Installing working hinges on the trunk lid of the Baldwin Motion Performance 70 1/2 Camaro.

What follows is a short account of how I did the hinges on my model.  This is by no means the authoritative tome on how this should be done, but it worked for me.

I used .062 O.D. brass tubing for the hinge itself and for the trunk lid attachement pieces. I used .032 brass rod for the arms of the hinge. These parts were cut with an abrasive cutoff wheel in the Dremel rotary tool.

Not shown in Steps is the actual cutting out of the trunk lid itself. I did this very slowly by drawing the BACK side of a Number 11 X-Acto blade through the lines a zillion times until it came free.  You must be VERY careful here, both for quality of the cut and for the safety of your fingers! Also not shown is the installation of a lip around the perimeter of the trunk opening to give the lid something to sit upon. This was simply some thin plastic strips glued around the underside of the trunk opening. I used regular glue for this in small spots at first so that they could be positioned evenly all around. Later they were reinforced with Superglue.
 

Step 1

The area where the hinge tube will be glued to must be hollowed out a bit so that the tube can be embedded into the deck area. This will allow the axle to be more in line with the top of the deck lid to avoid as much binding as possible. I thinned mine out with a small ball end bit in the Dremel tool. As you can see, I have already added the inner trunk area lip pieces around the perimeter to give the lid a place to rest upon.

Step 2

This photo shows the .062 O.D. brass tube, bent to follow the contour of the deck area, and with the piece of .032 brass wire inserted through it. The ends have been bent at a 90 degree angle as close as possible to the tube ends to eliminate side play.  They are also longer than they need be to facilitate holding onto them during the bending Steps.

Steps 3, 4 and 5

These photos show that the forward edge of the deck lid was thinned out to try to eliminate binding. This must be done because the plastic was too thick and it contacted the deck area on the bottom surface of the lid on my first attempt.

Step 6

This shows the beginning of the first bend in the hinge wire. I used the handle of a small needle file, but anything around 1/8th to 3/16ths of an inch should do, depending on how big your hinge will be. It's difficult to hold the entire thing to bend it, but don't be afraid to use some force!

Step 7

Shows the completed bend around the file handle.

Step 8

This photo shows both hinge ends with the second bend stage completed in the half-hoop configuration.

Step 9

Here I am using a pair of hemostats to hold onto the bent leg to bend over the flat part that will later go into the small piece of tubing and be glued to the trunk lid.

Step 10

The beginning of the bend.

Step 11

Halfway through the bend.

Step 12

The completed bend.

Step 13

Here is the completed hinge, minus the attachment pieces

Step 14

This shot shows the hinge piece glued into the deck area underside.

Step 15

In this photo you can see where the bent part of the hinge can hit the deck lid slightly and cause you to not be able to open the trunk lid all the way. A bit of a touch with a small ball end mill on the Dremel opened it up a bit here.

Step 16

Here I am simply cutting off the pieces for the part of the hinges that are slipped over the legs and glued to the trunk lid.

Step 17

This is a view of the legs with the attachment pieces slipped on and shows that they are too long.

Step 18

Trimming the hinge legs to size.

Step 19

Prior to gluing the trunk lid to the legs, I taped the lid in place so that it and the hinges would be locked into the correct place when the Superglue is applied.

Step 20

Underside view with the lid in place and the legs of the hing in contact with the underside of the lid.

Step 21

Gluing them in place!  Getting closer!

Step 22

All glued in.  Hope they work without binding!!!

Steps 23 and 24

Success!  The lid opens and closes with no binding at all!

My thanks for tips on this procedure from a few guys on the MCL!