We had a wicked wind storm last night. I had not fully closed the read deck on my wife's Fiero as I typically never do when i'm done working on it so i don't have to unlock it the next day. If i knew there would be a wind storm i would have at least weighted it down. anyway this morning i found it open.. I went to close it and it was hard to close and the strike was no longer right. Upon inspection
This hinge seems tweaked now.
I have an extra hinge but im in the school of #$($@#@(@$%%# i just got those torsion bars back in and adjusted.
So is my correct thinking that I need to unload this torsion bar. protect the window remove the deck lid being careful of any leftover spring in the torsion bar as the hinge is no longer limited ( i guess i could drop the bar out of the bottom fully unloading it) then finally replace the hinge.
I replaced the cables and overhauled hinges on two cars using the ratchet strap to cradle method to secure the torsion bars. The job was fairly easy. Just secure the torsion bars to the rear of the cradle with the racket straps, remove deck lid, remove hinges. Protect rear glass with 12"x12" X 1/2-5/8" plywood squares.
Rodneys site gives instructions on replacing the strap rivets. The stainless rivets are somewhat soft and easy to mushroom. I angled Rodneys strap ends so the sweg was lined up with the cables when the deckled was open hopefully keeping the cable from wearing at the sweg. Just put the cable end in a vice and tap lightly with a hammer to angle slightly.
Replacement hinges come in two styles, for different years, see Rodneys add, and can be found in the parts yards or the PFF Mall.
[This message has been edited by Kevin87FieroGT (edited 01-18-2021).]
I replaced the cables and overhauled hinges on two cars using the ratchet strap to cradle method to secure the torsion bars. The job was fairly easy. Just secure the torsion bars to the rear of the cradle with the racket straps, remove deck lid, remove hinges. Protect rear glass with 12"x12" X 1/2-5/8" plywood squares.
Rodneys site gives instructions on replacing the strap rivets. The stainless rivets are somewhat soft and easy to mushroom. I angled Rodneys strap ends so the sweg was lined up with the cables when the deckled was open hopefully keeping the cable from wearing at the sweg. Just put the cable end in a vice and tap lightly with a hammer to angle slightly.
Replacement hinges come in two styles, for different years, see Rodneys add, and can be found in the parts yards or the PFF Mall.
Thank you! I didn't find those earlier. The ratchet strap on the upper torsion sounds like an interesting route that will prevent me from redoing work.
To maximize cable life, the cable end should be allowed to spin.
To maximize cable life, I'd go so far as to say... never use the in-cab electric popper. I only ever open my decklid while I'm standing there in complete control of the decklid.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-20-2021).]
To maximize cable life, I'd go so far as to say... never use the in-cab electric popper. I only ever open my decklid while I'm standing there in complete control of the decklid.
When you use the in-cab popper, the decklid is *supposed to* release, but stay down. YMMV based on local winds, so be mindful of that. If you decklid pops all the way up when you hit the in-cab popper, the torsion springs are set incorrectly for your decklid options (notchback/fastback, spoiler, rack, etc) or weight was removed from the decklid since the car was built.
Instead of cutting plywood pieces, I've read on here where people have cut several 2 x 4's to fit between the buttresses and stacked them against the rear glass. That will better take the impact of a runaway torsion bar.
