Trunk not closing on 69' Judge
 

hi, friends, I'm back ..

I'm certain at one point this trunk closed perfectly .. today I was installing lock cylinder when I noticed that locking mechanism on trunk lid was misaligned w/ catch inside of trunk .. like "clunk" .. trunk lid assembly not even getting close to point where it'd normally latch.

I removed catch from inside of trunk and quickly realized that trunk literally won't fully close.

gap at back window (pictured) seems square but there's a larger gap on passenger side of trunk between it and quarter panel than driver's side.
there's not anything in the way of it closing , it seems like maybe hinges themselves can't collapse any further.

car has been flat bedded a few times since leaving it's previous home of 20+ years and arriving here. did something get twisted?

thoughts would be appreciated

best,
mike

It looks like the front edge is too close to the rear window panel possibly causing binding when closing. Should be a larger gap.

I found that a paint stirring stick is pretty close to the recommended clearance front and side edges of the trunk lid.
(.16", + .06, - .09)

beautiful car, ed

I was just out there and pulled trunk lid away from rear window panel. it definitely helped but its still impossible to get lid flush.
car has been stored many years w/ trunk open w/ fresh weather stripping .. I'm wondering if weather stripping needs to live a while w/ trunk closed?

I installed lock cylinder and moved latch-box out a little and have trunk closed (but not flush). Lemme see if this helps.

thanks for your help,
mike

Because rubber seals need time to compress and take a new shape, I only install them after my doors and trunk lid are fitted properly to the surrounding panels. If you had the new seal removed and the trunk still sits high at the hinges, a shim may be needed between the hinge and lid at the bolt nearest to you.
If it's the stiff new seal holding it up, give it a few weeks in the closed position to allow the seal to reshape under pressure.

Understood, thank you, 400
Mike

It took me a few 8 hour days to get mine to where it is. I ended up elongating the bolt holes for the hinge to deck lid to get the lid centered. Also had to bend the left rear of the lid upward with a 2 x 4 a bit to get it to match the rear drivers side 1/4 just above the bumper. Still not fully happy with it but it's better than it was from the factory.

To get a trunk lid centered try loosening an upper hinge bolt on one side and a lower bolt on the other. Push lid sideways and while keeping pressure on it snug the bolts.