New Hatch Preparation

[ggunder]

I got a new hatch for my car since the old one had a dozen holes in it for a spoiler and louvers. The new hatch fits fine, but has some small dents to fill. It is bare metal and I have not yet transferred the rear glass from the old hatch to the new one. Should I just use a self-etching primer before installing the new glass with a new rubber seal? I have some POR15 I could use on the area where the rubber rests to help prevent rust if that is advisable. Let me know what you think, this is a car that I like to keep on the road pretty much all the time. It is already four different colors, so having a primer hatch does not bother me.

In a related item, getting the glass out of the old hatch has not been easy. I found a great thread to remove the stainless trim, and I have trimmed away the outer rubber flange. Unfortunately it appears the inner rubber is stuck to the hatch due to at least two paint jobs. I suppose the next step is to start carving away the interior rubber to get it loosened up so the glass drops "in" to the car. Right now the old hatch and glass are on the floor.

Your sage advice?

Gary

[tlorber]

Before you paint, make sure your hinge mounting points are solid. I reinforced mine with weld beads because there was some slop.

I was able to cut out the glass seal with a utility knife. They DO tend to get hard and brittle with age. Heat may help.

[olzed]

You would not want to leave your hatch in primer for too long. It will rust. Get some finish coat on there, even from a rattle can. Paint the whole hatch before you put the glass back in.

Do you know how to put the glass back in?

[ggunder]

From what I have been able to tell from reading, to install the glass into the hatch you:

1. Install the new rubber seal on the glass.

2. Carefully install the stainless trim into the rubber seal.

3. Install a length of string inside the rubber seal flange facing the interior of the car.

4. Place the glass on the outside of the hatch.

5. Pull on the string to pull the rubber flange to the inside of the hatch to hold the glass in place.

I was going to take the glass to a shop for this work to make sure the glass does not break during the install.

For final paint, is it possible to uninstall the hatch glass without harming the seal so it can be reused?

Thanks for the advice!

[olzed]

Yes, a good idea to get professionals to install the glass. It is possible to remove it again,but a little tricky, and best left to professionals. It involves gentle firm pressure from the inside, and lifting the inner lip with a tool for the purpose.

To paint the hatch without removing the glass, you can lift the OUTER lip with a screwdriver, and run some thick string under the outer lip to raise the rubber, then mask the rubber as normal. This way you can make a tidy job of painting slightly under the rubber. You might find the corners will need some extra short bits of string stuffed under there to lift the lip.