Help needed to remove rear hatch striker.
I've got a problem that's driving me nuts. Such a simple thing as the latch won't release on my rear hatch. Is there a way to remove the striker plate without opening the hatch? Is it possible to remove the tail lights and rear finish panel to get to the striker plate bolts? I was going to try and cut it out betwee the hatch and rear lower panel but there isn't enough room. Bet I have a good 2 to 3 hours messing with it. Thanks....

 

look under the carpet and see if the cable is working.

 

The '75 280Zs have a cable? Not so sure about that.

Anyway, see if you can pull the finish panel off the hatch itself. Without going outside (car is covered, it's dark) I don't know if that can be done with the hatch closed. If you can unscrew it, you might be able to get at the lock and release mechanism and possibly get the hatch open without getting at the striker.

 

No cable.....

 

That was the first thing I did. The latch is jammed so I need to get at the striker. It looks like the latch is open and the hatch should open but something is preventing it.

 

OK, too bad.

You only have to get the license plate lamp assembly off to get at the striker's bolts, the tail lamps are not your issue here.

Looking at my car, the assembly is held in place by two screws. They aren't coming off easy and even if you cut the heads, I don't think that will release the assembly.

Next, I notice I can see the two hex-head bolts that hold the latch to the hatch. They look like they might be accessible with a thin 10mm wrench. It would be tedious but certainly less than two or three hours. As the bolts unscrew, the latch and hatch should separate with the hatch rising, allowing you to keep unscrewing the bolts.

Of course with these cars, I can't be sure what kind of fasteners are on yours.

Please keep us posted as this kind of a problem is one I've worried about but haven't been unlucky enough to deal with (yet).

 

I have done that. I get some separation but the darn latch is hung up on something. I think it somehow is still barely holding onto the striker. My final thought since I can't get at the striker is to just try to pry between the latch and striker if I can find something that will fit in-between. I think the problem is the latch itself is damaged somehow and won't completely open. It was that way when I bought it and someone has tried to get it open before me as I see pry marks and rear trim was already removed.

 

The latch being hung up is a clue. The only mechanical interface other than the two bolts that attach it to the hatch is the interface between your lock cylinder and the latch. That's a very simple push-to-release type of thing. When you lock the hatch, the push plate on the lock cylinder simply rotates out of position so when you push down, it doesn't contact the latch release lever.

So, have you tried working it between the locked and unlocked positions? Maybe something is caught up in there and cycling it between positions will help get it released.

 

Two screwdrivers and a hammer and finally got it to open. Looks like prior owner didn't align it or striker got moved down. Thanks for everyone's help....

 

Glad you got it open. Play with that latch while you've got things apart, you don't want this to happen again.

Sure am glad it wasn't just that you didn't unlock it first ....

 

Yep, lock was fine. Everything under the lock is now replaced and working. I've had locks jam before but this was not the case. Alignment of the striker and latch made the problem and with no access made it frustrating.