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Howto Remove Side Panels

11K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  Quanz56 
#1 ·
This howto describes how to remove the Rear Panels, the door sills, the middle pillar panels, and the front kick panel, and 2 other panels from there.

The car this Howto is demonstrated on is a 2006 Focus ST

First I took off of the very top panel which goes on top of the seat belt. This is just a couple of clips. Pull straight back towards the front of the car, this takes quite a bit of force.



Then I took off the large piece right under the piece that was just removed. This has 2 plastic screws, to unscrew these use very little force while turning the screw, as soon as you can use your fingers to twist the rest of the way out, after the screw is out pry out the little thing the screw was sitting in, it should slide out with little force. After the 2 screws are out there is 1 or 2 clips that you just pull the entire piece straight out.




This part is the hardest part of all. To remove the long piece that runs along the seat there are 2 screws, the first should be obvious where it is at, the second however you will want to push the seat back in the upright position to get to the second one. If you look at the bottom of the seat against the panel you should be able to see the other screw. (Recommendation: Use a Torx 45 to remove the seat from the hinges this makes this a lot easier) Now just start tugging on the top of the piece and work your way down. The last clip, if you didn't use my recommendation, will be very arduous. The way I did it, without my recommendation is lay the seat flat and I pushed the seat in as far as I could with one hand, and with the other I popped the clip out.





Now you should see a plastic screw for the door sills. Unscrew that and start popping the clips. I would recommend pulling up from either side of the clip at the same time.



Now move to the front of the car and locate the first panel. Just pull out from the bottom and it should come off with little force

Then pull straight out on the second panel that is located next to the glove box, this one will require a bit more force.



Now to remove the kick panel, remove the 2 flathead plastic screws and then pull straight out.



Now just pull up the door sill using the same directions as the back sill.


To remove the pillar panels start at the bottom and just pull straight out and pop about 4 clips and squeeze the top of the pillar to pop to little clips that are connecting the top panel to the bottom panel. And then pull straight out for the top panel to come off also.



To put the panels back on you do the exact reverse of what you’ve just done.

Just a hint: When you get back to putting the cumbersome piece from the backseat back on a little trick is to move the seat forward and put the top part in (don’t push the clips in, just set it there) and then move the seat into the upright position and line up the screw hole with the plastic in front of the metal plate. And then clip the bottom clip, and work your way up.
 
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