The rear deck lid over the engine is designed to be locked with a latch that is released using a cable routed into the passenger compartment. The release knob is just behind the drivers seat. The latch is designed in a way that when the cable is properly adjusted the latch will hold the deck lid closed. However, if the cable were to break, the latch mechanism is designed to actually release the latch so the deck lid can be opened. When I purchased the car, the latch was not functioning as it should, meaning there was no way to lock the rear deck lid.
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With a rebuilt latch, new cable, cable tube and new cable anchoring sleeve, I went to work to replace all the parts. The old cable tube was unserviceable, with the plastic brittle and broken in several places but easy to get out. With the cable disconnected it was a good time to replace the missing rubber grommet that protects the cable tube as it passes through the firewall. With the knob integrated in the cable, you have to pull the cable out through the passenger compartment…this made it easy to connect the new cable tube to the old cable and slowly pull it from the engine compartment, over the rear fender well and into the passenger compartment. I pulled the side panel off to be able to be able to make sure the cable tube was routed properly. With the panel off I had the opportunity to look for body damage and rust…at least on the drivers side rear quarter panel…but everything looked good. I was able to seat the cable tube into the cable anchoring sleeve and attach the sleeve to the body. Once this was done it was easy to push the new cable back through the tube and into the engine compartment.
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Now with the cable tube and cable in place, the latch mechanism was re-installed and the cable adjusted and tested to be confident I would be able to release the latch and open the rear deck lid.
Note for a future project…this looks like a good place to use a solenoid. The solenoid can be placed over by the battery and the rear deck lid could be released with the touch of a button from somewhere in the passenger compartment.
