How to Remove Front Trunk Lid on a US-Spec 308 GTS/B when Latch is Jammed

I had my front trunk lid jam closed and, searching FChat, could not find any instruction as to how to fix the problem. The following is the procedure I followed to get the lid open from the front of the car.

The Problem:
I had removed my front trunk lid on my 1983 US-Spec 308 GTS QV for the first time a few weeks ago to remove the radiator which had a small seep by upper inlet hose. Upon receiving the radiator back from the shop, I reinstalled the radiator and the front trunk lid.

When I tightened the lid back onto its hinges, I adjusted the front panel gap to make it close in width to the two side gaps. Previously, front gap had been quite a bit less than the side gaps. The side gaps are 5 mm each and, as a first adjustment, I set the front gap at about 7 mm. I carefully clicked the lid closed. The lid closed the same way it always did.

When I pulled the latch release lever inside the car, the lid popped up the 2 cm it always had. However when I went to lift the lid to open it fully, it wouldn’t move upward at all. When I moved the lid up and down slightly, I got a very solid “thunk” when I pull it upwards. I tried the second “emergency” hood release. It made no difference.

I tried various methods of tugging, pulling and twisting on the lid, but couldn’t get it to release. I was very concerned about damaging the famously fragile front lid. Ultimately, I concluded I need to try to get the hinges at the front of the car off somehow.

The Solution:
Removing the front hinges allowed me to open the lid. It turns out that removing the hinges is relatively straightforward (as straightforward as anything is on a 308). Below is a screen shot of TAV 105 from the 1983 US-spec 308 Parts Catalog. The two red arrows show that the hinge pivot is simply a pin passing through holes in the frame. The pin is readily accessible once the grille and bumper are removed. When the pin is removed, the hinge becomes free and the lid can be moved upward and forward.

What Happened to Me:
In the event of a front-end collision, US-spec cars have collision pins which trap the lid and cause it to fold and crumple rather than travel rearward guillotine-style. The lid needs to be positioned to center the mushroom shaped collision pins in the center of the keyhole shaped traps welded onto the frame. The tolerances are fairly tight. I exceeded that tolerance by a mm or two. In closing the lid, there was enough flexibility in the lid for pin to deflect a bit and slide into the hole. However, it was then hooked underneath the keyhole by that one or two mm. That was enough to make it impossible to lift the lid.

Adjusting the Lid:
I can explain this all retrospectively. Below is also a photo of “measurements” I made of where the mushroom shaped pin touched the keyhole. The top two images show the position which caused the problem. The pins (and therefore lid) are too far backward. The bottom two images show the position after I moved the lid as far forward as I could which is about 5 mm forward from my original position. My front gap is smaller than my side gaps now, but that just seems to be the way that it was previously and the way it needs to be. I am bamboozled as to why the pins centralized themselves (that is moved slightly toward the passenger's side) as well as moving forward, but it is a good outcome, so I am leaving as-is.

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Yeah, I thought about it. The front gap looks fine as-is. Frankly, I never really cared in the past. I certainly am done with that little episode.

A technical note about my original post: I unintentionally imply that the front of the lid can be lifted and shifted substantially when the hinge pins are removed. This is not accurate: the curved hinges are still trapped under the front facia of the car. You can jiggle the lid a little bit - enough to solve my problem - but you can’t lift the lid much.