Engine bay latch adjustment?

I'm now down to fairly minor/cosmetic noodling, and one thing I'm now trying to address is my rear hatch behavior. since I got my car back from the engine build, the hatch release doesnt work properly; i have to jam a rubber hose under the latch, and then go raise it. DS would stick worse than PS. after re-adjusting the metal "catch cylinder" that tightens on the braided cable via alan bolt, i got the catches to release properly IF the hatch is up. when closed, the latches dont release. i've played with the positioning of the entire latch assembly in the trunk, pushing it downwards. it seemed to help the DS, but not the PS. does anyone have any tips for making this work properly? thanks.