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1982 Collector Edition. Hatch Hinges.


Nicko Australia

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Nicko Australia

Hi, I recently purchased a 1982 Collector Edition Corvette here in Australia. I  am pulling out the little hair I have left. I am having all sorts of issues with the rear hatch. I now understand the rotten hinges have stretched. New ones are no longer available. I hear and read that someone out there has made reproduction hinges. I need a pair as my car is no longer drivable. Boy did I have some fun removing the rear hatch.

 

I would be eternally in  debt if someone can point me in the right direction. 

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I can't help with the hinges but you can't drive the car? T-tops off, hatch off====DRIVE LIKE THE WIND MY FRIEND!

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Well, long story .... cliff notes. 

 there was one guy making hinges out of billet aluminum. They worked but didn't look factory. 

He used a CAD drawing I had made then ripped off everyone on the price. 

 

I havent seen seen any for sale in a few years now. Try asking on Corvetteforum.com, someone there may have better info. 

 

Unless your our original hinges are broke you can tweak them into usable shape. Place them in a vice and gently. SLOWLY. Squeeze them closed some.  Go a little at a time and trial fit them several times to get them to fit. 

Once you've done that, consider removing one or both the the lift struts. They are the main culprit to the hinges stretching, even while closed the struts push the window rearward and stretch the hinges.  

 

And I agree. Removing that glass the first time is killer. 

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  • 1 year later...

Any update on this?

A friend of mine works in metal fab, and said he would reproduce these hatch hinges if anyone still had the cad design drawings.

He has a c3 himself ('77) and is a huge Star Wars fan, so most of his time is spent fabbing up pieces of both of those things :) 

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  • 4 months later...

Hi Jeff,

Sorry I didn’t reply to your PM earlier. 

I have the CAD drawing I made on an old hard drive collecting dust in the closet after that operating system crashed. 

I do now have a new laptop that I hope to use to access those old drives with. I’ll let you know if I can get into them. 

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  • 5 months later...
Nicko Australia

Hi, I have cast 6 pairs of hinges in Aircraft grade Aluminum. I have not machined them as yet. As I have not had the time to get them machined.  These were cast from a manufactured pair that were produced in America a few year back. The work perfectly on my C3. See my original post on 26th of July 2016. I can see about getting them machined or I can sell them in the cast state and you can get them machined in  your home town. Nick .  

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  • 4 years later...

Just like on the CF, I told you who to contact about the hinges. That person actually lives here in the valley.

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