Trunk Carpet Install & Question

[Victory]

After two years of stalling, today I finally did my trunk. I cleaned it, por-15'd it and laid down some FatMat sound deadning. On top of the FatMat I installed some jute padding (I brought 25sqft of jute padding for $15 at Lowe's). I did this for two reasons. One, I wanted the carpet to be smooth all around and not see the trunk floor lumps and stuff and two, the jute padding only adds to the sound deadning charateristics of the FatMat. I like bass, but I hate a rattley trunk.

The install went pretty smooth. You do have to trim some of the carpet that covers the wheel wells a bit, but that's all.

Now for my question: Once upon a time I was trying to adjust my trunk torsion bars so my trunk lid would pop-up like it supposed to. While trying to do that I knocked the torsion bar out of the holder. I've been trying in vain to get it back in but for the life of me I can't. It's been like this for a couple of seasons now and although I tried a bunch of stuff I'm now all out of ideas.


Does anyone have a verified trick that could help me out?

Thanks

 

[Victory]

More Pics

Not enough DIY pics on this forum...

 

[Victory]

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More...

 

[Victory]

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[Victory]

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[Victory]

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[Victory]

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and finished...now if I could just fix my torsion bar!

 

[87GNSteve]

This should help:
Deck Lid Torsion Rods...SalvageV6 - TurboBuicks.com

 

[Bruce Urie]

Torque rod installation

Real nice job there. Real nice. I just did mine this past Thurday, after procrastinating for about two months. Other things...I've put off longer than your trunk job. Must get to it.
Let's see if I can explain how to put your torque rods back...use a vise grip and grasp the two rods on the driver's side first about 6-7 inches from the big hinge towards center of trunk. Lock them together. Then connect hinge end of torque rod first (the part that goes behind the hinge into a small notch in the rear of it, using some type of steel tool, a 12" extention or larger lenght might work) then install bracket end of the torque rod into the bottom of the three notches you see there on the inside hinge.( using a long screwdriver) You'll then see the rod in the notch, goes towards the back of the passenger seat,goes into a single notch, makes a 90 degree turn, crosses over the other rod, then over to the other side behind the hinge into a single slot. Then do the same for the passenger side. The rod you show hanging down...that's the opposite end of the passenger torque rod, that goes in bottom notch. On the passenger side, the other rod, if it were hanging down like the one you show...that's the opposite of the driver's side torque rod. Put this in the bottom notch, passenger side also. Remember to put some type of rubber tubing over the locking ends of your vise grip, this keeps from scratching up all the paint. Remember, the bent down rods are the opposites of the torque rods, they cross over each other appoximately in the middle of the back of the rear seat.
Putting that jute under the rear area of the truck to keep the trunk ribs from showing... damn, why didn't I think of that? I only put the stock jute back on the shelf area where you have your stereo amps mounted. So, off to Lowe's to get some jute for this rear trunk area. Sheese, no matter how well I "thunk" I did the job, I always miss something.:tongue:
Hope this helps you fix your torque rods. Remember the opposite end of the bent down rod goes behind the hinge, in a slot. The bent down ones go into the bottom of the three notches. Keep looking at it long enough...sooner or later it'll make sense.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Victory]

Ok Bruce I follow everything you wrote. So if I am understanding the trick I'm missing is to use a vise grip to hold the two bars together at the middle?

The hook you see in the picture is the only problem. The other side is all connected and the "hinge" side of the bar you see is connected as well.

My problem has been I have not been able to force that end of the bar into the bottom slot. There is too much tension.

Oh and I'm glad the pics gave you an idea...that's why I posted them. I've had the D'oh moment many times on this board. I'm glad to give a little back.

