toward the end.
21.1 You can look at the little plastic bushings that act as the hinge bearings, they are black DELRIN nylon and see if there is a bunch of slop in them...of course replace the bushings if this is the case {where to get them from???? they look really 'stock' off-the-shelf.
Mine were okay so I re-used them. I found that the hinge bolts were perfect and they were tight.
21.2 I painted the upper hinge hat sections in flat black and let dry.
22. I got some slightly oversized washers in stainless steel to help spread the load around the slots evenly.
22. If your dimensions work out, you can reinstall the BUTTON HEADED allen screws that hold the hinge to the glass retainer buttons, do them a little more than finger finger-tight for now.
23. Slide the hinges into the correct WAY FORWARD position and make sure RH and LH are in the right positions.
24. Center the glass, measure a bunch of times.
25. BUT wait! the rears keeper latches arent latched!
26 We will attend to them now. You can prop the glass open....have someone hold it open for you or any combination thereof...UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES LET THE GLASS FALL...EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO TAPE A STICK TO IT!
27. You can now see how the latch pins will interact with the latches....you can adjust the latches very easily...they are a #11 metric bolt....there is quite a lot of room to move them around.
Rules of thumb; The latch pin shoulder (the flat on the pointy arrow part) should fall just under the retracting 'shelf' keeper....so you aim basically for the middle of the oval slot. The latch keepers will likely move a bit backwards. It is better that the pin should JUST contact the movable shelf/ release pawl....too loose is, for right now, better than too tight and you can't release the pin again! Sneak up on it.
The pins should be in the center of the oblong hole in the latch.
28. You can adjust the cables, so that the latches 'open' at exactly the same time....there are adjustment nuts to accomplish this. Do this now. Verify operation.
29. Using White lithium grease...lube the latches and pins.
29.1 You Can now slowly shut the hatch and verify that everything is lined up.
30. Suppose it is...yay! Now we need to 'finely' adjust the latches. You might have to move the latch keepers under the pin shoulder so the shelf fully engages the pin shoulder....this will keep the hatch from popping open under vibration....just mark, sneak up on it, adjust and try again.
31. Close the hatch until it latches EVENLY....you should hear a click/ click as the latches latch. The pin length is adjustable...and depends on the quality of your gaskets...Gentle pressure on the gasket is all that is needed...there is a wrench flat on the pin to adjust the length. I had to adjust the passsnger side on so the two latches poped at exactly the same time.
32. Verify adjustments, verify dimensions...adjust as neccessary.
33. Tighten all the bolts and allens down to about 8 ft lbs.
34. Re-install the gashatch struts.
35. Pull the handle and the hatch should open automatically with a satisfying SHOOSH!
Next installment; WHEN DESPITE ALL THIS...THERE STILL ISN'T ENOUGH ADJUSTMENT! (THIS WAS MY PROBLEM).
16. As we have noted Chevy (C&C) has designed in about 1/4" of forward adjustment. For most of us that is not enough. I needed DOUBLE that.
17.Now that you have the hinges in your hand, I recommend temporarily taping (blue tape) the hinges and the 'keepers' (the part bolted to the bottom of the basket handle/birdcage) in the normal or as installed position. So it doesn't swing around and confuse you.
18. Next thing you'll notice is that there are four oval slots in the hinge hat section (bent like a hat)....EXCEPT the slots run east-west, not north-south!!!!???? Totally useless for our purposes! We need to remedy that to provide more adjustment.
19. You can only add an additional .250" (1/4") of adjustment this way. For many of you this will be enough. For some, like me, STILL not enough....but we'll get to that.
Carefully draw with a sharpie four 'T' shaped slots on the centerline of the existing oval slots. We are going to cut a 'T' slot into all four positions on the bracket.
20. Just for giggles hold the hinge bove you in a normally installed orientation....you can see that the new slots will be facing the BACK/REAR of the car...so that the hinge can slide forward an additional .250".
21. you can cut these with a Dremel type grinder...slow but accurate...I used an actual sharp tipped die grinder. Go slow....be neat, remove burrs.
For many of you this is coming toward the end.
21.1 You can look at the little plastic bushings that act as the hinge bearings, they are black DELRIN nylon and see if there is a bunch of slop in them...of course replace the bushings if this is the case {where to get them from???? they look really 'stock' off-the-shelf.
