Shaved rear latch?

[The Grinnin Possum]

First and foremost, Hello glad to be on the forum.

Now to the point. Has anyone thought of or tried shaving the back hatch handle?

I was looking on A1 electric's site at the power window conversion kit and started wondering around and found the trunk and door pop kits and since my back hatch is cracked and needs work started thinking about the possibilities.

Electric actuator combined with pneumatic lift arms so you could press a button and it just pops right up

[2many]

I like the idea - do it and post the write up!

[Wasted Income]

I've been thinking about this lately as well. Lets figure something out!

[fxdxharley]

i would think some door poppers on each side or one in the middle hooked to the linkage would work.

[The Grinnin Possum]

I've been looking into it trying to find some spec sheets on the actual size of the poppers. I have a friend with a custom shop down here and I'm going to run by and look at some of his work. Hopefully I'll get to work on it this week.

[tnamarine]

In the process of rebuilding my hatch tonight and tomorrow , We glassed in a mounting pad where the t handle used to come through the hatch and mounted a pair of door poppers , i'll toss some pics up tomorrow

[noco-k5]

I would be interested in learning more about this idea. How would you latch it shut?

[fxdxharley]

Originally Posted by noco-k5

I would be interested in learning more about this idea. How would you latch it shut?

the door poppers will activate the latch arms just like the handle did.

T, lets see those pictures. maybe a write up of how you are doing it.

[2many]

Nice - glad to see someone taking the reigns on this idea and can't wait to see how it rolls out!

[The Grinnin Possum]

Which door poppers did you get? What size are they? How are you going to mount them?

I just got mine in the mail today SPAL SHAVED 40 kit.

I think 40 pound pull will be overkill but i had the longest length of pull. I might also be able to get by with using one solenoid and a pulley, I will have to test length requirements.

The solenoid body measures 2.1inches tall including bracket and the bracket on the bottom is 2.72 inches wide. You will need at least 5 inches in length to fit it in.

Talking to several people the advice was to not use door lock actuators as they will burn up with the amount of use and force needed.

I'm thinking since my hatch is cracked at the bottom center and I'm going to repair that anyway. I will probably cut a section out on the inside above where the hatch handle is and build a box to mount everything in and then put some kevlar sheet on top of that to smooth it out. I will keep the bottom access plate in order to work on the unit after install.