Trunk Lid Woes

[Vettn71]

My 84 notch has an issue with the trunk alignment I can seem to fix. When I tighten the trunk to hinge bolts on the left side, the trunk lid is (more or less) aligned. When I tighten the right bolts, it moves hard to the left.

I removed the latch to make certain it was not pushing it, also. Right now, the trunk lid is off the car. It's an OEM trunk lid, the car is straight and rust free, so I can't figure why it doesn't fit properly. Anyone have any ideas of what I could try?

TIA. Jim

 

[Davedacarpainter]

My 84 notch has an issue with the trunk alignment I can seem to fix. When I tighten the trunk to hinge bolts on the left side, the trunk lid is (more or less) aligned. When I tighten the right bolts, it moves hard to the left.

I removed the latch to make certain it was not pushing it, also. Right now, the trunk lid is off the car. It's an OEM trunk lid, the car is straight and rust free, so I can't figure why it doesn't fit properly. Anyone have any ideas of what I could try?

TIA. Jim

So it still sits off without the latch in it?

 

[Vettn71]

Sorry for the delay in responding.

Yes, it sits exactly as you see in the pictures, latch or no latch

Regards
Jim

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Hey Jim, you need to first adjust it squarely on the body. It's too far back on the left side and too far forward on the right.

This by itself could resolve your issues.

There should be a slight bit of adjustability from side to side. It's not much, but you don't need much either.

Fix the counterclockwise tweak first, in other words, line it up at the rear with the 1/4's first. Then see what it looks like.

Don't mean to make this slow. I could probably help you in about two minutes if i were there. Little notes online take longer.

 

[Vettn71]

I'll give it another try. It just seems the trunk lid is too large? When I get the side square, the back is out of kilter. I'll shoot some pictures of my efforts tomorrow and maybe you can advise me from there

Thanks for helping
Jim

 

[Davedacarpainter]

It really doesn't look too big, just needs some adjusting i'm thinking.

As you're finding out, it's not as easy as most people think. It's not for us people in the business either, we're just used to doing what it'll need is all. You'll get it.

 

[JD1964]

Is it possible the 1/4's have been changed? Or at least the drivers side 1/4? I see what looks like body filler in the upper left corner of the deck opening. Point being, could the 1/4 have been installed short?

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Is it possible the 1/4's have been changed? Or at least the drivers side 1/4? I see what looks like body filler in the upper left corner of the deck opening. Point being, could the 1/4 have been installed short?

Honestly john, i think it just needs some tweaking.

 

[Vettn71]

No, everything is laser straight. That's why I bought the car. No evidence of any accidents at all, no rust, just problems from it sitting in a barn or a field for years

Jim

 

[General karthief]

Get a friend to lay in the trunk and close the lid, use wood stir sticks to adjust the gaps. Then have him/her to snug it down. Just leave off the striker and don't drink all the refreshments before you let them out. Worked for me.

 

[Vettn71]

This weekend I might talk my youngest son (34) into getting in there. Maybe not. :0)

I'll give it a try tonight when I get off work. Do I line up the back edge? Is that what I'm shooting for, because I've had the bolts completely loosened and couldn't get anywhere. Well, I should say it looks okay until I tighten then hinge bolts, then things get stinky

Thanks for the help
Jim

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Right now it just needs to be turned a small amount clockwise.

It also looks like it could be moved toward the right quarter just a hair.

These adjustments will be small, just start tweaking a little at a time.

I don't know if you necessarily need a body in the trunk for this one.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

If it'll help you, take a magic marker and mark where the bolts are on the hinges right now. Then do your adjustments according to where you know it needs to go.

If you want, I can give you a call. Just pm me with your number if this adjustment doesn't work out for you.

 

[General karthief]

The hinges and their braces are not really fragile little darlings but can be twicked when tossing crap in the trunk, I suck at gap adjustments and have to walk away a few times. I have even adjusted the bolt holes a little to help. Likely when you are snug'n them up they are moving the the hinge in the direction the bolt is spinning, maybe try a little lube on the washers and make sure the washers spin on the bolts. Just a small amount of oil between the head and the washer is all you need. Just promise the kid in the trunk that you will let him/her out and save them some beer.

 

[General karthief]

From the pics I would move the drivers side forward and the passenger side rearward, that should take the tweek out of the side adjustments, just an uneducated observation.

 

[Vettn71]

I'm just not getting anywhere. At the moment the left side is as far forward (towards the front of the car) as it will go, and the right side is as far back as it will go. The rear of the trunk lid is fairly even with the trunk line and the back of the fender, and the left side won't go far enough forward to be even, although it seems to be fairly even with the fender. Again, when I tighten the right side hinge bolts it pushes the trunk lid to the left. I guess this is due to the twist in the hinges. See photos

AAAARGH!!! This drives me insane!

Jim

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Would you post a picture of the hinge?

 

[Vettn71]

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Ok Jim. Obviously the adjusting won't be enough. Sorry for taking so long to get the jist of the issue.

There's not really a lot that can cause this, fact is, the hinges are it.

Did this deck lid fit at one time with the bolts tightened?

All it seems like to me is that the hinges need to be tweaked back to the right side of the vehicle.

There will be some fine tuning after you get the hinges straightened out.

Since the right hinge seems to be the main contributor to the problem, i would grab it down by the curve area as it gets close to the bracket in the body and start first with a nice steady pull toward the right quarter. See if it bends in that direction at all.

Worse case you might need to take a bfh and smack the right hinge closer to it's mounting bracket. Not overly hard, it's not that far off.

Be careful when twisting on the hinge, the spring rod could snap out. It'll smart like all hell if you get whacked by it.

Do some measuring before and after. See how far it is from the hinge to the quarter on each side. They should be fairly close to each other on measured distance.

 

[Vettn71]

The trunk lid is off a vert. It did not line up properly when I bought the car, but that was not a big deal, or so I thought.

Thanks for the help

Jim