How To Remove Hatch Trim & Reinstall Trim

[FocusOhFive]

Tools needed:
standard 10mm nut driver
lots of upper body strength
Phillips screwdriver
flat head screwdriver
rubbing alcohol
cotton ball
step stool

Time required: Took me almost 4 hours, first attempt.

1. Remove rear license plate screws with the flat head screwdriver.

2. Remove the rear license plate backing place with the Phillips screwdriver.

3. Raise hatch.

4. Using the Phillips screwdriver, unscrew the 4 screws in the hatch cover.

5. Right below the screws are clips. You have to wiggle with it and pick at them; they will pop out.


6. There are about 8 metal snaps that hold the inside hatch cover into place. You will have to tug on the loosened cover and pull the cover down with even force. Try to not make the mistake of cracking the plastic. This may take a while, but take your time. Work in whatever position is most comfortable to you- with the hatch raised all the time, or standing between the bumper and hatch, with the hatch pulled down.

The most difficult snaps are by the rear windshield wiper assembly:


7. The hatch will look like this once pulled off:


And the cover:


8. If you look directly behind the existing trim, you will notice five 10mm nuts. Remove these with your 10mm nut driver. The centermost nut I had to remove on an angle, not straight on, because of its location (directly behind the rear windshield wiper assembly).

9. Once the nuts are loosened and removed, keep a hand on the loosened trim and shut the hatch. You will notice that the trim is hanging on by 4 wire units; one with a plastic clip, and one with a soft black wrapping, for each license plate lamp. The plastic clips snap off easy, just pull gently. As for the soft black wrapped wires, you will need to gently tug them for removal.



When the wires are disconnected, your car will look like this:


And the trim will look like this:


10. Clean the surrounding area with soap and water, then dry. Apply rubbing alcohol with a cotton ball to the outermost corners of where the trim was applied. The adhesion tape will stick to these areas on the new trim, to ensure cleanliness.

11. Removing Lights
Slightly peel back the black foam located on the bottom of the trim. Doing so will easily access you to snap the light out.


Push in the metal snap to release the light:


There are two plastic ends opposite the metal snap; they fit in nicely and release with no problem.

Repeat this for the second light.

12. Transferring Lights
Place the two plastic grooves in the new trim, exactly where they were on the old trim. By this I mean so that the tiny Ford emblems read ‘Ford’ left to right. Gently snap in the metal piece. Make sure to push the light in all the way, it will ‘click.’

Repeat this for the second light.



13. Reattach the wiring. Remember, the plastic snap wires are always on the left side, and the soft black wrapped wires are always on the right side. Snap them back into place.

14. Align the screws into the 5 holes where the trim will go. Peel off the adhesion paper, and press it into the trim area.

15. Just so you won’t kick yourself later, make sure your rear license plate lamps are working before reapplying anything. Check by turning on your lights. If they both light up, you’re good to go.

16. Carefully rescrew and tighten the nuts onto the screws from inside the hatch. I used four out of the five nuts. The screw located in the dead center was too difficult to get to, so I just let it go without one.

17. You might need somebody to help you snap the inside cover back into place (about as difficult as removing it). I started with the snaps most opposite the rear glass, then the ones closest to the rear glass, then the sides.

18. Reinsert the four clips in their aligned housings. Rescrew the four screws.

19. Shut the hatch. Reinstall the rear license plate backing plate, followed by your license plate.

20. Apply a polish (of your choice) to the newly-installed trim.
Result

Before


After

[Lil PZEV]

Nice job!

The trim matches your front grille now right? You should look into getting the little billet aluminum keyhole bezel from FocusCentral to replace the black rubber one.

[sexy2002svt]

sweet, nice write up and it looks really good on your car.....

[FocusOhFive]

Thanks!

It does match the front grille; that's mostly why I bought the chrome trim. Black on one end, chrome on the other...didn't really match IMO.

Maybe the mods could include this in the How To section for other members' reference?

[Lil PZEV]

Sure, PM the page to S2, when he gets back from vaca I'm sure he'll add it.

[hotfocus]

Wow..great write up...definitely PM S2 about adding this to his list.

[FocusOhFive]

Sweet, thanks. PM sent.

[sexy2002svt]

^^yeah, he should definatley make this a sticky, this is a pretty commonly asked question........................

[Hillyard]

The only hard part is getting an extension to fit the bolt under the Ford Emblem...I have done this 4 times....Friday will be my 5th and hopefully last time.

[FocusOhFive]

Originally posted by Hillyard
The only hard part is getting an extension to fit the bolt under the Ford Emblem...I have done this 4 times....Friday will be my 5th and hopefully last time.

I didn't even bother with an extension, the 5.5" nutdriver I used worked great.