Broken trunk hinge

[SGB]

Well, the trunk hinge nearest the battery has broken free.
1. What is the safe way to relieve the spring tension?
2. What is the part and is it available? - is B-512-139-10 ("Half-Hinge") the same peice as the little round bump the engine bay that the rear trunk pivots on?

[Conrad W Peden]

1. http://members.rennlist.com/chuxter/HoodSpringTool.htm
2. http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/9144/POR_9144_chasis_pg2.htm#item11

good luck

[Clay Perrine]

I would suggest contacting James Adams at JWest engineering. He makes an upgraded version of the reat trunk hinges. I installed a set and they are awesome. The only problem I can see with them is they will interfere with a 914/6 oil tank.

http://www.jwesteng.com/pivot.htm

[Tidybuoy]

The links listed in the previous post look pretty good. All I can add is "be careful". I removed my rear springs once & it was a major Bit%$. I would recommend wearing some heavy duty gardening gloves. The springs have sooo much tension that when they snap, they can litterally take your fingers off.

Actually, getting the old spring off is not too difficult & can be done with a large screw driver. It's getting the spring back on that's tough. When I upgraded to the metal rollers, it turned into a 5 hour project.

Good luck.............................Vern

[SGB]

Thanks for the tips guys. I also did a search and found that it fits a 10mm deep-well socket too. Right now mine is stuck into a socket with a long extension. The spring pressure is holding the extension up under the side vent area (quite strongly of course), and I'll be able to just pull it back down and around the roller again. The hinge is only seperated around matbe 120 degrees. I've pryed it back into sosition and a friend is going to reweld it Sunday. If he wasn't around (and if I wanted to really do it right), I would order those from J. West. They are perfect actually, but then I would have to do both sies. The left was done before I got the car (I think- it seems different) and looks strong. If, or when, I realize I need to do it the right way, I will have to get those.
I'm pretty sure the welding will go fine. The metal is sound. I think it was the repeatedrepeatedrepeatedrepeated bending the whole area took. Wish me luck.

[Clay Perrine]

If you are going to reuse the old hinges, you need to remove the bolt in the center for cleaning and lubrication. What causes the failures is that the bold corrodes and seizes to the hinge, and the spring tension causes it to tear the mounting plate. Pull the bolt and replace it, they are cheap. And while you are there put some anti-seize on the shoulder of the bolt where it goes through the hinge.

[Conrad W Peden]

Anybody got a link to the tool that M. Cooley(sp.) made. It was a round, 2 piece thing with holes etc.

[Clay Perrine]

Mike calls it a "rickydo" tool. I never used it. I just took a 12" cresent wrench with the hanging loop in the end of the handle and cut a notch big enough for the torsion bar to fit through. To use it, I take a box end werench and lift the torsion bar until I can slip the modifed cresent wrench over it, and use the modifed cresent wrench to put the bar in place. (Wes Hildreth showed me this trick, I just copied his modified wrench).

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There's a link to some machinists' drawings of the "Ricky-Do" on the Tech Articles page of this very website!

--DD

[Conrad W Peden]

Thanks Dave,

Will be needing it soon myself.