Installing new hatch

[travelpro]

I am installing a new hatch on my 2012 MK3 Murranji and I would like to know what good quality sealant I should use to seat the hatch in place.

[MarkA]

I believe it's recommended you use Mastic. It never really sets and is flexible enough to withstand the flex and vibration.
It's available from Bunnings

[Cuppa]

If you buy from Track they supply the hatch with a roll of mastic. It is less gooey than the sort you buy in a tube & consequently much easier & less messy to use. Comes as a cylindrical strip lined with paper which you peel off the strip to use.

[peter_mcc]

We've just installed a new "rear" hatch in our Mk3. We got the hatch from TT - it came with the black mastic on it. It also comes with a white metal plate to cover the holes from the old hatch. Make sure you have those bits before you start!! We were going to do both hatches but TT forgot to send the white metal plate for one of the hatches.

Taking the old one off is a bit difficult - you have to cut around the edges to release the mastic while levering it up.

We used Sika silicon to fill up the old holes and seal the metal plate to the Tvan. The new hatch is smaller externally than the old one so there are quite a few holes that otherwise would be exposed.

The hatch then drops in and the screws/brackets around the inside hold it in place. The black mastic seals it to the metal plate.

The inside part of the rear hatch won't fit without some modification. We found the best way was to trim the end off the hatch rather than try to cut the aluminium. Using a piece of wood as a guide and a fine jigsaw blade we cut off the back edge of the hatch inner as well as the two side pieces. For this to work you need to have the blind opening front/rear rather than side/side. It then needs two screws to hold the side pieces on (since we just cut off the clips) - we used the ones from the old hatch.

Total time taken - 4hrs including 2 trips to Bunnings (across the road) for jigsaw blades & silicon. The front one should be a bit quicker - no cutting.