Could someone explain to me why my decklid does not stay up by itself. What's the deal with torsion/springs etc.?

Have you added a wing? If you did then that adds more weight than what the springs were designed for.
You can go to rodenydickman.com and he has gas struts to address this issue

Thanks Hank! Since I bought the car (87 Gt) they havent worked. Yes it has a wing. What parts are broken or need to be replaced?

you suck, mine opens too hard, and will launch books, drinks, and Hapkido Uniforms CLEAR over the car

Probably nothing is broken. A pervious owner may have added the wing to a wing delete car so all may appear stock and look in working order but may just not work due to incorrect spring tension. Adding a strut you are adding a kit to the car not removing or repairing anything (at least if you don't feel like it)

Hank can I replace the part with a stronger tension rod that should be with the wing?

First I would say check your RPO codes in the front by the M/C, see if it lists the wing on that sticker. If it does look for sometihng broken or out of the ordinary. If it does not then most likely you need to change the torsion rods. I have never done it but couldn't imagine it would be easy. I know there are differnt rods for wing and wing delete, not sure about for luggage racks though. Also I am not sure if the notchback and fastback springs are the same, I think they are different(I could very easily be wrong.)
So then you will need to most likely find the rods from a fastback with a wing.

The decklid rod tension was perfect on my 86.
Not so with my 88 GT.

I have been trying to find out the exact procedure for adjusting the tension. Both my Chilton's and Haynes manuals only address removal and replacement. Not adjustment.
I need to fix mine too.
Just another one of those things that need attention.

Sly

Here's an option I added just a few days ago.
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/010431.html

------------------

"I know you believe you understand what you think I wrote, but I'm not sure you realize that what you read is not what I really meant"

***************************
Calab,
Torsion springs are all color coded with some paint sprayed near the pivot point. When I added a wing to my GT, I put on torsion springs from the junkyard for $10. The spring was color coded 'WHITE' which says that it was designed for cars with the rear wing. The springs with red or blue are designed for less weight so I would avoid those. Also, all torsion springs have three adjustment holes for locating a pin. Pin is removed and relocated to another hole only by releasing the tension on the torsion spring (rods) either with a long lever placed under the hinge area or a thick rope to pull the rod link downward about 1 1/2 inches. See 'Articles' section from the NIFE website at http://www.xnet.com/~nife entitled 'Tosion Rod Replacement'. A very complete set of directions are included here.

*****************************

quote Originally posted by Calab52: Hank can I replace the part with a stronger tension rod that should be with the wing?

******************************