Ok, here goes. This is a show and tell of the panel removal. The last installment will be the finished project with pix.
When you start the removal begin at the bottom of the panel. Take everything out including the tool kit. Protect the bumper with a furney pad as shown and one for your knees. They'll thank you. Choose the easiest access point to start. The "tools" are shown that I used. Went to a thrift shop and bot a few narrow spatulas and I already had an (art supply) artist's palette knife. I'm a wood-worker so had plenty of small wedges. I also had a mini-Vaughn pry-bar. You can find something similar on eBay or maybe a good hardware store. Admittedly, this is not a project everyone would pursue, but I was determined.
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Rivets can be a challenge depending where they're located. The top 4 are the hardest. I had 2 long electrician drills that are about a foot long. They helped in those spots because they kept the drill body away from the trunk edges. The rivets have a little nub in the center left when the tool breaks the stem during installation. Use a small punch to push just those nubs back into the rivet body. That will give you a clean center to place the drill to start the drill-out process. I used a 1/4 and 3/8 drill depending on whether I could get a clean angle on the drill-out. If you can't get a clean break you may have to finish with some sort of cutter as pictured with the drills. Save the rivets as you get them out the back. They won't all just fall on the floor. Some may get trapped behind the 2 close out panels (batt/Evap) behind rear tires. One was just setting on the frame. You'll find most of them when you get the panel off.
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So all you're doing is trying to release the RTV seal around the perimeter of the panel. You want to push the knife or spatula up a couple of inches to do that. It will fight you all the way; when you get a large enuf area (6-7") you can start to use the wedge-prybar combo. You obviously have to slide the spatula in at an angle. Room restrictions will dictate what you use where. The pry will let you insert a wedge which gives you a little wiggle room. little bits of RTV will start coming out with the spatula or the knife. A hair drier seemed to help in some really stubborn spots. When you get one part clear move the wedge and repeat the process. Remember you're working with composite so easy-does-it all the way. The panel is barely 1/8" thick most places; same for the body. The corners are the tuffest. You just have to work those areas with you array of "tools" as needed. The palette knife can get into those hard to work areas. My car had the least amount of RTV at the top and I was able to pull the panel away at the bottom and sides working stubborn spots as I did. You may encounter different applications on your car and areas that were easy for me may be harder for you. It took me a full day to get this done and a lot of patience. Work the top seal break as far as you can from both sides towards center and the bottom pull should work it loose. It's almost impossible to get tools to the top center because of room restrictions. Things won't get easy until you're about 2/3 done.
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Once you get the panel off you get to see what's behind door #1. I used u-nuts (eBay) and bolts (lilparts.com) almost all the way around which you can do, but some holes (6) need special jack nuts I got thru McMaster-Carr (search pop rivets) as shown. All over eBay too. Some holes are too far from the edge making u-nuts unusable, but I was determined to use hardware all the way. Xmas trees would probably work in these holes. You should use blk paint in all the areas that need it before you install the hardware. Krylon semi blk would seem the best choice. The hardware sources are noted. I think my choices worked the best (for me) and I was determined to stay with M5 hardware. Same bolt as used for the radiator shroud just under the air intake. A few of the body perimeter holes are almost 1/16 inch from the edge. You have to be creative to make the u-nuts work. I elected to go with commonly available weather-stripping to make it easy for the next removal. That will keep the weather out and will seal better than what the factory did (hit and miss RTV application). Now you can put your trunk back together with the satisfaction that you'll never have to deal with this nightmare again. Sleep tight.
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