Today I.....

[Malcyb]

Maybe swap the rear door trim panel, to which the number plate fits? Either body colour or black would look good, and you can mount the number plate holder directly to it.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Sorry, not quite following you. The plate is stuck fast to the tailgate, can the bottom part of the tailgate, below the seam just above the number plate recess, be easily replaced? Otherwise it would require a whole new tailgate which would be very drastic.

 

[Jellybean]

Sorry, not quite following you. The plate is stuck fast to the tailgate, can the bottom part of the tailgate, below the seam just above the number plate recess, be easily replaced? Otherwise it would require a whole new tailgate which would be very drastic.

Yes, the panel between the rear lights can be replaced.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

 

[Malcyb]

Yes, the panel between the rear lights can be replaced.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Do you know if there is a “how to” covering this? I found a thread referring to it which got as far as how to remove the interior trim (which I’ve done before, horrible job!) but after that I don’t know…

 

[ICowie]

Today I picked up a pair of stainless rear window winders to complete stainless touches on the interior of the white car.

 

[bluesunbeam]

Yesterday I fitted my new number plates, into my A2OC surrounds. The surrounds really lift the car, and they’re excellent quality, German made (Helmut Seitz), lots of holes to fit your screws wherever you want and the number plates clip in really neatly. Thank you @FinallyFiona, and to anyone who’s not got them yet, get your order in now!
View attachment 132154

Unfortunately, I ended up making an awful bodge job of the rear plate. The old plate was glued in place with the strongest glue known to mankind and no amount of levering with a screwdriver or chisel would shift it (was worrying about damaging the bodywork) and heating it up didn’t do much to soften the adhesive either. So I ended up mounting the surround over the old plate. It looks ok straight on but unfortunately the edge of the old plate shows at other angles . If anyone has any bright ideas how to remove the old plate I’d be curious to hear!

Hi Malcyb. I am wondering if your rear plate has been stuck on using silicone sealant. If you could post a picture of the plate and give a rough idea of how much clearance there is between the plate and bodywork it would give people a better idea of what might work to remove it without damaging the bodywork. My VX rear plate was bodged on using this method and though the plate eventually came off (presumably because the plate was not cleaned thoroughly before sticking it down) just through brute force, the silicone remained on the bodywork and would not shift without wrecking the paint. Eventually i came up with a solution using a razor plane, silicone sealant remover and a lot of patience and the whole area was free of silicone and suffered only minor scratches from the early efforts to find a solution. If you have reasonable clearance between the plate and body work it would be possible to use a small Dremel type cutting disc to cut a small section free of the old plate that would be easier to prise off so at least you can see what you are dealing with and if it works on that piece you could probably remove the rest of the plate like that.
Dave C

 

[Malcyb]

Hi Malcyb. I am wondering if your rear plate has been stuck on using silicone sealant. If you could post a picture of the plate and give a rough idea of how much clearance there is between the plate and bodywork it would give people a better idea of what might work to remove it without damaging the bodywork. My VX rear plate was bodged on using this method and though the plate eventually came off (presumably because the plate was not cleaned thoroughly before sticking it down) just through brute force, the silicone remained on the bodywork and would not shift without wrecking the paint. Eventually i came up with a solution using a razor plane, silicone sealant remover and a lot of patience and the whole area was free of silicone and suffered only minor scratches from the early efforts to find a solution. If you have reasonable clearance between the plate and body work it would be possible to use a small Dremel type cutting disc to cut a small section free of the old plate that would be easier to prise off so at least you can see what you are dealing with and if it works on that piece you could probably remove the rest of the plate like that.
Dave C

Sorry I don’t have a photo. Whatever the adhesive is, it seems to cover almost the entirety of the plate and there’s negligible gap between the back of the plate and the body panel. The side edges of the plate weren’t completely stuck down so I could bend the plate back with a screwdriver and apply force to peel the plate away from the panel however it didn’t want to know. I could have applied more force but would have started to damage the plastic panel. At the bottom of the plate I couldn’t slide anything under it at all. I think even a competent DIYer (which I’m not really!) wouldn’t be able to get a cutting disk behind it.

That said, it might just be worth trying to slice through the left and right edges of the plate with a dremel. I don’t think it would help to remove the plate but there would be less yellow visible behind the new surround.

