Joshua Field
Daily Driver
Despite the cables (both original and emergency) being gone from my new 1980, I managed to get both open without drilling so I thought I'd share the method in case anyone else found themselves in the same predicament.
For the engine lid, I was able to reach up through the engine bay from underneath and hook a coat hanger unto the latch to pull it toward the driver's side. It is a little tricky to thread the hole but you could also possibly just reach it with your hands and pull it too. I left the hanger in there for now until I get a new cable and lever in.
After REALLY looking for the emergency trunk pull, it was definitely missing. I found the trunk latch diagram and realized that I might be able to access it through the license plate holes rather than the drilling procedure I'd read about. I removed the license plate nut from the top left hole inserted a coat hanger with the end bent to a sharp 90 about 4 inches to try and catch the release. After a little fiddling, it caught, I pulled back toward the driver's side and it popped right open. When you hear it hitting the spring, you are in roughly the right spot and just have to make sure the hook is pointing toward the engine bay before you pull it.
Hope that helps someone who finds themselves in the same boat. I'm pleased to report that I didn't find anything awful back there - just some tools, an empty windshield washer bottle, and oddly a bunch of bricks.
For the engine lid, I was able to reach up through the engine bay from underneath and hook a coat hanger unto the latch to pull it toward the driver's side. It is a little tricky to thread the hole but you could also possibly just reach it with your hands and pull it too. I left the hanger in there for now until I get a new cable and lever in.
After REALLY looking for the emergency trunk pull, it was definitely missing. I found the trunk latch diagram and realized that I might be able to access it through the license plate holes rather than the drilling procedure I'd read about. I removed the license plate nut from the top left hole inserted a coat hanger with the end bent to a sharp 90 about 4 inches to try and catch the release. After a little fiddling, it caught, I pulled back toward the driver's side and it popped right open. When you hear it hitting the spring, you are in roughly the right spot and just have to make sure the hook is pointing toward the engine bay before you pull it.
Hope that helps someone who finds themselves in the same boat. I'm pleased to report that I didn't find anything awful back there - just some tools, an empty windshield washer bottle, and oddly a bunch of bricks.
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