Hey guys, so I bought new rubber seals for the rear tail light and I looked through the repair manual on how to swap them out and it seems like a simple process. So I started by removing the plastic rivets from the internal trim (the one with the speakers) and that went well, but when it came to removing the plastic rivets on the rear tail light embellisher, I noticed the previous owner had replaced the black plastic rivets with metal ones. I am guessing the previous owner replaced them because the manual says they should be plastic ones. Anyone have any ideas on how I could remove these?

thanks!

1/8" drill bit? You can use a larger bit to remove the head but you have to be careful so you don't drill into the trim panel.

Chuck

 

1 minute ago, cbuczesk said:

1/8" drill bit? You can use a larger bit to remove the head but you have to be careful so you don't drill into the trim panel.

Chuck

 

How do I do that? Do I just drill into the rivets and that will break them free?

Never mind, found the diagram below, will try it out now

 

 

I think you can access from the bottom. When I can access the bottom of a rivet, I can usually clip the bottom off with a wheel or dikes. It may be tight and not possible but thought I would share the idea.

Those rivets should be a small black plastic rivet for trim. MSA sells them.

11 minutes ago, jonathanrussell said:

I think you can access from the bottom. When I can access the bottom of a rivet, I can usually clip the bottom off with a wheel or dikes. It may be tight and not possible but thought I would share the idea.

Those rivets should be a small black plastic rivet for trim. MSA sells them.

 

With a help of my friend ended up drilling the rivets and they fell off easily. When i put the car back together i used the black plastic rivets which I had already ordered from thezstore. 

 

 

9 minutes ago, jonathanrussell said:

I think you can access from the bottom. When I can access the bottom of a rivet, I can usually clip the bottom off with a wheel or dikes. It may be tight and not possible but thought I would share the idea.

Those rivets should be a small black plastic rivet for trim. MSA sells them.

You can't access the bottom of the rivets because the panel that he's trying to remove is in the way. You might be able to unclip the panel at the bottom and bend it up but then you'll have a bent panel, possibly scratched tail light and damaged paint on the hatch ledge. I'm sure that drilling it will work just fine.

Chuck