 

[ICowie]

Sorry I don’t have a photo. Whatever the adhesive is, it seems to cover almost the entirety of the plate and there’s negligible gap between the back of the plate and the body panel. The side edges of the plate weren’t completely stuck down so I could bend the plate back with a screwdriver and apply force to peel the plate away from the panel however it didn’t want to know. I could have applied more force but would have started to damage the plastic panel. At the bottom of the plate I couldn’t slide anything under it at all. I think even a competent DIYer (which I’m not really!) wouldn’t be able to get a cutting disk behind it.

Try with a thin metal scraper to get it started then slowly tap in wedges the further you go along. I think once you get it started it will quickly get a lot easier.

 

[Jellybean]

Do you know if there is a “how to” covering this? I found a thread referring to it which got as far as how to remove the interior trim (which I’ve done before, horrible job!) but after that I don’t know…

Try this.

Boot Lid Panel Removal

Hi All. I am in the middle of removing the exterior rear boot lid panel to replace the rear number plate lights and I have got as far as breaking the old light lens screws off in the housings. They were WELL rusted. Fortunately I have already got hold of some new light housings and lenses (just...

r.tapatalk.com

Its years since I changed one, and cannot remember how to do it!

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

 

[Malcyb]

Try with a thin metal scraper to get it started then slowly tap in wedges the further you go along. I think once you get it started it will quickly get a lot easier.

I think that the problem will be that the panel where the plate sits is recessed, so it’s not possible to get any long blade into the side without rubbing against the panel and making an awful mess of it, or the wedge will dig into the panel behind the plate and start to damage it there. I think what you’re suggesting might work only if it were a completely flat surface so you can apply force completely parallel to the panel behind it.

 

[Dave M]

Heat may be your friend Malcy. Try giving it the hairdryer treatment and see if it makes the adhesive more malleable.

 

[Malcyb]

Try this.

Boot Lid Panel Removal

Hi All. I am in the middle of removing the exterior rear boot lid panel to replace the rear number plate lights and I have got as far as breaking the old light lens screws off in the housings. They were WELL rusted. Fortunately I have already got hold of some new light housings and lenses (just...

r.tapatalk.com

Its years since I changed one, and cannot remember how to do it!

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Thanks… sounds a bit scary!

 

[Needles73]

Sorry, not quite following you. The plate is stuck fast to the tailgate, can the bottom part of the tailgate, below the seam just above the number plate recess, be easily replaced? Otherwise it would require a whole new tailgate which would be very drastic.

 

[Malcyb]

Heat may be your friend Malcy. Try giving it the hairdryer treatment and see if it makes the adhesive more malleable.

Tried it already. Perhaps I didn’t heat it through for long enough, I was a bit pushed for time. Might give that another go.

 

[Needles73]

This is basic process. You can get the idea from this video. No harm to translate the subtitles. He is splitting tailgate to replace faulty number plate light but same procedure.

 

[ICowie]

I think that the problem will be that the panel where the plate sits is recessed, so it’s not possible to get any long blade into the side without rubbing against the panel and making an awful mess of it, or the wedge will dig into the panel behind the plate and start to damage it there. I think what you’re suggesting might work only if it were a completely flat surface so you can apply force completely parallel to the panel behind it.

If you were to put several layers of masking tape around the plate then it should be fine and as Dave says try heating it up a bit

 

[Malcyb]

If you were to put several layers of masking tape around the plate then it should be fine and as Dave says try heating it up a bit

Ok… maybe a combination of both approaches might give me better results. Hopefully tomorrow’s job will be fitting my new sports seats but if that goes really well then I can give this a go

 

[Malcyb]

This is basic process. You can get the idea from this video. No harm to translate the subtitles. He is splitting tailgate to replace faulty number plate light but same procedure.

Thanks… picture tells 1000 words, but it still doesn’t look like a job for the faint-hearted.

 

[Needles73]

Thanks… picture tells 1000 words, but it still doesn’t look like a job for the faint-hearted.

I removed mine recently. Went straight forward enough.

 

[Malcyb]

I removed mine recently. Went straight forward enough.

I think I’ll have one more go at removing the plate with lots of heat and wedges. If that doesn’t work then I might give it a try if I can source a suitable panel.

 

[bluesunbeam]

If heat won't work you could try using a freezing spray on the area where the adhesive and plate meet once you have gently wedged one of the ends up a little bit and then apply some leverage right at the point of contact between plate and adhesive.