Picked up a fiberglass hatch, how to go about sealing up the glass?

[LarsD]

Got a decent deal on a black fiberglass hatch for my 91 today. It is complete and in OK shape, however, the glass isn't sealed up, it is sort of just set there with the trim on it. Is this all I need?

http://www.cjponyparts.com/HATCH-DOOR-GLASS-SEAL-RETAINER-1979-1993/p/RWR/

Because I am hoping I can drive to where I have it stored, pull my rusty hatch off, seal the glass up, bolt it onto my car, and be on my way. Other wise I'll have to take my truck to get it and that sucker gets 13mpg. :-/

Also anybody know the procedure on pulling the trim and re-gasketing the glass?

Thanks

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Got a decent deal on a black fiberglass hatch for my 91 today. It is complete and in OK shape, however, the glass isn't sealed up, it is sort of just set there with the trim on it. Is this all I need?

http://www.cjponyparts.com/HATCH-DOOR-GLASS-SEAL-RETAINER-1979-1993/p/RWR/

Because I am hoping I can drive to where I have it stored, pull my rusty hatch off, seal the glass up, bolt it onto my car, and be on my way. Other wise I'll have to take my truck to get it and that sucker gets 13mpg. :-/

Also anybody know the procedure on pulling the trim and re-gasketing the glass?

Thanks

I don't think I've ever seen a fiberglass hatch that used anything other than a piece of lexan screwed to the lip that was molded for it to sit in. Do you have some OEM style replacement made out of fiberglass?

 

[LarsD]

I don't think I've ever seen a fiberglass hatch that used anything other than a piece of lexan screwed to the lip that was molded for it to sit in. Do you have some OEM style replacement made out of fiberglass?

Dunno to be honest. It looks like a factory hatch, just in fiberglass. I've got these weak ass pics for now. I'm now 70 miles away from it.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

I went to Autozone and bought the stuff that you use to put in a windshield. Press it on very firmly, and let it sit for a few hours before you drive.

I have two of these hatches now, and you have to add the clips that hold the trim. I didn't do this on my GT and had to attach the trim with silicone, which was a pain.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

Looks like an HO fibertrends hatch to me. That is what I have on my GT. It is lighter than the Design Concepts one that I am using on my 93 LX project. The Design concepts one does have a finished underside though, unlike the HO piece. That is kinda nice because I can put my piece of plastic trim on this one

As an aside, I had to remove the metal shims on the hignes for both of my hatches in order to get them to fit right. You really would be better off with a helper to hold the hatch while you adjust it and get it fitted. It is still heavy as hell when you have the glass, and especially the spoiler, attached. Also, your gas struts are now useless, so remove them. You will destroy the fiberglass if you try to keep using the struts.

 

[LarsD]

Looks like an HO fibertrends hatch to me. That is what I have on my GT. It is lighter than the Design Concepts one that I am using on my 93 LX project. The Design concepts one does have a finished underside though, unlike the HO piece. That is kinda nice because I can put my piece of plastic trim on this one

As an aside, I had to remove the metal shims on the hignes for both of my hatches in order to get them to fit right. You really would be better off with a helper to hold the hatch while you adjust it and get it fitted. It is still heavy as hell when you have the glass, and especially the spoiler, attached. Also, your gas struts are now useless, so remove them. You will destroy the fiberglass if you try to keep using the struts.

Yeah, this one was definitely not light. I suspected I might not be able to use my struts anymore. Where are these shims you speak of? On the body or the hatch itself? Guess I need to investigate these clips for the trim as well.

Have any complaints about using it on a driver? I finally gave up on looking for a clean hatch. Everything I could find was either on the other side of the state or just as shot as mine.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

The shims are on the actual latches near the roof attached to the body. You will see once you remove them, they are basically 1.5 inch rectangles that shim the hinges up and down.

The hatch is fine while driving. I had the same rust issues that you had and it is impossible to find a decent hatch in St. Louis, so I am mostly about rust prevention.
On the positive side...

- The hatch saves you about 20 lbs. over stock, so that is nice.
- I liked the fitment of the HO fibertrends hatch, the body lines are decent. Make sure your old hatch bumpers are still there and add them, you need that adjustment in my experience. I noticed a piece of foam on the pictures you posted, so it looks like the PO of that hatch was having a common rubbing issue between the hatch and the quarter panel. New weatherstripping helps support it a bit, but the bumpers really need to be there. My Design Concepts hatch has a little more of a bow in the center than I would like and a larger gap than the HO one does.
- The hatch can use your original lock cylinder
- It won't rust!

On the downside...

- Getting into the hatch is a pain. If you really use your car for getting groceries and stuff like that, you need to create a prop rod of some sort.
- No defroster. You could probably work around this by running a wire to the body, but I haven't done that.
- The hatch has the potential to be a little noisier than the steel one. It's hard to explain, but they don't sound deaden as well and they can squeak. If you are nuts about little noises I suppose it could be annoying. A good hatch striker bushing and the weatherstrip helped mine out, so I don't really notice it.
- The only other thing I don't like is that my electric hatch popper doesn't work either. Like the defroster, a ground wire could probably be run to the body, but I haven't done it, so the only way in is to unlock it with the key.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

Here's some pics of the HO Fibertrends all done on the GT.

View attachment 151890

View attachment 151891

View attachment 151892


This is where they tend to rub on the quarters, so be careful to get the adjustment right.
View attachment 151893

Here is the design concepts hatch. You can see the bow in the center. The glass isn't installed, so I hope it reduces it some once it is adhered.

 

[LarsD]

Thanks for the pics. Your GT looks very slick. All the wiring and bumpers are still there on my original hatch so I should be good there. The car already has a thousand rattles, so I doubt I'll notice another one (hopefully I won't).

 

[larrym1961]

I had the same problem trying to find a good condition hatch in my area to replace my rusty one. Don't know if that is is a common problem with a hatchback fox body, it is the only place on my Mustangs body that shows any rust.

Anyway I did locate a steel hatch in great condition from www.bieberfever.com, from their salvage parts dept. For the price of the hatch plus the cost of truck freight to Idaho from AMP, it was still less than the cost of a new fiberglass hatch that I was considering replacing my rusted one with.

 

[LarsD]

I had the same problem trying to find a good condition hatch in my area to replace my rusty one. Don't know if that is is a common problem with a hatchback fox body, it is the only place on my Mustangs body that shows any rust.

Anyway I did locate a steel hatch in great condition from www.bieberfever.com, from their salvage parts dept. For the price of the hatch plus the cost of truck freight to Idaho from AMP, it was still less than the cost of a new fiberglass hatch that I was considering replacing my rusted one with.

I picked this one up for not much more then a clean metal hatch, so I figured it was worth the risk.

 

[larrym1961]

According to the body man I had paint the hatch for me told me one of the main reasons good salvage parts for the Fox body Mustang are getting hard to find is because they are being scooped up and turned into race cars.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

Thanks for the compliment Lars,

I think the hatches are getting tough to find because the newest Fox Body is 19 years old and the hatches were already rusting out after 5 years if you lived in the rust belt. I just don't trust any steel hatch not to rust out anymore. Even if it came from the desert, once you introduce it to a rust prone climate it is just a matter of time.

 

[ratio411]

The 87 GT I just picked up is riddled with rust in the hatch.
Other than a little in the hatch channel, the rest of the car is totally rust free.
There is a tiny spot in the hatch channel at the rear of the roof that will need work, that's it.

 

[ratio411]

Hatches on these cars must be rust prone.

 

[easystang]

dang 91twilight you would never know that hatch was fiberglass, your car is very nice.

 

[91TwighlightGT]

Thanks!