 

[Bruce Urie]

Trunk torque rods

Was trying to post again last night, but the computer decided to fight me for some reason. The post before me, by 87gta-Turbo, and SalvageV6, was done while I was squirreling away trying to come up with the easiest way to try and fix the rod. That site they posted should give you some idea how hard this might be, might need two people to fix. Excellent post there.
According to the '87 Body Sevice Manual, they show a picture of a vise grip about 6 inches from the hinge, clamping both rods very close together. Looks like you might need a large vise grip or some type of gripping device to do this. Then a long screwdriver is put under the small bend part of the rod (that you have showing), with the screwdriver end placed over the top inside lip of the hinge, over the two torque rods, thus lifting the rod up and into the bottom slot. It looks as though you're going to have to come up with a long, bent, strong rod or something to do this, as the end of this rod is pretty close to the trunk floor. You're going to need some leverage. According to the previous post, I didn't have any idea how much torque this rod has, and the trouble to move it. SalvageV6 was right, it's a job best done carefully, and celebrated with a good beer afterwards.:tongue: Try clamping those rods together, not at the middle where they meet in the trunk, but about 6 inches from the inside hinge. Then fabricate some long, strong bar for leverage, bent at the end about 20 degrees to fit under the rod, etc. This is best I could come up with. With a little thought, time, and help from another person, I'm sure you can get this thing solved. I'm sorry I haven't been more precise with an answer. Just trying my best.
Yeah, it's nice to know others have the Duh'oh moments. Now I don't feel so dumb as I usually do.
Let us know how you do. I just hope someone else can come up with a better idea than mine.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Bruce Urie]

An idea here that may work...after clamping the two rods together, put the screwdriver under the bend, and up over the rods, then angle a bottle jack under the screwdriver handle, using some wood blocks under the bottle jack to angle it, then slowing jack the rod end out and up until it's even with the slot, then slam it in with a heavy hammer. I know this sounds outrageous, but sometimes you can make an idea work out by modifying it, thinking it out. Remember, the Wright brothers had an idea at thier bicycle shop and look how it all ended up.:wink: Well, just an idea...it came to me while staring at your picture of it.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[Victory]

...I know this sounds outrageous, but sometimes you can make an idea work out by modifying it, thinking it out...
Bruce '87 Grand National

Not outrageous at all. One of the things I was trying included using my jack to jack up the hanging piece, but the angle is all wrong. I don't have a bottle jack, so maybe that's the key. Maybe I'll "borrow" one from AutoZone.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[6shot]

Trunk looks good, did it help with the rattles??

 

[Victory]

I havent got my new sub box in yet. With the old one it was a rattle trap. The gas tank used to rattle a bunch and some other stuff I could never track down.

As soon as the box is installed I'll post back.

 

[Victory]

Well...

Go the sub box installed and yes the rattles are gone. It sounds great!

and

I was able to fix my broken torsion bar using a bottle jack and a rubber mallet (to hammer the bar in once I got the torsion bar high enough). I was even able to get it to the second notch and now my trunk actually POPS open...schweet

Everything is cool. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

 

[Victory]

more pics

 

[Dean]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread and do a partial hijack, but I have a related question that I hope someone (Bruce Urie or someone who has done a fair amount of dismantling?) could answer. Besides, Victory, your trunk turned our VERY nice and it is time for folks to see it again.

Anyhow, on those torque rods, I have removed mine to change over to gas struts but there is still a bracket attached to the hinge that flops around that the rods use to engage. It is attached to the hinge with a flat headed pin pressed into a flared sleeve, and the only way I can see one end of said pin is with the trunk lid closed, looking through the rod slots. It looks as if that pin was pressed in, attaching the bracket to the hinge, before the hinge was installed in the same fashion, a pin pressed into a flared sleeve.

Any suggestion on how to get that bracket out without totally hacking things up? I'm thinking of drilling a hole through the back (outer?) side of the sheet metal housing, closing the lid ( with a flat head screw driver and cell phone with me ), drilling out/off the visible end (DS is a flared end, PS is the pin head), and then knocking the pin through the hole I initially drilled on the outer sheet metal. It might be interesting drilling the pin head off in particular, since I can't get in there to get hold of the opposite end, but maybe applying tension on the bracket will hold it from spinning.

In the spirit of the great DIY photos Victory posted, here's a couple of the issue I'm speaking of:

Driver side pin (NOTE: The trunk was not quite closed all the way, so the pin will come down a bit more):

Passenger side pin:

Passenger side bracket hanging up on the sheet metal:

 

[Red C5]

Hey that looks great. Nice job!

Peter

 

[GNRick]

Victory- What type of backing is on the back side of the carpet that covers the spare tire? Is it the same that is used to cover the back seat area? Someone said they used cardboard in another post, but I would think that would be kind of flimsy. Yours looks a little more substantial. Thanks.