91SE wrote:I hate to be a bastard but shouldn't you have painted that first

No, because I want it black. I'm painting the whole car black this winter so it doesn't really matter.

fiznat wrote:No, because I want it black. I'm painting the whole car black this winter so it doesn't really matter.

sounds like a good reason to me... great write up fiz

i just sanded my hatch and repainted it, saved me the trouble

s13 shirt

Good read! I couldn't find a suitable replacement hatch locally so i had to use what i got. I took a wire wheel to my rust spot and then welded in slugs on each of the many holes. I'm an amatuer TIG welder and i got it a bit too hot causing a little warpage. So after grinding down my welds i've not got body filler to sand down. I'm on the second layer of body filler and i still cant get it quite right. But after that is done i can do the fun part, marking the holes for my Type X wing.

It's a lot of work to despoilerize a rusted hatch, so if you can find one it could be worth your efforts. Working with my fudgin' hatch has been at least 1/2 of the body work in refinishing my car.

OK for those like me that have a rusted hatch with glass and want to replace it BUT cant find a hatch with glassBUY the mouldings at Courtesy NissanYou will need the 4 mouldings, 4 corners, 16 spacers and a sealer(small rubber strip that is at the very bottom of the glass)Go to a REPUTABLE glass shop. I mean a good quality, name glass shop, DONT TRY TO DIY THIS!!Ask for a window removal and replacement.Bring your already painted (at least the underside and where the glass is) to the shop.They will remove your window and install it back on your brand new hatchThe hardest part is to remove the old mouldings from the glass itself.In doubt, just ask BEFORE doing anything, What would happen if the window breaks when removing?Who is going to pay it?They told me "I (glass shop) have to pay it, I break it!!"

As for the wiring for the passenger side, use a coat hanger and cut your current wires near the conectors INSIDE the car. the others wires are very short and you can push them when you replace the hatchDO the wiring BEFORE putting the window!!Any questions feel free to ask!![email protected]

nowwww, what about if i buy a carbon fiber hatch and that comes with no "right side" cut wiring ? what do i do to get my hatch off from the wires in that case?

guess what you dont need to cut the wires i've done it i did a detailed write up and it got ignored

ok i know this post is like 7-8 years old but i was wondering if anyone else had one of these diy hatch install post or pics because for some reason it will not show the pics on this post i tried on 3 different computers and still no luck, any help appreciated.
Thanks.

Is it really necessary to cut the wires? Should they not just plug in?

I just put on my new wiper less/spoiler less hatch this evening. The only complaint that I have about this article is about the author cutting the wires. I replaced mine without having to do that at all and it seems like its a totally unnecessary step. Its not like the wires are that hard to unplug at all. It only took me less than 2 hours to finish removing and replacing the hatch by myself. Just as long as you pull down the headliner a bit, you will find the ground for the defrost connector. Fish around a bit further down and you'll find the defrost connection which comes out quite easily. Once that is done, just pull off the interior trim from the passengers side rear trim to locate 2 more connections which are quite easy to locate and remove. After those are disconnected, then you simply unbolt the hatch as mentioned above, mount new hatch, and reverse the steps. Anyway, just thought I would put in my 2 cents for what it's worth.

they do plug in but its like hell to get the wires through the hatch hole it took me and my friend like 30-60 mins to get it through by taping the wires around a like thin steel wire and put it through problems is that it keeps gettin snagged and hung on the smallest things while pulling it through, but its worth it than having to cut em and solder and work in small tight space