New Problem: Broken Trunk Hinge

[TonyC]

Hi, all,

Yes, that's my new problem. I went to the auto center to do a bit of under-car fiddling, such as greasing some drivetrain parts in preparation for a road trip which should have occurred three weeks ago; also ended up tightening a loose wheel bearing. Well, when I was leaving the center, I was spooked by a sudden, loud metallic thump behind me. I was afraid that I may have left a tool in a bad spot, or that a part of the drivetrain blew up on me...but the center was already closing down, so I could not go back in. However, I parked outside the gate and looked all underneath and found nothing; I popped the trunk to get a flashlight to look some more, and that was when I learned what caused that noise: The trunk did not rise at all, and I had to put in effort just to raise it. When I got home, I was able to find what happened. I thought at first that a torsion bar had either snapped or fallen off its mounting point; not the case. The right hinge broke.

I'm going to be doing some studying in the shop manual to learn how to remove a trunk hinge, as that is something I've never had to do before. But, I would accept anybody's input if anybody has ever removed a trunk hinge before. It will probably have to wait until the after the long road trip, as I've already been forced into delaying that for too long; hopefully, the left hinge and the latch will hold the trunk in place if I don't try opening it that much except for when I have to. I think my biggest question on this is, how does one remove the tension of the torsion bar from the hinge without losing an appendage or a limb?

---Tony

[Dan Szwarc]

Sounds like a broken pivot, but regardless, the only fix is from a parts car.

As far as trunk torsion springs, brute force and a properly shaped tool will allow you apply tension to swing the bar out of the locking hole. Take pictures, for sure, before starting.

Worst case, repair the hinge. Get out your parts and welder.

[TonyC]

Yes, that's what it looks like to me from what I saw. I wasn't able to get a closer look inside at the pivot, holding that trunk lid up is straining on the heart already; so I don't know yet if it just fell out or outright broke. Something definitely broke or it wouldn't have done that, just need to see the extent of it; at least I know the torsion bars are still intact. But, still being trapped in Kansas, any parts I need would have to come from out-of-state. Since I have to drive to Florida anyway, and I intended to source out new-repro A/C lines in Ocala, that gives me a reason to revisit LincolnLand, see if Chris can do something about that for me...at least sell a replacement hinge if I do in fact need a replacement.

---Tony

[Dan Szwarc]

The obvious solution is to replace the hinge. Shouldn't be a big problem unless you have to weld it in.
Any parts car should have one.

[frasern]

Strange things happen with high mileage. While you're at it, I suggest checking the trunk lid for fatigue cracks around the bolt holes, I have seen them on 2 parts cars. Adding a washer, or custom made load spreading plate now, may mitigate a future problem.
'66 trunk lids are really, really heavy! When the hinge broke, most of the pressure was released, so with someone holding the lid up. the torsion bar may fall out, or at least pop out with little effort. putting it back in will be harder.

[TonyC]

Perhaps that's something I should consider letting Chris Dunn's boys do when I can stop by there, IDK...depends on how much that would cost, replacement part + labor, as opposed to replacement parts only.

Well, today, while tracking down an unrelated wiring malfunction I had already committed to finding (for the cigarette lighter in the right-front door), I also decided to see what I could see in the broken hinge, and remove the switch to the warning light to both gain better access and to protect that switch from damage, since those things are really hard to find. I got in and discovered what broke in the hinge. So, pictures are best description; a picture is here. This was loose but partially lodged in the hinge well, I was able to yank it out once I got the warning switch out of the way. I did take other pictures for a more comprehensive look at what I discovered in there, but this stupid new handy I got cannot link up directly to my computer; I have to upload the pictures I take thru Google and then download them into the computer from Google. The one here is the only one that uploaded so far; the others are trapped in the ether. When they finally do get up into Google, I can show more, to better indicate where this tensioner (I'm pretty sure that's what it is, what helps hold the trunk lid up) was located.

---Tony

Update, 13 April: On the very distressing return leg of the road trip, I stopped in Seguin and visited John's Auto Salvage. One of the '67s in the yard was an ideal candidate for a replacement, as the trunk lid was already removed. But, thanks to the price-gouging for fuel, plus the fact that it was Saturday when I stopped by, I didn't get the hinge; I just did not have the time nor the money for it, nor really the motivation which was drained with all the illing symptoms the car has suffered during the trip. I have to try going back there after I cure all the ills in the car, if I can cure them.

