W11X Trunk Adjustment

[gcw206]

The trunk on my 1969 280SE W111 will sometimes not stay in the up (open) position.  When raised, it will often close by itself.
I have a small piece os scrap aluminum angle that I have cut and use as a "stay open bar".
Needless to say, this is starting to wear a bit thin; however, I cannot figure out how to make an adjustment that will
keep the trunk open. 
Do I need a new set of springs, is there an adjustment that can be made? 

[wwheeler]

Do you have a coupe or cab? The trunk springs are different. I am more familiar with the coupe hinges. I think the cab hinge set up has more flexibility.

No springs available for the coupe because the hinge assembly is not serviceable. #111 750 51 (52) 87. I ended up buying new assemblies several years ago but have the old ones and one day may try to rebuild. Looking like the left is NLA and the right is ONLY $500+ US!!!! My trunk lid also sagged and works perfectly now with new assemblies. It was a combination of weak springs and a worn out mechanism.

My advice to those who have working hinges on the coupes, lube them NOW! You have to crawl in the trunk, but I do once a year.   

[col320ce]

I took the boot lid off the other day to change the rubber and the left hing was working well and the right is warn and not opening fully.  It didn't look too serviceable but I'm replacing the trim in the car (as soon as it arrives) so I might pull it out and see what I can do with it.  Looks like it bolts in from above on the parcel shelf all hidden below the parcel shelf leather.
Realistically, I'm on the lookout for a good used hinge 

[wwheeler]

Yes, you have to remove the leather that is glued on either side of the package tray. So, you have to remove the rear seat, the strip just behind the seat back, pop the package tray panel out and then peel back the leather pieces. The package tray has (6)? plastic male and sockets just under the back glass. You can see them from inside the trunk. That will then expose the three fasteners that hold the hinge to the car. Sort of a crappy little device in my opinion.

The fact that the left is NLA, indicates that it is the one that wears most. So maybe with luck there are good rights available.

BTW, I have TONS of trunk hinge pictures that I will post tomorrow and see what you are up against.   

[ja17]

I recall it to be a real challenge to get the springs back in place once removed. I made a special tool to do it.

[wwheeler]

Here are some of the pics I have. This shows the hinge still in tact and a close up of the hinge pivot. More to follow. 

[wwheeler]

Now the rest - The first two here show the telescoping guide that is inside the compression spring. One side mounts on the pivot, the other on a catch on the hinge cage. The last picture shows the tool I used to remove the spring without personal injury.  You can replace the spring. If the pivots are worn as mine were, that requires extensive surgery. 

There are two threaded holes on the hinge cage that uses bolts to attach to the package tray. I don't remember what the third hole was for. There is another threaded hole on the cage arm that attaches to the back seat wall. I had forgotten about that attaching point.

It can be reworked, but not without some metal working skills. 

It is now obvious where the lube needs to go - the two pivots. No need to lube the spring guide unless is squeaks or such.

[gcw206]

Hello,
It is a coupe, by the way.
Thanks for the input; but seems that I got the answers that I expected..............
NLA on one side, and $500+ on the other side does not fare too well.
I am going to try and maybe source some good used pieces, and go from there.
Or, just live with it the way it is.  Not really that bad, but a major irritant to me.
Thanks again,
GCW

[wwheeler]

Yes, that hinge is a mess. You could try to use shims at the places where the inner plunger in narrow and that is at either end. Using the pictures, you can see where that is. That would increase the spring force and just a matter of experimenting. Good luck. 

[ja17]

Wallace, your spring tool looks very much like the one I made. 

[wwheeler]

I am not sure there are too many other ways to approach it. Great minds think alike? 

A friend of mine is a spring maker and made me a pair of springs for Xmas one year. Best present I got that year! A custom spring is about the only way to get one. The cab spring is different and won’t work.

If anybody wants the specs for the spring, I can post that.

[perry113]

Are the pins worn in the hinges?
Mine were terribly worn and ended up finding another set of hinges that were no wear or defection in them.
It made the trunk open proper (much higher) and allowed for better trunk lid adjustment.

[wwheeler]

Yes, one pin was worn more on one side than the other. In addition to the trunk lid being low when open, I also had alignment issues. New hinges completely corrected that.

[wwheeler]

I have a more telling picture. This is the pin that the spring pivots on. Yep, it is heavily worn and the other side was worse. Wouldn't be too difficult to replace the pin and your hinge would be pretty close to new. All you would need are new springs and that is easy to get made. Many companies on-line who can do that.