Tools Required:

• Thick Blanket
• An open spot in the shop to rest the hood!
• 13mm Socket
• 14mm Socket
• 15mm Socket
• 3/8 inch ratchet diegrinder w/blade
• 6 inch Extension
• Mig Welder
• Electric drill
• Craftsman 1/2” Breaker Bar
• 1/4” drill bit
• 3/16” drill bit
• Protective welding clothing and goggles
• Fire extinguisher

  1. Remove the trunk lid from its hinges using a 13mm socket and ratchet and place in a safe area on a blanket. Note: special care should be taken when removing the trunk lid from the hinges. The trunk hinge torsion bars are under extreme tension and personal injury or property damage could result from objects being fired into the air from this extreme tension (such as shattering trunk hinge rollers and spring removal tools.

  2. Remove the engine lid from the body (under both hinges there are 6mm bolts with a 10mm head). Be sure to support the engine lid while removing.

  3. Remove the battery from the vehicle and move far away from all welding operations.

  4. At this time, check all fuel lines, injectors and related components for fuel leak and correct if necessary.

  5. Cover the entire engine with a soaking wet blanket. Check down under the battery tray front corner well and left drivers corner well for leaves and other debris that might catch fire. Remove them and hose down the area.

  6. Using a Craftsman 1/2” breaker bar modified as shown, remove and relieve the torsion bars from the hinge rollers and rest their tension on body.

Breaker Bar modification:

Cut into the breaker bar from one side towards the tee bar hole in the hand grip area. The cut should be the some width as the outside diameter of the hole.

The result will be a notched handle and a perfect tool for trunk torsion bar spring removal.

Place the now open end of the breaker bar on inside edge of the torsion bar edge, apply pressure on the breaker bar towards the front of the vehicle. Place the screwdriver between the trunk hinge and torsion bar. Pry the torsion bar towards the middle of the car and away from the hinge. Relieve tension on the breaker bar and rest on fender well. (you may help rest the torsion bar with the box side of a 13mm combination wrench).

7. Remove the trunk hinge from the hinge cup and lower the trunk hinge stop bracket.

8. Using a 1/4” drill bit and electric drill, drill out spot wells of the trunk hinge cup. There are usually 6 or 7 welds. Note: When drilling the spot welds be extremely careful not to exceed the depth of the hinge cup! If you drill through and into the fireball, welding in the new cup would become very difficult.

9. Using channel lock pliers, remove the hinge from the vehicle: Grip this cup and work the pliers up and down until the cup breaks free.

10. Using the die grinder cut away all remains of the broken trunk hinge cup. Again, be sure to not cut into the fender wall; this would weaken the wall area and promote future breakage.

11. Carefully place the new trunk hinge cup in a vise and using the 3/16 drill, drill 3 holes on each mounting surface of the new cup. Clean off the burrs with the diegrinder and flatten any drill distortions with a hammer. It is usually a good idea to re-weld, from the backside, the shoulder nut to the hinge cup to reinforce the cup. A few of these new cups have had their insert nuts break free from the cup once the torsion bar was reconnected. What a mess!

12. Using the enclosed template as a reference, locate and tack the cup into position. Be sure, after each spot weld, to tap the cup flush with the body. If you are a welding amateur you may want to add a few welds around the cup.

* SEE PICTURE ATTACHED *

13. Prime and paint the cup as necessary and let thoroughly dry.

14. Reverse steps 2-7

15. Be sure when installing the trunk lid that the lid is adjusted correctly from front to rear. This can be checked by carefully and slowly closing the lid while monitoring the front edge and the outside rear corners.

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