[Tornado Wolfie]

Well, as some may know I was rear ended about a month ago and have since been unable to use my hatch.

Well, I haven't done anything to the damage to try to repair the hatch, and I feel like an idiot for never thinking about it. So tonight I was talking to The Hamster, and he suggested I go inside and release the latch (was stuck locked shut) and see if it works. Unfortunately, I got the hatch open, but now it won't close. It's because the bottom two corners of the hatch are hitting the car before the latch can catch. I tried putting a chain around the stud and hooking that up to a cement post then driving away from it. The middle pulled out just a little, but still not enough to catch. I then backed close to a wall and holding myself between the wall and putting my feet on the hatch, I pushed really hard in the middle where the latch is....soo close, but the latch was about 5mm from catching!
MY QUESTION :
What is the best way to bend the hatch so that I can get the whole lower section to come back close to it's original position without risking breaking the window? I can't see myself hittin something with a sledge hammer when it's holding a huge piece of glass..


[Modified by Tornado Wolfie, 4:54 AM 11-29-2001]

 

[Tornado Wolfie]

Re: I'm working on "fixing" my ass (Tornado Wolfie)

Alright...I have an idea. Try to bear with me here

Let's say I remove the hatch, and find a nice crack in a sidewalk or driveway or something that is deep enough to get a few inches of the bottom of the hatch to slide down into it....then just pull from the top and she oughta bend? I'm not sure it would uniformly bend the whole section of the hatch, so I'm still looking for ideas. Thanks for any suggestions

 

[Tornado2dr]

Re: I'm working on "fixing" my ass (Tornado Wolfie)

Am I a moron for telling you to talk to the insurance company since YOU were rear ended? or would they total the car because of the cost. please enlighten me. Oh yeah, don't try to bend the car any more with chains hooked to posts or whatever...the car is the important part, the hatch is replaceable.

 

[GranTouring InjectedVR6]

Re: I'm working on "fixing" my ass (Tornado Wolfie)

as far as the lower portion , where the badges are ,you'll be able to hammer the back back into relative shape, but sooner later its going to need a body shops love...as for the hatch i would just but a used one from a junk yard and paint it...i know around the local junk yards there are like 6-8 golfs and GTi with perfect hatches, hth

 

[Tornado Wolfie]

Re: I'm working on "fixing" my ass (Tornado2dr)

hehe...Hamster suggested doing that for getting the huge dent out of the back. Drill holes through it, and then with 2x4's spreading the force, pull it out by either a wench or securing it to something that isn't going to move and pulling against it with the car. I guess I might've taken it a little far when I was trying to fix that latch since that is a part secured to the whole rear end. I got a feeling it wasn't right, so I'd stopped doing that.
As far as insurance goes, it is true that it wasn't my fault and I am getting money from them, but this car is my winter beater, so the condition of the body doesn't mean terribly much. It wasn't in great shape to begin with...oh it sure wasn't. All I want to do it make it so my hatch works, and the rear doesn't look quite so bad. I'm going to replace the hatch once the $ arrives, but for now I need it to latch. Any ideas yet?!? purrrdy pleeaze?