08C6Vert

Took delivery of my 2008 JSB convertible a few weeks ago and found that to close the trunk lid I really have to slam it down hard. Ouch!

Does anyone have pictures and / or instructions on how to adjust the latch?

DJ07Vette

Mine does the same thing. Verts dont have the auto pull down feature like the coupes, so I thought it was normal. Hopefully someone will post a fix, or an explanation.

Bryanwithy

unfortunately there is no fix for this. It is the way it is made, gotta slam it to get it closed. I have found that by closing it about halfway then with a "forceful" but not slamming motion with my hand directly on the rear edge of the trunk it closes every time.

jimmie jam

it will get A LITTLE easier with some time, at least mine did.

AORoads

mine hasn't gotten any easier, but I am gentle on it. sometimes, I let it half-latch and then push down carefully on it for the second and final latch. figure it's a little less impact overall.

I don't mind doing the slam bit, but truthfully, I haven't seen a trunklid require such closing force or velocity since the old days of maybe the mid-80s cars. Strikes me as being a bit odd. I'm sure there's a reason for it.

z51vett

Bill
check out the rubber stops at the corners if they are adjusted out to far this will make it harder to close. Make sure you measure length before moving so that they can be adjusted back to factory setting if necessary.
z51vett

doveboat

08 Vert w/3k, still stiff but is consistent to close

JmpnJckFlsh

Normally, the corner bumpers would be my first guess as well, but in this case, he included a picture of his trunk lid showing the corners perfectly flush with the fenders. It will be a bad idea to change the bumper heights.

The center latch IS adjustable, but it is not intuitively obvious. If you look closely, you will see the latch part on the trunk lid has shims that set the height of the loop. The shims are pretty thick...maybe 0.060" each; my car has two or three shims. At first, I thought you would have to remove the interior panel to acces the female part of the latch, but they've designed the latch so as to make that unneccessary for adjustment. Use a pencil to mark the position of the latch base before you loosen a single screw.

The trunk lid adjustment is tough...I watched the assembly line worker fool with mine for what seemed like 5-10 minutes trying to get it just right. He would think he would have it right, then he would close the lid, look at me, shake his head, and try again. Finally, he let it go...mine requires a firm closing effort, but I don't have to slam it shut.

Check with Gene Culley to see if you can order the shims for the latch. You'll probably need to add at least one shim, maybe two, to reduce the closing effort. There is a reason that they set up the trunks that way...as the weatherstrip settles down to it's natural "squashed" position, the fit will loosen up somewhat. If you adjust the trunk to close too easily, you may have rain water in the trunk...not good. I would try to live with only one additional shim if possible, but two shims if the one doesn't help.

Fcal

I just played with the trunk lid hinge bolts and the rubber stops and got mine to where it is easy to live with. It lines up perfectly with the rear fascia, but looks slightly higher than the ends of the quarters. It's also fairly easy to close now. The tonneau cover was another story.
Don't know if you'll be able to tell from the pic.

JmpnJckFlsh

If the rear corners of the lid are higher than the fenders, you should turn the corner bumpers in (clockwise) a quarter of a turn per try until the corners are flush with the fenders. This corner bumper adjustment will be in the direction of making the trunk EASIER to close.

I wouldn't mess with the hinge bolts if the gaps are all uniform around the lid; adjusting the hinge bolts should have no effect on how easy, or hard, it is to close the lid. The hinge bolts will only affect the gaps at the panel edges.

The tonneau cover is another deal altogether. I would have to study that one, and probably wouldn't attempt adjustment without the service manual to guide me. The gap between the trunk lid and the tonneau cover should be slightly larger than the other trunk gaps to avoid interference between the two panels. On my car, the trunk lid gaps run 3/16" plus/minus 1/16", but the gap between the trunk and the tonneau appears to be about 5/16" plus 1/16" minus 0".

If you attempt to adjust these panels yourself, you will be wise to cover the panel edges with masking tape to protect them, and open/close the panels slowly. If you get the fit too close, you could chip off paint or SMC before you realize you have a problem.

Erix

Warning for those about to do this. If you go to far so it has little closing effort, then you can end up with weatherstrip squeeking or the bumpers leaking from not having enough load.

Robbing peter to pay paul. You'll know when you drive it if you've gone to far.

CH-Z51

I tryed the various adjustments for this same difficulty and I was able to make things worse but could not really make it any easier. It has gotten better with time, no big deal!

Jet Stream

Please DON'T SLAM the trunk lid. Instead close the lid then above the latch push the lid down until it latches. Slamming WILL crack your trunk lid.

LMB 4 ME

Rest it to the stopping point however you can be the most gentle, then give it a little press down with your thumb. Closes everytime without slamming and bamming.


Opps sorry JET STREAM, I just saw you posted the same.......

Americas Team

Only had my coupe for a short time but it does the same thing, I dont think you should have to push it down so hard.

My '79 winter beater Eldorado trunk worked beautiful back in the day!

*FAÇADE*

It definitely gets easier with time!!

08C6Vert

The gap from the lid to the brake light is very small ~1/16th and the gap from the trunk lid to the rear deck is three times as wide ~4/16th. Adjusting the corner rubber deck lid stops made no difference. It appears to have only one spacer plate in the trunk lid catch. I've tried every possible gentle method of closing but so far the only way to close the lid is to slam hard and hope it doesn't hurt anything. Should I have the body shop install an extra catch plate or is this safe to do on your own? Any suggestions?

AORoads

Some very good advice here: thanks, Doug! I'll give it a shot.

I will carefully try some or most of this, jmpn, fcal, and be aware of erix's caution. No good reason to eliminate a closing issue and create a squeaking one.

torch2000vert

Mine was the same as yours. I realigned the truck lid to start, mine was a little off when you looked at the gap at the boot, then played with the latch mount and lubed the hinges. Still takkes a little effort to close but better than BG had it. try lubing your hinges first.

JmpnJckFlsh

If you mark the outline of the latch base on the lid, it's a one hammer job...with the instructions below, my wife could do the adjustment.

1. Order two or three shims from Gene; they probably only come in one thickness (0.060" ? ).

2. Take a pencil or grease pencil and draw an outline around the base of the trunk lid latch and existing shim plate.

3. Loosen, or if necessary, remove two phillips head screws in the trunk lid latch. If the new shim has holes slotted to the edge of the plate, you won't need to completely remove both screws. If the shim holes are round and not slotted to the edge, you will have to remove the latch screws completely to install the shim plate.

3. Insert one shim plate into position with the existing shim plate. If the new shim has slotted holes, insert the shim with slots in the same direction as the existing shim plate.

4. Recenter the latch base in the outline you drew before starting, and tighten the two screws.

5. Make a trial close. Closing force should be reduced slightly because the loop does not have to go AS FAR for the female latch part to capture the loop. In other words, you are not having to compress the new weatherstrips as far to make it latch.

You want to end up with closing force still being relatively firm...compressing the weatherstrips is what keeps the water out. I believe one shim should do the trick, but I would order two or three just in case. If your trunk leaks, you've gone too far in making it easy to close.