Trunk hinges

[fireguyfire]

Both of my trunk hinges have a bit of rot in the bottom of the "trough" in the trunk lip where the trunk hinge is spot welded to the trunk lip. Both of mine have popped through and the hinges move around a fair bit when closing the trunk lid.
This is a pretty easy fix, and my question is, is that single spot weld to the trunk opening lip the only weld that connects the hinge to the top of the trunk to prevent it from moving?
Just want to be sure so that I repair it to factory correct.


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[fireguyfire]

Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to fix this?
I'm thinking cut out and replace the bad part of the bottom channel, and then re plug weld the trunk hinge to that?

[70 Challenger Lover]

Here's a couple shots of one of mine. It could be an easy fix if you carefully cut away only what you had to and grafted in fresh metal. That looks like something where previous owners over the years let the lid fly up every time they opened it. With the rust, it just eventually popped.

[70 Challenger Lover]

I think I'd remove the lid, release the tension on the rods and let the hinge arms drop down out of your way. Plus that would let the metal relax more.

From there, examine every spot weld top and bottom to verify the ones in the outer troughs are the only ones at issue.

Then, you have a choice. You cut cut away a chunk of the trough to open access to the bracket tab underneath or cut away a chunk of the bracket tab underneath to provide access to the trough. Either way, I think I'd start with one in the hopes you could repair the other more easily in place after getting some access space to work in.

If that is the only part of the whole hinge assembly with rust, it could be a fairly clean and easy fix with a welder and a couple hours of fabricating.

[fireguyfire]

Perfect; I'm pretty certain everything else is rock solid

[fireguyfire]

Any hints on removing the trunk hinge tension bars?

[70 Challenger Lover]

I have not unhooked mine yet so maybe someone who's done it can chime in.

It appears that you could just unhook one at the back where it goes into the adjustable tension slots, then slide it out. You would want the lid off first obviously.

[fireguyfire]

I recall seeing a special tool for doing it, but that doesn't mean you necessarily need it.

[jimynick]

The "special tool" that we used to use, was a 8 or 10" 3/8 drive extension, just use the hollow end and be careful because if you wrench on it too much it can pop out. Take your time and you'll be fine. As for that hole, I'd use a carbide burr and clean the hole out, tapering the edges and then braze it full of brass and grind it smooth. I'd also- and did, in mine- braze the inner joint where the hinge meets the upper trunk panel trough. Cutting, fitting, welding and grinding a patch in that spot will not be a fun thing to do. Good luck 

[fireguyfire]

So I'm finally at the point of wanting to fix the popped spot welds on my trunk hinges and want to take out the tensioning rods so the hinges lay down inside the trunk.
I'm not fully clear on the best way to remove the trunk hinge tensioner rods; can anyone explain to me how they have done it?
Just want to make sure I do it safely; not sure how much tension they are under with the trunk lid off.

[tparker]

Maybe its just mine, but they were not that hard to remove. I can't remember exactly how I did it, but I think I just pulled hard and moved it to a slot with less tension. Then there is a bit of a puzzle aspect as you have to move it around to get it out. I painted mine and the biggest issue was trying not to scratch everything up. You might want to see if you can get a piece of leather or other material around it a bit to help you get some leverage to pull it out of the slot. Really wasn't all that hard, just a bit of a puzzle

[fireguyfire]

So as suggested, it was easy to intensional the springs so that the hinges hang free which will make the repair of my popped hinges easier for sure.
So my next question is; because both hinge spot welds have popped, they have a bit of side to side flip in them, and it's tough to tell where exactly they went before they popped.
There is very little side to side adjustments in the trunk lid once the hinges are tacked back in place, so I'm guessing they need to be bang on or my deck lid gaps won't be right.
Any suggestions on how to get the hinges in exactly the right spot before tacking them back in place?
I'm thinking of remounting the trunk with the springs off, and getting the gaps right; once they are then I can mark the hinge exact locations and plug weld them back into place.
Does this seem logical, or does someone have a better suggestion for how to relocate the hinges?
I also debated locating the center line of the trunk opening, getting an outside hinge to hinge measurement from someone on the forum, then using the center line to locate the hinges.
Thoughts?