de-locking Golf Mk3 tailgate

[antera309]

Having de-locked the front doors on my 1994 Golf VR6 5dr, I want to remove the lock from the tailgate also.
Obviously, this means fitting a solenoid to open the tailgate, wired to a button on the dash.

I'm not too worried about the bodywork or electrics, can handle that. Just need some guidance on the mechanical operation of the tailgate catch itself.

Is there a VW/Audi car (or even a later VR6) that can donate a solenoid-operated catch that will fit straight onto my car, or is it a matter of welding a generic solenoid to the existing catch?

If anyone has completely de-locked their mk3, some guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Nick
Buckinghamshire, UK

[stoat]

I think you can buy them from VW styling places.  One question though, how do you get into the car when you battery goes flat?

[modulater]

I've always thought about how you would get into a car that was delocked with a flat battery, I did think of one of those waterproof connectors with a little socket on it, I've seen them for motorbikes so you dont need to lift the seat off or remove the fairing to charge the battery. Site it just inside the bumper and have it wired direct to the battery, then just have the matching connector on a length of lead with croccodile clips on the other end, when connected to a good battery it would send the feed through your cars electrics and everything would open.

[stoat]

Very good, I would still like to have a lock to get into the car just incase

[stew8vmk2golf]

i've de locked the tailgate on my mk2, you can get a simple solenoid connected to the lever which goes to the lock, hard to describe but look and youll see a lever which goes from the catch to the lock. With regds to stoat. A possibility i looked into was to place a flat lock from another car eg old pug, under the numberplate on the tailgate, this way the solenoid will still work and if you get a flat battery you can open it with a key and climb in through the boot.