Replacing the Hatch Hinges without Removing the Hatch in my 1989 Trans Am GTA

[@BradsdadDaveEdwards]

Much appreciated 👍

[@michaelm3381]

Good video. I've replaced struts, but never the actual brackets.

[@RamblinGarage]

Thank you sir! More firebird content on the way!

[@reddragon6613]

That turned out well, the alignment of the hatch is excellent now. I did something very similar when I did mine by myself but I disconnected the struts and used a giant prop road to hold up the glass, I prefer your method of leaving the struts on.

[@RamblinGarage]

I was thinking about doing similar, I wasn't sure if the struts would be up to the task with the one hinge removed.. but it did okay. I'm pretty happy with it! I drove the car again yesterday and noticed something is making a little noise back there. I did notice that from the factory, there was rubber between the sail trim panel and the bolt heads, I'm wondering if they're contacting.. I guess we'll find out!

[@kmas8229]

Sweet car man and well done. I have had the decklid off to fix a leak and fix the lip overhang on my Iroc, and I gotta say that glasswork is freaking nervewracking..and this gave me flashbacks. Got hawks hinges & bolts and I want the entire hatch off to repaint the black trim around the glass and fix yet another leak in the hinge-to-body area(wet back seats). Gut-wrenching stuff, especially being from Europe and these cars not being common lol. Not looking forward to this job

[@RamblinGarage]

@@kmas8229 Take your time, I'm sure it will go just fine 😀 best of luck! Where in Europe are ya?

[@kmas8229]

@@RamblinGarage Heh, thanks man. Appreciate it! One quick question though, before I forget, when you loosened the first hinge it looked like the hatch was flexing a bit due to the old hinge being taken off. Would it be an idea to loosen the screws to other hinge from the body to relieve the glass from possible stress when working on the first one? I'm from the western part of Norway by the way! We love our US steel. 🇺🇲🤘

[@TTOP350]

If you didn't use a sealant (like 3m strip caulk) on the lower hinge to body, prepare for wet lower seats next rain or car wash!

[@RamblinGarage]

I show the rubber sealant that I use, it's 1/8" rubber used in bathrooms and such. Should work as a good sealant.