Follow-up, 28 April: Okay, all, I learned that I still have a long way to go before I learn NOT to publicize embarrassing presumptions about things I am not actually 100% sure about. Someday I'll get there, presumably, but not today. I decided to examine the hinge more closely, on a hunch I got from randomly studying a drawing in the '66 shop manual which was not duplicated in the '67 manual. I saw how the torsion bar is shaped like a squared U near its end, inside the hinge...exactly the same U I showed above. Sure enough, everything I said about this problem was wrong: The hinge is NOT what broke. It was the torsion bar that broke. I suppose, then, that it was fortuitous that I was too depleted of time and money to buy a hinge from the Seguin yard, because I would have learned too late that was not what I needed.

So, all, disregard everything I said about the trunk hinge. It's a torsion bar I need, not a hinge.

Update, 23 August: Well, all, I finally made that follow-up trip to Seguin last week and got replacement torsion bars from one of the organ donors, the same car that offered me, among other things in the past, the switch to the warning-light circuit. It was the easiest of the cars to cannibalize because somebody had removed and bought the trunk lid. The bars look to be in good shape, and they cost only $50 for both. I went with both because I don't know what condition the other bar is in, so I'm ready for anything. I also pulled the hinge pin from the right hinge, just in case, as well as a few other smaller, unrelated parts I was in need of, all of which came to a final total of $70. Can't beat that. However, the trip itself has again depleted my funds, so I have to wait for turn-of-month to do that surgery...and I'm doing it at the auto center. Removing those bars required two people, myself and the yard mechanic; there was no way I could have removed those bars on my own, so I want to be sure I have help installing them.

It will also be nice to install new (-ish) suspension bumpers; mine are completely broken up and useless, and I found good replacements in the yard.

[TonyC]

Hi, all,

Bumping for update. I got torsion bars to replace the broken one; I got both for good measure. Today (well, technically "yesterday") I swapped them in, but I discovered something else, to my dismay. Yet again, I previously spoke of something with utter confidence, only to be proven wrong. This time, what was proven wrong was my second guess, about the hinges not being damaged. I learned today that the hinges themselves are in fact damaged; they were eating right through the pivot pins, especially the left one (ironically, the hinge whose bar did not snap). I did have one spare pin and put that in the right hinge; but I had only the one spare, so I had to re-use the less-eaten of the two original pins for the other hinge. The trunk still opens smoothly, but I have to replace the hinges and that other pin as soon as possible. The only thing I could do to delay another major break in the near-future was to smother the hinges and pins with white lithium grease spray. Now, there is absolutely no creaking from the lid when I open it. It doesn't spring all the way open, but it does release, I can lift it with only one hand, and it will stay up when I pull it all the way up.

At first glance it appears that the hinges are identical; however, I could be wrong on that. The right hinge has holes for the screws to the striker of the warning-light switch; the left hinge does not. Anyway, those will be the next things to hunt for. Now that the attachment glitch has been remedied, I'll show what I'm dealing with now. It ain't pretty. Zoom in, and you will see why it ain't pretty.

---Tony

[TonyC]

It occurred to me that I never followed up on this issue, so I am now. I wound up with two pair of trunk hinges: One from the organ donor that provided me with torsion bars, and the other from Fraser. Because Fraser's hinges were so close in their coloring to my old ones, and because they were in almost-like-new condition, including the pivot pins, I installed them some months ago (can't exactly remember when, but it was spring/early-summer). I was able to swap them in at home with the trunk lid still in place, doing one at a time while keeping the other hinge in place and the lid braced open with the bumper jack. I also drowned the pivot areas in white grease to virtually eliminate any chance of friction damage repeating. But it was an ordeal to load the torsion bars, one that took me two days at the auto-skill center to complete. The lid feels a tad weakly-sprung, sometimes taking a bit of goading to keep it up, as I mounted the bars at the lowest tension settings to prevent future blow-outs. But it's not too bad an inconvenience; and with the trunk lid perfectly aligned, I'm happy to have that issue behind me.

I still have the pair of hinges I didn't use, because one of the hinges of that pair was savagely bent. I was, luckily, able to straighten that hinge out with aid from the auto-center's bench vices, heavy hammers, and hydraulic press. So, should I have to deal with that again (very doubtful, yes, but still...), I can.

---Tony