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Well I got the new GM catch yesterday, and made a first attempt at replacing it. It fit in the trunk lid ok, and the key lock and solenoid operated just fine. But wow, I didn't realize how badly the geometry in the rear of my car was messed up by that long-ago accident until I tried to get things lined up. It looks like the body shop had manually bent the old striker (with a sledgehammer?) sideways to get it to catch. There are large holes in the new catch to allow for adjusting the mounting bolt position, but they weren't big enough so I had to drill them out a little. I finally got the catch and striker to line up and open/close ok, but now the trunk lid doesn't line up with the rear fenders. The striker isn't adjustable, I think that next I may drill out those holes to move it down a little. Or modify the catch bolt holes more. The rear of the trunk lid is still more than 1/8 inch too high. Which of course looks bad, but also doesn't snug the trunk lid against the trunk seal as well as it should. I suppose I should put a new trunk seal in there too, although the old one still looks fine, a new one is probably thicker and would hold the trunk lid tighter. Anyway, it doesn't rattle as much as it did before (there are still 4,352 other things rattling in the old girl when I hit a bump, that w-body chassis does NOT like the top cut off) so I consider it a win. I'll do some more adjustments when I get a chance. Thanks for your help with the part numbers, Jiggity76!!

I’m glad you enjoy the car. Cars, to those who are car people are often emotional. We have strong feelings for them, but I believe that is quite understandable. Believe it or not we are inherently mechanical beings, the two things humans align with first and foremost is nature & mechanics. Without mechanics, the very device & all the infrastructure that you use to get to this website would not be possible. Mechanics is very much an extension of ourselves. I know what you mean about the seats, as my “00” which is leather, is the same way, but interestingly I did own two “02” GP’s of which both had cloth seats and those seats were actually very comfortable. When the “97” came out my daughter bought one and at that time my wife and I had Z/28s as well as a “93” GP & a “92” Cutlass. So her’s was the first introduction I had with sixth gen GP, but the coke bottle shape was a throwback to the Muscle car era so I found it interesting for an FWD. Yes the suspension is adequate for a daily driver, but that was what I liked about the MS2000 platform! It had a huge growth potential just like the first two generation Camaro’s did. I’ve raced since I was 16 & built cars since I was 11, yes 11. So when I looked at my daughters “97” I knew if down the road I bought one what I would do. Well that happened in 2000 when I replaced the “92” Cutlass. There are some substantial improvements that can be made to the suspension that when done properly, and finished you would not recognize the car, but the ride will still be nice. I’m talking about moving the GP into the realm of G force of skid pad test.