Mine were okay so I re-used them. I found that the hinge bolts were perfect and they were tight.
21.2 I painted the upper hinge hat sections in flat black and let dry.
22. I got some slightly oversized washers in stainless steel to help spread the load around the slots evenly.
22. If your dimensions work out, you can reinstall the BUTTON HEADED allen screws that hold the hinge to the glass retainer buttons, do them a little more than finger finger-tight for now.
23. Slide the hinges into the correct WAY FORWARD position and make sure RH and LH are in the right positions.
24. Center the glass, measure a bunch of times.
25. BUT wait! the rears keeper latches arent latched!
26 We will attend to them now. You can prop the glass open....have someone hold it open for you or any combination thereof...UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES LET THE GLASS FALL...EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO TAPE A STICK TO IT!
27. You can now see how the latch pins will interact with the latches....you can adjust the latches very easily...they are a #11 metric bolt....there is quite a lot of room to move them around.
Rules of thumb; The latch pin shoulder (the flat on the pointy arrow part) should fall just under the retracting 'shelf' keeper....so you aim basically for the middle of the oval slot. The latch keepers will likely move a bit backwards. It is better that the pin should JUST contact the movable shelf/ release pawl....too loose is, for right now, better than too tight and you can't release the pin again! Sneak up on it.
The pins should be in the center of the oblong hole in the latch.
28. You can adjust the cables, so that the latches 'open' at exactly the same time....there are adjustment nuts to accomplish this. Do this now. Verify operation.
29. Using White lithium grease...lube the latches and pins.
29.1 You Can now slowly shut the hatch and verify that everything is lined up.
30. Suppose it is...yay! Now we need to 'finely' adjust the latches. You might have to move the latch keepers under the pin shoulder so the shelf fully engages the pin shoulder....this will keep the hatch from popping open under vibration....just mark, sneak up on it, adjust and try again.
31. Close the hatch until it latches EVENLY....you should hear a click/ click as the latches latch. The pin length is adjustable...and depends on the quality of your gaskets...Gentle pressure on the gasket is all that is needed...there is a wrench flat on the pin to adjust the length. I had to adjust the passsnger side on so the two latches poped at exactly the same time.
32. Verify adjustments, verify dimensions...adjust as neccessary.
33. Tighten all the bolts and allens down to about 8 ft lbs.
34. Re-install the gashatch struts.
35. Pull the handle and the hatch should open automatically with a satisfying SHOOSH!
Next installment; WHEN DESPITE ALL THIS...THERE STILL ISN'T ENOUGH ADJUSTMENT! (THIS WAS MY PROBLEM).
Thanks much for this write up!
Tom
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Philip Pritchard (04-22-2021)
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Tomjacksonn@live.com (09-15-2017)
09-15-2017, 11:19 PM
#15
Advanced
11-21-2018, 09:27 AM
#16
new CE owner here. Beautiful, 16k miles and like new...except for the rough idle and the hatch. I really appreciate the detail in this thread. My only other issue is I need to find a hatch handle. Previous owner must have plucked it off. I have the handle but it's missing some parts to reconnect to the shank. Can anyone point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.
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Philip Pritchard (06-15-2021)
06-15-2021, 03:47 PM
#19
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Dear Guys....I HAVE BEEN partially remiss...
I have written some other chapters but never scooped them up into one definitive tome on how to fix your hatch.
Unfortunately you'll have to 'ploink' around and use some search words...like L-46 man and 82 CE hatch and etc...to get the other chapters.
One of them is how to recenter the hatch and the other is how to open the hatch if it's jammed shut, without killing yourselves!
To answer the next to last post....about the release handle. The handle is just a 'T' type handle similar to the hood latch handle...frankly many other similar substitutes are available....it's just terminated in yet another 'bicycle cable' that goes to a central release on the female latches and the DRV side latch is then 'slaved' to the Pass side latch.
I do reccomend that the fiberglass covers be removed until you get the whole system running perfectly....THEN you can put the covers back.
As a bit of encouragement I 'did' mine 5 years ago and the latch pull is less than 'two fingers' and the entire assy has needed no further adjustment or manipulations since then...so when you fix it, it should STAY FIXED.
Mine comes up with a self satifsying ka-woosh!....like an air brake on a Lightning jet!
