I am slowly working my way towards my long-stalled SIV V6, clearing out other projects so I can devote my time to it. One of the projects in my way is putting my also long-stalled S3 into storage. I am proud to say that my S3 now steers under its own power for the first time in at least 20 years (I previously needed to move it around by turning each wheel independently, something that was a royal PITA.) Next up for that car is to put trunk hinges on it, primarily so I can store its hardtop properly, which leads to three questions about trunk hinges:
- I have nice hinges for it, but didn't want to put those on until I was ready. I just went through a bunch of random parts and found 5 old hinges; 4 left hand and one right hand. It is possible I have a bunch of right hand hinges somewhere else, but is it common for the right hand hinges to wear faster than the left?
- And, as for the one right hinge I found, it is stiff as hell. Too stiff to use. Even though some of the lefts are in worse shape, they all seem to work just fine. I have tried various penetrating oils and moved it around by hand, but it doesn't seem to be loosening up. Does anyone have any advice for just getting this one usable? Can they be dissembled by pounding out to pins, cleaned and reassembled?
- And, assuming I can't get this one functional, how bad would it be to just use two lefts? More than anything, I just want it to help keep the hardtop in place, but it would be nice to be able to access the trunk if needed while the car is in storage.