Replacing hatch on my Formula!! help!!!
06-06-2006, 10:40 AM
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Replacing hatch on my Formula!! help!!! Hey, I am putting a trans am hatch on my formula and i was just wondering if anyone could help me out by giving me a step by step instruction of how to take it off and putting it back on? Thanks in advance...
06-06-2006, 12:46 PM
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haha its a lot of fun!
ok sit in your backseat and take off the dome light and carefully pull down the headliner. underneath you will see where to disconnect the wires and the ground (10mm).
Lift up the hatch and take a tiny screwdriver and pull the little circular retainer things out of the hatch side of the gas shock things that push the hatch up. Take the rings and prop up the hatch with something else, or just kind of leave them on the ends they will stay.
take the 4 13mm (i think) that hold the hatch to the hinges off and carefully remove hatch (its a lot easier with a friend, even your little sister can help you its not that heavy)
ok putting it on . ..
take the hinges off of the body, and bolt them onto the hatch, its easier this way
take 2 bathtowels and lay them across the hatch jams at the back sidesof the hatch (like where the antenna is)
this is important, especially if you are putting a new hatch on. you need to completely disconnect the mechanism that latches the hatch into the body, we will get back to this later.
So you and your helper put the hatch back in its place, go back into your back seat and bolt the hinges back on. remove towels and carefully let hatch down, adjust those little rubber stops to get proper height, and adjust the hinges to get the proper alignment. If you slam it **** and the alignment is off you will nail your paint.
ok so once its all lined up crawl back into the back of the car with a flashlight and mark ecaxtly where the latch sits, then open the hatch and mount the latching mechanism there.
If you do it the lazy way (not taking the latching mechanism it off while fitting the hatch) you may get lucky and have it line up, but most likely you will get the latch stuck because its not lined up properly, and the button wont open the hatch, and you will have to crawl into the back and try to open it with a pair of pliers while your helper yanks up on it, trust me i know, iv done it
ok sit in your backseat and take off the dome light and carefully pull down the headliner. underneath you will see where to disconnect the wires and the ground (10mm).
Lift up the hatch and take a tiny screwdriver and pull the little circular retainer things out of the hatch side of the gas shock things that push the hatch up. Take the rings and prop up the hatch with something else, or just kind of leave them on the ends they will stay.
take the 4 13mm (i think) that hold the hatch to the hinges off and carefully remove hatch (its a lot easier with a friend, even your little sister can help you its not that heavy)
ok putting it on . ..
take the hinges off of the body, and bolt them onto the hatch, its easier this way
take 2 bathtowels and lay them across the hatch jams at the back sidesof the hatch (like where the antenna is)
this is important, especially if you are putting a new hatch on. you need to completely disconnect the mechanism that latches the hatch into the body, we will get back to this later.
So you and your helper put the hatch back in its place, go back into your back seat and bolt the hinges back on. remove towels and carefully let hatch down, adjust those little rubber stops to get proper height, and adjust the hinges to get the proper alignment. If you slam it **** and the alignment is off you will nail your paint.
ok so once its all lined up crawl back into the back of the car with a flashlight and mark ecaxtly where the latch sits, then open the hatch and mount the latching mechanism there.
If you do it the lazy way (not taking the latching mechanism it off while fitting the hatch) you may get lucky and have it line up, but most likely you will get the latch stuck because its not lined up properly, and the button wont open the hatch, and you will have to crawl into the back and try to open it with a pair of pliers while your helper yanks up on it, trust me i know, iv done it
Last edited by camaroextra; 06-07-2006 at 06:12 PM.
06-07-2006, 06:09 PM
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Did you get the hatch support shocks with the T/A hatch? If not you'll probably need to get a pair of them off a T/A. The formula ones might not support the extra weight.
When I changed my hatch to the T/A style, I needed to get new(used) ones.
When I changed my hatch to the T/A style, I needed to get new(used) ones.