Regards to Gloucester- worcester-leicester-shire! lol (Jeez, why can't it be GOSTER like it sounds! lol)
Unkahal
I have written some other chapters but never scooped them up into one definitive tome on how to fix your hatch.
Unfortunately you'll have to 'ploink' around and use some search words...like L-46 man and 82 CE hatch and etc...to get the other chapters.
One of them is how to recenter the hatch and the other is how to open the hatch if it's jammed shut, without killing yourselves!
To answer the next to last post....about the release handle. The handle is just a 'T' type handle similar to the hood latch handle...frankly many other similar substitutes are available....it's just terminated in yet another 'bicycle cable' that goes to a central release on the female latches and the DRV side latch is then 'slaved' to the Pass side latch.
I do reccomend that the fiberglass covers be removed until you get the whole system running perfectly....THEN you can put the covers back.
As a bit of encouragement I 'did' mine 5 years ago and the latch pull is less than 'two fingers' and the entire assy has needed no further adjustment or manipulations since then...so when you fix it, it should STAY FIXED.
Mine comes up with a self satifsying ka-woosh!....like an air brake on a Lightning jet!
Regards to Gloucester- worcester-leicester-shire! lol (Jeez, why can't it be GOSTER like it sounds! lol)
Unkahal
Last edited by L-46man; 06-15-2021 at 03:48 PM.
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Philip Pritchard (06-15-2021)
06-15-2021, 03:55 PM
#20
5th Gear
Dear Guys....I HAVE BEEN partially remiss...
I have written some other chapters but never scooped them up into one definitive tome on how to fix your hatch.
Unfortunately you'll have to 'ploink' around and use some search words...like L-46 man and 82 CE hatch and etc...to get the other chapters.
One of them is how to recenter the hatch and the other is how to open the hatch if it's jammed shut, without killing yourselves!
To answer the next to last post....about the release handle. The handle is just a 'T' type handle similar to the hood latch handle...frankly many other similar substitutes are available....it's just terminated in yet another 'bicycle cable' that goes to a central release on the female latches and the DRV side latch is then 'slaved' to the Pass side latch.
I do reccomend that the fiberglass covers be removed until you get the whole system running perfectly....THEN you can put the covers back.
As a bit of encouragement I 'did' mine 5 years ago and the latch pull is less than 'two fingers' and the entire assy has needed no further adjustment or manipulations since then...so when you fix it, it should STAY FIXED.
Mine comes up with a self satifsying ka-woosh!....like an air brake on a Lightning jet!
Regards to Gloucester- worcester-leicester-shire! lol (Jeez, why can't it be GOSTER like it sounds! lol)
Unkahal
I have written some other chapters but never scooped them up into one definitive tome on how to fix your hatch.
Unfortunately you'll have to 'ploink' around and use some search words...like L-46 man and 82 CE hatch and etc...to get the other chapters.
One of them is how to recenter the hatch and the other is how to open the hatch if it's jammed shut, without killing yourselves!
To answer the next to last post....about the release handle. The handle is just a 'T' type handle similar to the hood latch handle...frankly many other similar substitutes are available....it's just terminated in yet another 'bicycle cable' that goes to a central release on the female latches and the DRV side latch is then 'slaved' to the Pass side latch.
I do reccomend that the fiberglass covers be removed until you get the whole system running perfectly....THEN you can put the covers back.
As a bit of encouragement I 'did' mine 5 years ago and the latch pull is less than 'two fingers' and the entire assy has needed no further adjustment or manipulations since then...so when you fix it, it should STAY FIXED.
Mine comes up with a self satifsying ka-woosh!....like an air brake on a Lightning jet!
Regards to Gloucester- worcester-leicester-shire! lol (Jeez, why can't it be GOSTER like it sounds! lol)
Unkahal
We managed to lock the keys in the car within 30 mins of receiving ours... took two days to "break into".
Then drove 9 mile to the garage (gas station) to fill it up and it would not start.... new Fly wheel required" ...
...anyway, hoping to start on the hatch in the next few weeks. I might be calling help to you again soon.
Gloucester used to be know as Glevum in Roman times and many people here want that re-introduced.
Gloucester is famous for its Rugby Club...... and the fans sing "GLAWSTER"
Speak soon.
Philip
Last edited by Philip Pritchard; 06-15-2021 at 03:57 PM. Reason: mis spelt