Rear hatch repair

[kpotter34]

I have a hatch that is in need of repair and want some opinions on whether it is worth fixing or not. It is a rear hatch for a first gen blazer/jimmy. Exterior part of the hatch looks to have no damage and bracket mount for the hatch to top are solid but support spots are broken out. If can be saved, any suggestions? Thanks for the info!

 

[Bent77]

I fiberglass repaired mine 2-3 times. I finally gave up

 

[tenderfoot]

I saw somewhere here someone fitted a regular ol camper top door to theirs. Pretty slick. I mean if your gonna put in the time and labor.

 

[Blue85]

My first instinct is that a can of bondo-glass/tiger hair or resin kit and a couple evenings is worth risking. It seems like the outside is pretty solid and the cracks are in less visible areas. It seems like a good aggressive resin could bond the sections back together if you grind the cracks out well first. Surely there is good info online about fiberglass patching. If you can get a solid one, that's way easier, but these things aren't exactly common.

 

[Amateur hour]

I'm looking for the hardware for the rear hatch on my 72 Blazer. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to find pieces? I'm struggling to find anything for the tops. Checked almost every wrecking yard in the State of Washington.

 

[RubberFloorMat]

As far as the damage, find a reputable corvette shop and let them go to town on it, possibly even a boat repair place. Fiberglass is more art than science.

 

[Dan_P]

I'm looking for the hardware for the rear hatch on my 72 Blazer. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to find pieces? I'm struggling to find anything for the tops. Checked almost every wrecking yard in the State of Washington.

Did you ever find a place for replacement hardware? My hardtop and hatch are in great shape. Just the internal rear hatch hardware has issues.

 

[rampage]

Don’t know where you can get the hardware for the internals but there is a hydraulic strut kit to replace the bars on the side that always catch and stick.
https://www.motorcityk5.com/i-13109-hatch-hydraulic-strut-kit-69-72-blazer.html

As far as repairing I’d ask @ryoken since he’s the resident glass man. As a side note, whenever my dad use to shut the hatch he wouldn’t let it slam shut. Instead he’d gently lower it and then press on each side hard to engage the latch mechanisms.

 

[ryoken]

that chits as dry as Hillary's twat.....



yeah, sure, I can walk ya thru it..... but that's definitely a fair bit of work, many steps and some creative molding... it'd take me 4, 5 days to get that ready for refinish...

gonna want a 2" roloc setup with 24/36's, thinned resin for saturating...... light mat and cloth.... PVA..... etc...

 

[rampage]

that chits as dry as Hillary's twat.....

Just noticed that this post was dredged up from the past.

 

[tenderfoot]

that chits as dry as Hillary's twat.....



yeah, sure, I can walk ya thru it..... but that's definitely a fair bit of work, many steps and some creative molding... it'd take me 4, 5 days to get that ready for refinish...

gonna want a 2" roloc setup with 24/36's, thinned resin for saturating...... light mat and cloth.... PVA..... etc...

I hate fiberglass

 

[ryoken]

I hate fiberglass

it would be fun if it wasn't messy, itchy and toxic...


deadly paper mache....

 

[rampage]

Someone needs to start making hatches on a 3D printer.

 

[rampage]

Brothers has the handle if that helps.

https://www.brotherstrucks.com/69-72-BLAZER-REAR-HATCH-HANDLE/productinfo/BHH6972/

And found a repro of the hatch $$$

https://www.classicindustries.com/product/14218.html

 

[Dan_P]

Brothers has the handle if that helps.

https://www.brotherstrucks.com/69-72-BLAZER-REAR-HATCH-HANDLE/productinfo/BHH6972/

And found a repro of the hatch $$$

https://www.classicindustries.com/product/14218.html

Thanks for looking around.
I also found the handle. Mine appears to be ok, just internal latches and such.

I'll pull it apart and see if I can fabricate something (or hope someone is trashing an old hatch with bad fiberglass but good metal)

 

[diesel4me]

Back when I had a '72 K5 I bought a '71 K10 Suburban for parts,and hoped it's metal tail hatch was the same as the K5's fiberglass one,but it proved to be just a tad wider and taller,much to my dismay..they made it just different enough so it wasn't interchangeable..

The fiberglass hatch on the K5 was still useable,but had seen much better days,and I had to use a chain & padlock to lock it up,as the original lock cylinder was rusted solid beyond hope of ever working again...GM effed up by not using a metal hatch like the Suburbans had..