82 Collector Rear Hatch Won't Unlatch

[Christopher L.]

My 82 rear hatch won't unlatch completely. When I pull the release handle the hatch will unlatch partially but is still locked in. Is there a secondary quick release in the rear wall area or do I have to dismantle the rear speaker/carpeting area to get at it? I checked the corvette catalogs for rear hatch cable? assemblies etc. and could not find anything related. Thank you for your assistance.

Chris

[Joe L.]

Re: 82 Collector Rear Hatch Won't Unlatch

My 82 rear hatch won't unlatch completely. When I pull the release handle the hatch will unlatch partially but is still locked in. Is there a secondary quick release in the rear wall area or do I have to dismantle the rear speaker/carpeting area to get at it? I checked the corvette catalogs for rear hatch cable? assemblies etc. and could not find anything related. Thank you for your assistance.

Chris

Chris-----


There is no secondary release HANDLE or SWITCH that I know of.

The system consists of left and right latches. The primary latch is the left side latch and the secondary latch is the right side latch. The primary latch is activated by a cable. The secondary latch is activated by another cable which is activated from the primary latch. This is a system that's very similar to the hood latch release system on C3 Corvettes and that may be where its design "inspiration" came from.

If you have a situation in which your left side did unlatch but the right side did not, then I suspect that there's a problem with the secondary cable or secondary latch.

By the way, the reason that you probably won't find any of this in Corvette parts vendor catalogs is that all of these parts are GM-discontinued and I am not aware that any are reproduced.

Addendum: there's also one other possibility I failed to mention. The secondary cable has a retaining clip near the center. I believe that if this clip breaks or dislodges, it will also cause the right side to fail to release. Let's hope this is the problem since it's the easiest and cheapest to repair.

While none of these parts are available from GM or in reproduction as I previously mentioned, they are available used from Pacific Corvette and, likely, other Corvette used sources. Even used, though, many of these pieces can be quite expensive. They are unique to 1982 Collector's Edition cars.

[Christopher L.]

Re: 82 Collector Rear Hatch Won't Unlatch

Thanks Joe. Sounds like I'll need to dismantle the rear wall to see what is not releasing completely. Both posts are releasing but not far enough which may indicate that the primary and secondary cable are functioning but may need adjustment. I hope. Thanks for your assistance.

[Billy O.]

Re: 82 Collector Rear Hatch Won't Unlatch

Chris,

The other problem the Collector's Edition hatch is notorious for is the force of the gas-charged struts pushing the glass rear-ward further jamming the release mechanism. The upper hinges were just not robust enough to keep the glass in a fixed position over time. Good luck with your findings.

Billy

[Tom S.]

Re: 82 Collector Rear Hatch Won't Unlatch

Try pushing down on the rear hatch while someone else pulls the cable handle for you. That will help relieve some of the pressure.Tom

[Tom H.]

Re: 82 Collector Rear Hatch Won't Unlatch

Try pushing down on the rear hatch while someone else pulls the cable handle for you. That will help relieve some of the pressure.Tom

That was going to be my suggestion. Try that !