How to replace the boot/hatch hinges on an s13 180sx, 200sx or 240sx

[LarZ]

Long story short:

1. Unbolt gas struts on the hatch
2. Remove rear headliner stay to reveal the bolts that hold on the hatch
3. Remove the bolts that hold the hinges to the boot lid.
4. Bolt the new hinges to the bootlid
5. Fasten the nuts that fasten the bootlid to the roof
6. Fasten the gas struts again

Short story long:

So for the past year or so, the bootlid wouldn’t stay open with just he gas struts so I assumed they needed replacing again but it wasn’t blocking me from using the car as a daily. Daily driving does take its toll on an old car in some ways. I never even thought to check my boot hinges and sure enough, last week, one of them cracked as I opened the boot in the cold weather. I eventually got my boot closed with just one hinge and the main catch keeping it in place until I could change the hinges.

I reached out to the drift community on Facebook and got some quick responses. @michaelkirwan reached out and sent me a pair. He even gave them a quick coat of paint before sending them.

So I had a small window of time today and really need the boot in working order.

I began inside by removing the rear stay for the head liner. This gave me easy enough access to the nuts (13mm) that held the old hinges in place.



That just slides towards the rear window and comes loose fairly handy. I needed to undo the 4 screws that hold the b pillar plastic which surrounds the seatbelt too.

Once those 4 bolts for the hinges are off, you can lift the top of the hatch. I wedged something under the boot release beside the driver’s seat so that I wouldn’t break anything at the rear catch but still wanted to use the catch to support some of the weight of the lid.

Hindsight is 20/20 but I should have undone the gas struts before I started. They caused me a lot of bother.

The old hinges were shagged. Both of them.. it was a great time to replace the other one too.







I propped up the boot from the inside with a wooden plank but really I’d recommend having two or more people do this job. The wiring that goes to the bootlid is very short so there’s not much slack. It’s very likely that your grommets and plugs for the wiring will come loose so be sure to put them back at the end otherwise you’ll let the rain in!



I needed an impact gun to take the hinges away from the boot lid. This needed a 12mm socket.

I made a big mistake with the hinge placement. At the time I thought that there must just be a left and a right and that I had them the wrong way around.

I feel a bit stupid but couldn’t at the time work out why the hinges looked exactly like the old ones but when I fitted them it looked like this



I had folded the hinges out the wrong way



That’s the position I fitted them in when they should have been fitted like this:



Once I got them on right, everything fell back into place. I bolted up the nuts under the interior headliner, replaced the trim and my hatch was functional again.





I refitted the gas struts and hey presto, I can open the boot again and walk away without it closing. Turns out the struts live on to earn their keep for another few years.



Hope this helps someone at some stage. Check out the rest of the work i've done to this car here: http://www.driftireland.com/forum/sh...Ugly-Duckling)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[andyd]

Helped sooner then you'd thought.
Just picked up a boot-lid for my shell so an insight and how to was just the ticket.
Car looks great!

[LarZ]

Nice one dude. It's a fairly simple fix in to someone who knows it. I found so little info about it when i googled it though so said i'd do a little write-up.

[andyd]

How tough was it to locate the hinges?
Just checked the parts bin and the bootlid I picked up and I'm missing them.

[LarZ]

a fella on facebook is selling a pair. Shane Healy is his name, from cork. 30 bucks which is what i paid too. They weren't that hard to find and worst case scenario are available from nissan for a princely 70euro each. If you want them new, look up Nick Russell on Facebook.

[andyd]

Actually got onto Shane as I'm down in cork the weekend anyway. Much appreciated!