In case you were wondering...

[red71cheyenne]

What the inside of your hatch looks like:

[red71cheyenne]

That took about a week to get apart and I still broke it in a couple of places. Now to blast the hardware and put it back together. Hopefully it won't take a year to do that...

[Yukon Jack]

That's cool to see the insides!

[rads42]

Now I know why mine works so poorly. Cool posting, thanks for sharing.

[orange72blazer]

How did you get it apart? I need to do the same thing to mind.

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by orange72blazer

How did you get it apart? I need to do the same thing to mind.

Mine already had several cracks around the outside perimeter, so I just used the dremel, screwdrivers and brute force to pry it apart. I tried to be as easy with it as possible, but that fiberglass is tough. Hence the couple of broken spots on the outer sides. Some fiberglass filler will take care of it though and new paint will freshen it up.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Soooooooooo it really is filled with air sweet...

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Soooooooooo it really is filled with air sweet...

LOL, and dirt, bug guts and rust!

[JimmyFloyd]

great post. i think I may have to do the same thing to mine to try and swap the hardware on it if it isn't easy to do otherwise.

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by JimmyFloyd

great post. i think I may have to do the same thing to mine to try and swap the hardware on it if it isn't easy to do otherwise.

Really, the hardest part was drilling out the screws on the hatch supports. Those phillips head screws were not coming out! So I drilled them and then Mr. Easy out took care of the rest. Stainless and anti-seize will go back in.

[JimmyFloyd]

yeah, I had to break the hatch supports off the rest of the top when I removed it cause they weren't coming out of either side. Been soaking it in PB Blaster daily in hopes that they will come off. My handle doesn't turn though.

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by JimmyFloyd

yeah, I had to break the hatch supports off the rest of the top when I removed it cause they weren't coming out of either side. Been soaking it in PB Blaster daily in hopes that they will come off. My handle doesn't turn though.

Mine was the same, you notice in the pic, the handle has been hacksawed off. Have a new garage door handle for it though, once everything is blasted and painted it'll go back in.

[JimmyFloyd]

Lucky for me, i got a beat up hatch for free with decent hardware when I bought a lift kit of a guy locally. hoping I can transfer my stuff over. I was planning on splitting that one to see what was inside, but I may not have to now.

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by JimmyFloyd

Lucky for me, i got a beat up hatch for free with decent hardware when I bought a lift kit of a guy locally. hoping I can transfer my stuff over. I was planning on splitting that one to see what was inside, but I may not have to now.

If you can get the guts out with out splitting, I'd go for it. My guts wouldn't come out any other way and needed serious attention.

[woodymm3]

where you getting your parts blasted... i been looking for people to blast and coat parts around here but so far no luck finding anyone without having to spend a ton of money... thinking about buying my own.... but then i have to buy a compresser too... lame.

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by woodymm3

where you getting your parts blasted... i been looking for people to blast and coat parts around here but so far no luck finding anyone without having to spend a ton of money... thinking about buying my own.... but then i have to buy a compresser too... lame.

There is a place in Poulsbo, Kitsap Powdercoating that will do it all. I just blast mine at the Auto Hobby Shop on Bangor tho, and spray paint. You can make your own powder coating setup with an old oven too. Eastwood sells the powder pretty cheap. I have a blast cabinet, homemade, but I didn't want to put it back together just to do these little pieces.

[woodymm3]

wow wasnt aware that they had a blaster at the hobby shop... what do they charge to use it and what are their hours... how big of parts can you blast... i am redoing my doors right now and i could sure use a blast cabinet!

[72gmcshorty]

how would you mate the two pieces back together? Would it be strong enough?

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by 72gmcshorty

how would you mate the two pieces back together? Would it be strong enough?

It was put together with fiberglass to start with, thats just what I'll use to rejoin the two halves. I mean its all fiberglass to start with, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll let you know when I get to that stage.

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by woodymm3

wow wasnt aware that they had a blaster at the hobby shop... what do they charge to use it and what are their hours... how big of parts can you blast... i am redoing my doors right now and i could sure use a blast cabinet!

Its like $3 an hour or something. The one they had at Bremerton was 6' long and about 2' wide. You can fit pretty big stuff in there, not a whole door tho. Of course, now the one at Bangor is down, they are waiting on new sand. I just called there to see if I could get my parts done today.

[woodymm3]

let me know when it gets back up... how big did you say the one at bangor was... are they going to reopent the bremerton one?

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by woodymm3

let me know when it gets back up... how big did you say the one at bangor was... are they going to reopent the bremerton one?

No, they closed the Bremerton hobby shop completely. Have to wait on Bangor to come back up.

[woodymm3]

so how big is the bangor one exactly... and how long is it closed down? might just build one on the cheap if i can find the parts... if i get one going ill let you know and you can come use it...

[red71cheyenne]

Originally Posted by woodymm3

so how big is the bangor one exactly... and how long is it closed down? might just build one on the cheap if i can find the parts... if i get one going ill let you know and you can come use it...

I'm not sure how big it is, its been broken everytime I needed to use one. Thanks for the offer!

[69-72]

You could always use this stuff to glue it back together, its been working one year so far on the hatch I split apart. Should be able to get it at a boating store.




You will need alot of clamps though