62 Convertible Deck Lid Adjustment

[kbuhagiar]

Hello Folks,

I may need to adjust the deck lid on my 62 Convertible fore and aft. The manual has a vague mention about 'slightly loosening hinge bolts' to accomplish this. The deck lid is attached to the rearward hinges by two bolts on either side, and are perpendicular to the ground when closed, which would allow for up-and-down adjustment but I cannot understand how I can adjust fore-and-aft with these bolts.

Obviously I am overlooking another point of adjustment, but for the life of me I don't know what it is.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Jim Wulf]

Yes, there is fore and aft adjustment of the deck lid through means of the bolts & slotted holes securing the hinges to the body brackets. Unfortunately, they're located behind the bumper and that means..... you guessed it.

[kbuhagiar]

Thanks Jim...I should have known.

Anyway, in an earlier reply to another one of my posts you mentioned that the mechanical bolts that lock down the deck lid also pull it forward a bit - how much farther is that? I'm trying to determine if I have the deck lid adjusted correctly fore/aft. Seems to me that the only accurate way of doing this is by removing both lock bolt receptacles temporarily and then fully lowering the deck lid to check the gap before the lock bolts engage - does this sound like a viable method?

Thanks again.

[Jim Wulf]

Ken,

Here's some photos of what I consider to be an "as perfectly as possible" aligned deck lid on the '62 SR that I'm currently restoring. If the fore and aft adjustment is correct, the lid will line up perfectly with corner of the rear quarters as shown in pics 2 and 4. Leave your receivers installed "as is" for now and check that alignment. If the alignment is off, you'll need the receivers installed in order to correct it. I've never resorted to removing the receivers to adjust the lid. The receivers are integral to the process. Also, I always use original Q rubbers when doing a restoration. The reproductions, and I use the the term loosely, do not fit a convertible worth a damn and you'll never get the deck lid right if you try to use them. That's my opinion anyway.

[kbuhagiar]

Wow, that fit is magnificent.

Thanks for the reference.

[WNC Bird]

Jim

The alignment pics you posted are a great reference. Unfortunately the alignment on my convertible looks nothing like that. I now have a new item on my tickering around list.

Where do you find original Q rubbers? Mine are distorted. Are they available from our vendor supporters?

Thanks for taking the time to post them.

Ken K

[Jim Wulf]

Jim

The alignment pics you posted are a great reference. Unfortunately the alignment on my convertible looks nothing like that. I now have a new item on my tickering around list.

Where do you find original Q rubbers? Mine are distorted. Are they available from our vendor supporters?

Thanks for taking the time to post them.

Ken K

Original Q rubbers aren't available anywhere that I know of unless a used parts vendor has some, or you can find a set on a junkyard car. I collected a bunch of usable rubbers years ago when there were still TBirds in the junkyards around here. Unfortunately those days are long gone.

[kbuhagiar]

***FOLLOW-UP***

After adjusting my deck lid locks as best as possible, it looks like I will need to do further work on the deck lid alignment. With the deck lid locked I have a 3/8" gap between the leading edge of the deck lid and the package tray. Also, the right edge of the deck lid needs to come down about 1/4".

I've resigned myself to the necessity of removing the rear bumper to access the bumper hinge bolts.
Can someone please confirm that I will be able to lower the right side of the deck lid at this adjustment point also?

Thanks in advance.

[Jim Wulf]

***FOLLOW-UP***

After adjusting my deck lid locks as best as possible, it looks like I will need to do further work on the deck lid alignment. With the deck lid locked I have a 3/8" gap between the leading edge of the deck lid and the package tray. Also, the right edge of the deck lid needs to come down about 1/4".

right side deck body gap.jpg

left side deck body gap.jpg

right rear deck lid edge.jpg

right rear edge.jpg

I've resigned myself to the necessity of removing the rear bumper to access the bumper hinge bolts.
Can someone please confirm that I will be able to lower the right side of the deck lid at this adjustment point also?

Thanks in advance.

Ken, Lowering the deck lid at the back is accomplished by adjustment of the bolts securing the lid to the hinges as pictured in your first photos in this thread. Fore and aft adjustment is by means of the hinge bolts located under the bumper.

It appears that you have reproduction Q rubbers, which, as I've said before, don't fit worth a damn on a convertible. Their presence will make it very, very difficult to achieve any downward adjustment of the deck. I wish there was a soution for this constant issue, but until those rubbers are corrected by the vendors, it will continue to present problems. I have trie to modify them without success, but maybe someone more talented than me has figured out a way to successfully alter them.