'72 rear hatch refresh

[steffan]

just some documentation of how my hatch went together. the parts as they were disassembled - looks like the main mechanism had some better days - a little bent, etc - probably forced open at some point

 

[steffan]

the side latches

 

[steffan]

they were functional but dirty so I ended up taking them apart for cleaning/ paint

 

[steffan]

after cleaning and paint

 

[steffan]

the main mechanism needed more love - it was pretty bent up. took quite a bit of time to get everything lined up and working smoothly. what I didn't realize was that there should be a torsion spring on the one side to assist keeping the handle closed/ prevent it from rattling. I had some various springs in the garage that after many attempts, was able to fashion one that worked

 

[steffan]

the main mechanism assembled

 

[steffan]

I fought with this for a long time - trying to get the locking arm indexed correctly as well has the correct height and tension. here you can see how it drops into the handle cutout to prevent it from opening

 

[steffan]

the inside handle before and after cleaning

 

[steffan]

mounting plate and gasket

 

[steffan]

final assembly - not the factory fasteners, obviously

 

[Green Bean]

It is a work of art!

 

[steffan]

this should be the last part of this thread: placing the weatherstripping. again, a big thanks to City Racer for this great product.
no kidding, this was scary for me because of the potential mess factor along with the risk of it not adhering to the hatch.
the weatherstrip is a really nice piece: nice soft, supple rubber that fit perfect and is contoured to match the recess of the lower hatch lip

 

[steffan]

it mostly went on well. I wiped everything down with acetone to clean it, then using the 3m adhesive, put a coat on both the weatherstrip and the door, let them get tacky (which seemed like seconds) and stuck them together. I wasn't confident to do the entire piece at once even with my wife helping so we started at the top, let it set for a few minutes, long enough to hold and then did one side, the other and finely the bottom. seemed like we always had either too much adhesive or too little - big clean ups or going back to add more. no awards to be sure but it's holding - might have to go back and clean up the corners... in the end everything adhered well except for a few small sections which I had to add a little more.

 

[steffan]

the gaps on the hatch and the roof are pretty large so I was skeptical the weatherstrip would close them but it looks like a really nice seal all the way around - I'll find out next time it rains

 

[supadisco]

great work! keep it up.