Tools Needed: screw driver phillips #2, towel, small flat screw driver.
First carefully pry the little red clips that cover the screws at the ends
of the upper Hi-Brake light by sliding a small screwdriver under the clip
at the bottom to release the clip and grabbing/pulling it out at the side
. Be very careful as they are very brittle and can break. If you need to you
can roll the rear window down for more room. Then take the two screws that
hold the hi-brake light in out with a phillips screwdriver. Then use some
tape to hold the brake light in. Pull straight out on the center panel starting
on the outside edge till it pop out of the clip, then repeat the process with
the other side. ( Note: To hard a pull on the sides and it will break the
center clip).
Now lift up on the center of the panel to slide it off the center clip. With
that done. Next lay the center panel on a towel on the roof and then pry the
rubber wire seal out and disconnect the wiring so you can remove it and not
have it fall when you start pulling the side panels off if you want, but not
necessary. You should be now ready to remove the side sail panels.
Now go and take the two screws off the top of each sail panel, open the trunk
and take out two more screws towards the front on the side of the sail panel.
See photo below for removing the bottom screws.
Here we are removing the bottom screws from the sail panel, they are found
right in front of the trunk strut.
Starting at the top, pull up on the sail panel and work your way toward the
bottom of the panel, gently, so as not to break any of the tabs off the sail
panel that fit in the body. With these removed, you can then wash and clean
up the body with a rag, removing dirt and other debris that has accumulated
over the years under there. Also you may clean the drains at the front that
are covered by the sail panels out at this time to make sure they work.
Now here you can see the problem, a loose clip that sets down lower then the
surrounding body panels so the water will leak into the trunk area. You cannot
see the clip from inside the trunk because of a metal reinforcing panel on
the edge of the trunk lip.
Here is another picture with the clip removed for better detail on the problem.
Now we put a small bead of sealer under the clip to protect it from leaking
again. The stock factory clip has a small rubber/foam layer that sets under
it to make it so it doesn't rattle.
Here we added some more sealer over and around the clip so no water will get
in under the clip again so even if the clip works loose again it won't leak.
Replace with new clips at the bottom or any others you may have broken when
taking off the panels and clean up. Do the reverse to install the trim pieces
and your all done, no leaks. Part numbers for all the clips and the small
plastic red covers for the Hi-Brake light are on our 'Parts Page'. Thanks
to Brian for the use of his car for this How To.
By: GEO