Hatch out of allignment

[maxpower1716]

Hi guys so I have a 1988 mustang GT and it is in pretty good shape except it was in a wreck before and the skin had to redone on the driver side quarter panel. Now the hatch doesn't totally line up. I have some pictures of it here. I think the frame might be kind of bent i'm not really sure what I can do to fix it. It latches but there is spot where the weather stripping isn't making contact.

[ashley roachclip]

Check the hatch hinges first.
I see your hatch has been hitting on the driver side quarter , on the corner .
There is some adjustment to the hatch .

[Davedacarpainter]

That's odd, what does the roof/hatch gap look like?

[Jerry peachuer]

Maxpower-
I see your tail lights to quarter panel (driver side to passenger side comparison ) is shifted where the taillight meets the metal

Also your fuel door gap appears tight near the front compared to the back

Where I'm going is it probably has a different hatch and there's shims under the hatch hinge that you can add it take away and also the rubber bumpers need to be adjusted you may be missing them entirely or ones out further than the other

Also get inside and see how the striker is aligning with the latch mechanism
There's only up and down travel but it will show you if it's shifted

Not saying this will align your hatch but like above stated there is adjustment
And with some slotting of the rear hinge bracket you maybe able to do that as last resort this is not ideal but slotting is only possible because the fasteners are anchored positively in the cars structure

Measure what it's off by and see what kind of material is on the brackets and take them to a machine shop to slot the hole

Never done it but when my car was painted I did hatch swap from 85 -92 and it aligned shockingly well but you may be missing some shims which will raise the front to roof gap and lower the other end which is why ^^^^ Dave is most likely asking

There's not much for side to side that I'm aware of so keep slotting as your very very last option it's not a ideal fix but I wouldn't hesitate on my car if I had too

[wraithracing]

In all my years of messing with Foxes, all the cars I have built/restored/modified/etc. I have never had to slot the hinges or mounting points for the hatch. Unless the car has been hit and repaired poorly its nothing but a matter of adjusting what is there.


1) First and foremost, take out the rear interior trim panels and remove your striker completely. Do this first so that you remove any chance of a misaligned striker causing the issues. See how the hatch closes now. If the hatch is still off or needs adjustment move to #2 otherwise #6

2) Pop the hatch struts off the hatch mounts. Yes this makes lifting it a pain, but the hatch lifts are strong enough when good to actually cause misalignment too. This can also happen when you have one good and one bad lift. The good lift will push the hatch towards the bad side. I also recommend either removing or threading the hatch bumpers all the way into the hatch. You may want to run a piece of tape down both sides of the hatch opening to protect the paint, but you don't want the hatch bumpers to screw up your alignment either.

3) Now remove the metal trim piece at the back of the headliner to gain access to the two hatch hinge bolts.

4) Loosen the hatch bolts just enough that with force you can shift the hatch around on the body, but it will still maintain it's position. You can shift the hatch side to side, front to back, and diagonally. So consider that when making adjustments. Look at your gap at the roof/hatch line and look at the back edges of the hatch compared to the quarter panels and the tail lights. Honestly on some cars the hatch doesn't fit perfect to the quarters no matter what you do, so just split the difference and make it look even. YES, the hatch lip does overhang the tail lights slightly. Make sure your roof/hatch line is not too wide, but not too tight as to cause any rubbing or paint chipping.

5) Once you have adjusted the hatch and are happy with it's alignment. crawl into the back seat and tighten up the hatch bolts and recheck everything. I recommend tighten up both sides a half a turn at a time, so you don't cause any shifting. Get out and double check that nothing has moved and you are still happy with the alignment. If so, then move on to #6 otherwise repeat #4

6) If you jumped from #1 to this point, then I still recommend popping off the hatch lifts for the reasons mentioned above. Now close the hatch to check alignment. Now start adjusting your hatch bumpers until you are pleased with the fit and alignment of the hatch side to side and the gap at the quarter panels. I recommend adjusting them just a bit high so that you can have the latch pull the hatch down tight and prevent any rattles. If all good then crawl thru the rear seats and look at your latch mechanism and the to see how that and the striker will match up. Its easiest if you have a helper that can now open the hatch for you while you install the striker in rough location you want. Snug up the striker so you can latch the hatch. Close the hatch and see how things line up. If the hatch shifts or doesn't align correctly then you need to adjust the striker until it does. This can mean moving the striker up/down/side to side etc. Bottom line your hatch should require a nice shove to latch properly, but you shouldn't have to slam it. I generally pull my hatch down until it's @ 6-8" above the latch and then shut it with a bit of force, but again NO SLAMMING!!! Continue to tweak your adjustment of the striker until the hatch shuts properly without changing it's alignment on the body. You might have to tweak your rubber bumpers slightly side to side to make everything work, so consider that.

7) Reinstall the hatch lifts and check your alignment once again. If the hatch tries to push to one side, then check the opposite strut lift as it may be weak. If both are suspect, then new ones are always a good choice.

Now everything should be aligned, shutting properly and without issues. My statements above assume you have a good hatch weatherstrip installed. If not, then I recommend getting one before you start adjusting as that will affect your striker placement. Now you can re install all the trim piece and hit the road!

[Davedacarpainter]

+1 to what the guys just said. Very nice rundown Trey.

[ashley roachclip]

Only thing I would change from that write up , is I bring the hatch all the way down, and only need to push lightly , to make it compress the weather strip enough to latch.
I have no rattles or air /water leaks this way, and I hate having anything slam ��

[Jerry peachuer]

close hatch on a piece of paper( typical computer paper )

Money works too

There should be some resistance as you pull paper out from under the hatch

this will give you quick check to see if your seal is sealing air and water out (and fumes)

But seal must be in in good shape and not over compressed

[maxpower1716]

Here is the top of the hatch

[ashley roachclip]

Top gap looks even .

[wraithracing]

Your gap at the top looks good. I would recommend leaving the hatch hinges as they are now.

I would recommend removing the striker and popping off the struts and see how the hatch sits at that point. If the hatch is more aligned at that point you know either the struts and or the striker are the issue.

You can check the struts by hand, if one of them is easy or easier to compress than the other, that one is bad or going bad. I generally recommend replacing them in pairs, but do as your budget allows.

I do recommend setting the striker position with the struts off to prevent any jacking up of the alignment. Good Luck!

[maxpower1716]

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll try to find time this weekend to take the striker and struts off and see what I can do. I'll report back

[dagenham]

If the car had a 1/4 panel put on, I have to think one of two things. The 1/4 panel was installed incorrectly or the the rear of the car is twisted.
How much history of the car do you know and who did the body work? Was it an individual doing it there "backyard" or was it done professionally?

[Walking-Tall]

Visually, and this: "It latches but there is spot where the weather stripping isn't making contact.", tells me the rear of the hatch could use to be lowered some with the striker/latch, as well as then adjusting the rubber bumpers to set your end gaps.