I'm trying to remove my rear decklid panel, for access to the third brake light assembly. And I'm at an impasse. Can someone help me out in a way that the Field Service Manual is failing to do?

Here's where I'm at: lower cushion, backrest and armrest components are removed. Clips and belt trim are removed. But there appears to be some kind of fastener/bolt/connection near the belts that I can't figure out from either the top or from underneath in the trunk. (I've also removed the ceiling panel in the trunk.) And do I need to remove the side panels too?

Kind of frustrated, can someone help me out? Here's a picture:



Best thread I could find was this one from 9 years ago. Obviously, the picture links are dead, dammit.

https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...eck-shelf.html

 

Yes, you should remove the side panel trim pieces. It frees up the flexibility of the shelf panel so that you can get a hand under there and unsnap the two center clips. You can see them here: the one side has a green plastic fastener design, and the other has a white one. After those are free, and the side panels aren't in the way, you can pull the shelf forward and flip it over with the belts still in it.



So now I've got my entire back seat of stuff sitting on the garage floor, excepting for the shelf itself...



...which is fine, because the Holy Grail of this little project is to get access to the plastic trim piece around the brake light:

 

Damn. I hope I can get this all back together again properly.

Lots of parts, hooks, clips, retainers and stuff.

Oh hey, and if someone is reading this and wondering WTF I'm doing... look at the cut-out in my rear window tint. See how that lovely (puke ) taupe colored plastic trim is showcased in that non-tinted rectangle? Considering the 15% tint on that glass, makes more sense if that plastic were black.

At least, that's the plan.

 

John i think your OCD light is on.

I'm glad you got rear tray out. I would probably want to paint that trim around the light black too.

 

It's kinda funny looking at all those parts and pieces you needed to remove, just to get to that little trim piece.

 

Agreed, thank you, and entirely the point of this project. Painting it now.

First I roughed it up with 4-naught steel wool, then I put a few coats of Adhesion Primer on it. And now I'm about 3 coats into things with Satin Black Krylon for Plastics.

To your point... this is a whole lot of work just to paint that piece. But ever since I realized the plastic was highly visible and obviously taupe, it's been bugging the begeezus out of me.

 

I admire your dedication to the details!

 

Oh yeah that would bug me too! I love little projects like this. Cheap,But make a world of difference.

 

Before:



After:



Now to put everything back together again. (sigh) Maybe tomorrow. This was a surprisingly large project.

 

Much better. That's gonna look good.

 

I cant help but think it would have been easier to get the rear window re-tinted covering the entire window, instead of having the cutout. Its deffinately possible to do, the shop that did mine tinted the whole thing without taking apart anything.

 

Perhaps. However, that would involve scheduling with the tint shop, waiting or dropping the car off, paying for removal of the old tint as well as application of the new tint. Compare that to the $0 that I spent today, an afternoon learning about how to take down my back seats, and the satisfaction of doing a job right and doing it yourself.

Anyway, the car is back together now, and the brake light area looks a whole lot better than it did this morning.

No regrets.

 

glad you got it sorted.. 3rd brake light looks great!!!

 

What adhesion promoter product did you use?

 

Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter Clear Automotive Primer.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...w&gclsrc=aw.ds