For the rear hatch hinges?If so do we still have someone that is still willing to make them for us?I'm asking because I got an e-mail from someone that says he has a good pair that he might be willing to loan us in exchange for a new set along with his old pair back.

I spoke with the person who can make the hinges todays at a Christmas Gathering. He asked me once again if we had found the hinges? He told a group of Vette owners, and one potential source for a new set of hinges, that he is willing to try to reproduce them for us.

So the source is still willing, we just need the hinges! Keep looking!!

Merry Christmas!

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JohnnyB
The 82

Johnny, it looks like Copter has found a set.

If you 2 can get together, and work something out, maybe we can get this problem solved once and for all...

I still have all the measurements from mine when I re-bent them and even a CAD drawing or two that can be posted here if needed, so we can use that to compare the used ones Copter found.

Just let me know if either of you two need anything else...

Copter, Please make sure you can get both left and right side, there is a difference between them that the machinist needs to see for the molds...

Johnny, let me know when you get them and show them to the guy that will be making them, I want to be sure we go over a couple of things with him before he starts making them, like making sure the embedded part number is added to the repo's, and also make sure he understands the stress that the repo's will need to withstand...

The guy emailed me back and wanted assurance that he would get them back.I can't blame him.He did say that his car would be down for the winter and he might let us borrow them.I told him to come over the this site and get aquiented with us.Maye he will. Anyway I'm waiting for a response back.Maybe tonight?Even if this falls through I'm still looking.Has anybody run the GM part#.Maybe some dealership in some way out place has a pair collecting dust in the parts dept.

Maybe it's time for some us us as a group to make a real commitment to this project. It looks like we might need to offer some guarantee to this guy for the use of his hinges. I know there are a couple of used ones out there, and if something happens to the loaner set, then I think we will need to replace them.

So how about it?
I know I will chip in if needed...

Also, about 3 years ago, there was a couple of us on the Corvette Forum that spent some time searching the internet, and using the GM parts counters to try to locate some hinges. We came up empty handed. GM just didn't make enough spares.
Here are the part numbers if anyone else wants to work on it.
Right hand 4290001
Left hand 4290002

Ok, he got back to me.He thought I was talking about the rear struts.I then told him the hinges.He isn't going to be restoring the car to the point that he will be removing the hinges.He does have a friend that is parting out a CE and will check into the hinges and get back to me.I told him to come over to our web site and check us out(at least to register his car)Thanks for the part#'s.I'll see what I can come up with.You are right in that we need to get this taken care of.

Damm,forgot to log in!! copter

I forgot.Can we even use a set of used one.If they are not in spec.does anybody have a diagram with measurements?

Hello,
I agree that a used set of hinges, properly shaped, is the way to go. I wonder if there are any NOS hinges to be found. I bent my hinges back to shape about a year ago. Now, I notice that they are starting to stretch again. I did not change my hatch lift pistons to keep pressure on the hinges low, yet they still stretched.
Just my 2 cents.
Tom

Like I said above, so far no one has found any NOS hinges.

And I believe a used set can be reshaped close enough to original spec's to work. I have made some decent mech drawings, and have just about every measurement that should be needed to verify the accuracy of some used ones.

Here is part of a CAD drawing I made, I will get to work on the rest of it, so when the time comes I can send it to the person making the repo's.

Thats great that you have that cad drawing.The guy that e-mailed me is a member here(Basecar)

Hello,
That is great that you have a CAD drawing of the part. Just out of curiosity, what kind of metal would be used to fabricate new hinges?
Regards,
Tom

How did this topic/thread get crossed over to the General discussion board???? We had a thread going on this very topic on the tech board. As i said i have a used set. Is someone expecting someoneelse to remove their hinges from their car to loan out?? I just cant imagine ANYONEONE doing that!! I am allmost sure they would have to be made from a mold as they are DEFENITLY 2 different pieces, as under very close inspection/comparison side by side they have a different angle to them. Someone with connections/influence should try to locate the origional tooling from cars & concepts,that would be our best bet . Even though I dont desperately need a new set right now ,I am willing to buy into a new set.

Hey Mac,
I thought about moving this into the other thread, but Copter was expecting a new member to log in here, so I was waiting for him to show up with the least amount of confusion...

In case anyone here missed the tech section thread, go ahead and read through it to see where we were...
http://www.corvetteaddiction.com/82ce/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17


If you already have an extra set, then maybe you can get with Copter and his friend to see about getting some made..

I don't know what materiel we should make these out of, at first I thought that forged aluminum would be the best bet, no flex and easily mold-able. maybe we need a metallurgical engineer to help us out here. Whoever decides will need to take into account the weight of the glass, because when it's up the full weight of the glass is resting on the hinges alone.

Anyone else have any ideas????

The guy that has offered to build the hinges, originally told me he would make them out of stainless steel. Since we have yet to produce a new hinge, as a model, I do not know if he is aware of the engineering problems he may encounter using stainless. Dawg, if you could email the CAD drawings to me, I will get them to him so he can begin the "figureing out" process.

As a side note: has anyone had any success locating the original manufacturer of the hinges? I tried, but was unsuccessful in reaching anyone that had any helpful information!

The quest continues!

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JohnnyB
The 82