I purchased new rear hatch struts to replace the old, leaky ones on my 1985. I'm not sure how the old ones come off. Some folks say that there is a tab that has to be slid, but there seems to be nothing like it on mine; perhaps they changed design in later years. I don't want to just try prying them off with brute force for fear of breaking the glass. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

You dont have to remove the steel retainer. Pull-twist-pull using one of these

 

I pried off the bottom end first with a large screwdriver. A little twisting and the top end comes right off. There is a spring-loaded "latch" in the ball, but it was VERY stiff after 20+ years.

My struts were very low on gas (the glass only went up part way when I hit the hatch release) and the glass fell on my head when I unhooked the first strut. It's VERY heavy. Just a "heads up"...

 

Mission accomplished!

For anyone else who's interested, here's how I did it:

I ordered the Strongarm 4903 from Amazon. They fit perfectly. Here's how I replaced them - First, I opened the hatch and used an adjustable strap that I use to transport my kayak to hold it open. I wound the strap around a rafter in the garage, looped it through the Corvette rear hatch closure latch, and adjusted it so that the hatch was open to its maximum height. You DON'T want the hatch to fall as you're doing the strut replacement. It is heavy, could break the glass and/or your head! Next, if you have rear window defroster wires, use a needle nose plier to carefully remove the wire plugs from the old strut. Then I used a needle nose plier with a 45 degree curved end (cheap from Sears) to remove the strut from the hatch itself. I put the plier into the small space inside the top of the strut, compressed the little bushing inside, and the strut came off pretty easily. I was then able to easily twist the strut off the bottom mount in the car after the top of the strut was off. The new strut just popped into place.

I guess the procedure is easier on the newer Corvettes because they have a clip that you loosen to remove the old strut, but the 1985 (at least mine) did not have that.

The new struts pop the hatch right up like a new car. It's a 20 minute job and well worth the effort!

Thanks to you folks who responded and helped me out!

 

Good work - thanks for the write up.

IIRC, the left and right struts are slightly different (location of lower electrical connection) and we use a 4903 and a 4904 ... of course either one works, but you'll lose points at NCRS judging