New Owner of '86 Mustang

[UglyFast88]

Hello, Teacher.

I'm pretty new to the 'Stangs as well, but not to cars. I can't believe it took me this long to get a 'Stang, though. Regarding your hatch problem, I just finished replacing mine today, with one from a donor car. Being in Texas, it should be easier for you to find one in good shape than it was for me, in Michigan... I did take the spoiler off, (if you have one, you may want to do the same) and sanded the surface rust off and prime underneath it. There are stoppers around the spoiler to keep it lifted slightly to let water out, and under vibration, they quickly wear the hatch down to metal. Also, look for rust on the roof in the channel right in front of the hinges for the hatch. It looked perfest from outside, but it was actually rusted through once I got the hatch off. Plus, if you get a donor hatch, you probably get an extra set of bolts for the hinges, and an extra set of hardware (license plate lights, spacers, and shims) as well... Good luck!

Joe