Gave up ever hoping to get new hinges so I called Wilcox and ordered a new weather strip for my rear hatch. They gave me a choice of aftermarket or GM. I opted to pay $214 for the GM piece. Mind you that my old weather strip *looked* like new...I tried everything to get my backglass to seal and I could just never get there. I had about a 1/16 to 1/8 gap on one side or the other and my hinges had been bent, shims added to top hinge mount to lower hinge pivot point, strikers at rear glass adjusted to really crunch down the glass, etc.
I removed all the old wx strip and put an extra thick bead of 3m adhesive JUST DOWN THE LOWEST PART OF THE SEAT for the wx strip. I did not get any adhesive up the the edges of the new strip. My thinking was that if necessary I could purchase some 1/8" diameter rubber or neoprene black cord and place it under the wx strip "lip" to raise it enough to seal. I also contemplated glueing this cord (they sell on Ebay for people to make necklaces out of) to the exposed side of the wx strip if necessary....ANYTHING to stop that dang air noise! I quickly decided against doing the Bubba thing....
So, I installed the new strip, squeezed my hinges to death (Dawg's measurement was real close 3 1/4???), removed the gas cylinders at the SEAT end so the pins would still be in play, and set the glass where it needed to be to seal. I now have about 3/8" gap between the top of the glass and the top edge of the wx strip. Used couple washers at each of the 4 points where bolts anchor the hinges, and tightened them down. Voila!!! no gap. Hinges were slid pretty far forward on the car, but used stock holes in hinges. Reattached gas shocks and slammed glass down after adjusting strikers. Crap! Gap was back!!! The cure for me? Put the brown plastic deck piece back in---the one that kinda covers the privacy pull-out canvas deal to hide your valuables. With that plastic shroud in place, the lip of the new wx strip had a place to tuck into that kinda pushed it upwards. Kinda like a cross between a push-up bra and using your footboard for a toe-hold when doing the nasty.....God, that's just wrong! I digress....sorry, it's near bed time here-mind is failing me. Anyway, you guys hopefully follow this. The edge of the plastic deck shroud serves as a lip for the wx strip to push up against. When I went to re-close the hatch-it wouldn't close! The glass was now being pushed up so tight, the striker pins had to be adjusted out about 3/16ths of an inch. I have to SLAM the glass to get it to lock shut, but time and weather will cause the new wx strip to compress some and it should be fine.

Moral is: if your glass won't seal, try the GM weather strip which looks different and is more compliant, remove your gas shock at the seat end, see where the glass wants/needs to be to seal, adjust the hinges to allow the glass to remain there, and shim as necessary DOWN (washers between the roof and the hinge plate.

I realize that the hinges will want to stretch again, but I think I can say that even with some stretch, the glass will still seal....time will tell.

There....I did my part for the survival of this fine motley crew of crossfire misfits! Good night all.....I'm starting to dream about that toe-hold thing.

Bill

Kinda like a cross between a push-up bra and using your footboard for a toe-hold when doing the nasty.....God, that's just wrong!

Holy Moly Bill, you shur have a way with words don't ya!!!

To me it sounds like you did it they way it should be done. Start with the basics and bend stuff to fit...The only thing I did different was the shocks I put back on mine were the original (very used) ones, they won't lift the glass anymore, and I hope that means they won't stretch the hinges anymore...

The GM weatherstripping is the one thing I would like to replace on mine, It has to be better then the aftermarket one I have now...

Mine came with new GM weather strip so my window seals good, no leaks or anything,just wish I could use the hatch.There is a vette shop in town that told me they can fix it so it works I just have to get the time and courage to get the car in there.

Mine is still working about as good as it can without good struts, and it still has a good seal. No stretch in the hinges that I can tell...
I will say, that about the only time I actually open mine is when someone wants to see how it works, or during a wash...

Bill,
now i need a cigarette after that desciption.. Wheew..

I basically did the same thing, and spend the money for the GM part... I still remember me sitting in/on the back of the car scraping off the old glue.. But at this time i still need to adjust the driver side latch, even with slamming it hard it doesnt lock it 100%, i have to push on it a little harder then i'd like to.. Ie. so much the whole car goes into it's knees.. At some point it actually popped open while driving which scared the &*&*& out of me..

I'm with Dawg, that pretty little hatch only opens for a show and tell once a blue moon.. Once i have it adjusted i hope we can go back to using it for a change..

:wave
-Stefan