Hatch Hinge Question

[tlorber]

Has anyone here ever had to weld the hinge brackets back onto the Hatch?

I have noticed a bit of slop in the operation of the hinges for a while. Well, today, one thing led to another and I ended up removing the hatch. It turns out they had been welded by someone in the past to try to repair the problem but it was not the best weld.

The surface metal that they were factory spot welded to is very thin. Beneath this top layer is another layer of metal that seems a bit thicker but the two layers are independent-at least in this location. It looks like I'll need to drill out the hinge bracket to create some new spot welds, but I just wanted to know if any of you have had to deal with this.

Thanks.

Todd

[Arne]

Yup, more than once. Sorta, anyway.

My yellow Series 1 had a rusty later style hatch on it when I bought it. The replacement Series 1 hatch I bought for it had already had both hinge mounts re-welded. Like yours, rather poorly.

My red car needed the left hinge mount re-welded when I bought it. I had a local body shop re-weld it, he did a much nicer job.

[esmit208]

TLORBER

It might be a better idea to try and locate a hatch that has not been molested. Search the hatch archives on this site and try to find some suppliers. By all means try to go and have a look at the replacement hatch before you by it. There used to be a shop on the PCH in Redondo Beach named Redondo Beach Z World when I lived in Los Angeles back in the 90's. If he is still open he might have a good hatch. I bought the complete car to the left from him. Good Luck!

[Jetaway]

Has anyone here ever had to weld the hinge brackets back onto the Hatch?

I have noticed a bit of slop in the operation of the hinges for a while. Well, today, one thing led to another and I ended up removing the hatch. It turns out they had been welded by someone in the past to try to repair the problem but it was not the best weld.

The surface metal that they were factory spot welded to is very thin. Beneath this top layer is another layer of metal that seems a bit thicker but the two layers are independent-at least in this location. It looks like I'll need to drill out the hinge bracket to create some new spot welds, but I just wanted to know if any of you have had to deal with this.

Thanks.

Todd

If you mean this (see photo), yes. A buddy Mig welded it for me, I didn't think it looked very good and sure enough, it failed within a month. Later I met a friend of the same buddy's who knew something about welding. He didn't spot weld it, I think he used an arc welder and it has held for a couple of months now. Paint got burned, so he must not have kept it cool enough, or maybe its not easy to do, which would explain the reluctance of commercial body shops to tackle the job.

The photo is of spare hatch from a 260Z I picked up while figuring out what to do about the broken bracket. The paint is in abysmal condition, but if you can't get yours fixed or find a replacement and are willing to wait a couple of months (let's say the end of March), I'll let you have it for a reasonable price. I do want to hold on to it for awhile longer as am backup in case the weld fails, but holding on to it much beyond 4 / 5 months starts the move from prudence to hoarding.

Chris

[tlorber]

Thanks for the input guys. Chris, that IS the piece and that weld looks similar to what a PO had done. The metal began to tear at the bottom of the weld. As I mentioned above, beneath the surface metal is a thicker piece. Since my first post, I have ground it down and also drilled out some holes in the middle of the mount. I will try welding some beads to the thicker metal and also performing my own "spot welds" in the center of the mount.

Everything else is fine with the hatch, so I don't think this warrants a change over (new paint, alignment etc). I would imagine that most hatches are fatigued in a similar manner-no doubt due to the tailgate strut. This problem is much worse on the driver's side, but since its off, I'll probably try to repair both.

[Jetaway]

Yeah, the torn away sheet metal and a thicker piece (two maybe) underneath is exactly what happened to mine.

Your comment about the strut got me thinking. I feel a new thread approaching.

Chris

[tlorber]

I plan on welding this up on Friday. I took a couple of before pics, and I'll shoot some after ones. Not sure if I'll be able to post though.

I don't think that this will be a huge deal to fix, but I've been wrong before--twice, in fact.