Weekend Warrior
Waghoon
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- Apr 7, 2008
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- www.streetwagons.com
- Members Ride
- Black VZ Wagon
Hey guys, I recently removed my rear wiper and plugged the hole up with a little rubber grommet. While it looked a damn site better than the big ugly wiper it still looked a little out of place due to the colour difference and i was also worried that someone could break into the car simply by pushing out the grommet and sticking a hooked wire down the hole and pulling on the lock rod to unlock the tailgate. (did it myself as a trial :S)
So i needed to come up with a way to get rid of this grommet while having it still look good, be water proof, secure and most of all completely non permanent - so when i do actually get around to getting the tail gate shaved by a professional it wont take extra work.
Here's what you will need:
- A short length of PVC piping, any size above around 5cm diameter will do it
- Paint - preferably go to auto barn and get them to mix up a can with your paint code
- Araldite glue or some similar strong bonding glue
- Silicon sealant
- a Phillips head screw driver
- Sand paper
- Plastic primer
- Degreaser or metho
- pointed end pliers or a flat head screw driver
- Water proof tape
- A pencil
- Small ammount of Blue tack
- Spanner
- Compass
Step one: Removing rear wiper
To remove the wiper simply flip up the small cover at the start of the arm to expose the bolt, undo this and it should simply just pull off
You will then need to remove the wiper motor from inside the car, so open up the tail gateand first remove the black plastic trim piece by firmly pulling down on an edge, it's held in place by metal clips so they should just disconnect once you pull on it.
Then use either your pointed end pliers or a flat head screw driver to pull out all the little plastic retaining pins, once they are all gone the carpet should drop off to reveal the wiper motor
To remove the motor you simply have to undo the the little screws with your Phillips head to release the metal backing plate, from memory there a seven(i had already done this before writing this guide). Once the plate is off disconnect the wiring loom and the motor should pull free leaving you with nothing but a small hole
Step Two: Prepping
Ok, now we will need our PVC. What you need to do is cut off a section about 8cm long off the pipe
Then cut this section in half
Then cut one half of your two new sections of pipe into a section about 3cm by 3cm
Once you have done this clean up the edges with a bit of sandpaper, doesn't have to be perfect though
The next step involves flattening these pieces, so pre heat an oven to about 150'c and then pop the pieces in until the visibly start to loose shape and flatten (usually about a minute and a half)
Once this starts to happen quickly pull them out of the oven using something like a spatula, then press the pieces firmly onto a flat surface to flatten them out. Hold them down for about 30 seconds then quickly place them in a bowl of cold water or under a cold running tape to cool them and stop warping. The end product should be two nice flat pieces of PVC plastic.
Now get your smaller piece of plastic and a compass, use the compass the scribe out a circle with 2cm diameter.
Then use some scissors or something similar to trim the edges down until you get close to the pencil marking, from then on use sand paper to get a smooth and even edge. Keep testing if the piece fits the hole by attaching it to a pencil or something similar using a small amount of blue tack. This will help you achieve the most snug fit possible.
Once you have achieved a snug fit then it's time to paint. I first gave both plastic pieces a light sand then cleaned them up using some degreaser.
Then i gave them a few coats of plastic primer
I then left the pieces in the hot Brishole sun for about 30mins before coming back and doing about 3 coats of the Phantom mica paint i got mixed up by auto barn, leaving about 3 mins between each coat while in the sun. Once i had applied the last coat i let them sit for 30 mins before applying about 4 coats of clear coat. Heres what i ended up with (Note how s.h.i.t i am at painting haha)
*NOTE: The area you paint on the bigger rectangle piece doesn't have to cover the whole thing, in case you have not yet realised this is going to be the backing plate for the circular piece to be glued onto which will then hold it in place in the tail gate, only being painted black so if the circle piece doesn't 100% fill the hole no white will show through.
Step Three: Finishing it all off
Ok, once the paint has thoroughly dried our next step is to glue the circle piece onto the backing plate. To do this i used Araldite. Araldite is a great bonding glue but you will need to work quickly with it as it starts to set almost immediately.
Once you have mixed the the two additives together apply a even ammount to both the backing plate and the back of the circular piece, then press together and hold in place for a few minutes. If any glue gets pushed out from in between the two pieces quickly clean it up. Here's what i had when the glue had dried.
Give the glue about 10 minutes to set before doing this next step.
Next we will glue the piece into place in the tail gate. to do this i stood with the tail gate open and put down a layer of news paper so no glue would get onto the carpet etc. I then made a circular ring of silicon sealant around the circle piece to (hopefully) stop water getting through, once i had done that i quickly mixed up a large amount of Araldite and applied it liberally the both the backing plate outside of my ring of silicon and to the tailgate
Sorry i don't have any pics of this, was to concerned with the glue setting while fiddling around with the camera. This diagram should give you the gist of it though.
Once both the glue and the sealant are applied press the backing plate onto the tailgate making sure that the circle piece fits snugly in the hole. I found the best way to do this is with the tailgate halfway open so you can look above it to see where the circle piece is in relation to the hole while still being able to apply pressure easily by holding the backing plate with one arm under the tailgate. Once it's in a position that you think is good then hold it there for about 4 - 5 minutes and then the glue should be bonded enough to hold itself in place. So slowly take your hand away and make sure it doesn't fall, if i doesn't then leave it for about 10 - 15 minutes checking it so often and pressing on the plate to make sure you get as much glue adhering as possible.
Once it the glue is dried go around the edges with silicon sealant. let it start to dry for about 5 minutes then smooth it all out over the edges. This will help hold the plate in place and create a water proof barrier.
When the sealant had dried out i covered the whole thing in waterproof tape to again help hold everything in place and act as a water barrier. Once this was done i then assembled the carpet and black trim piece in reverse order to finish it all off! And then your done. Here's some crappy pictures of the finished (unwashed/ polished) product.
I also recommend leaving about 24 hours before washing and polishing the area.
So i needed to come up with a way to get rid of this grommet while having it still look good, be water proof, secure and most of all completely non permanent - so when i do actually get around to getting the tail gate shaved by a professional it wont take extra work.
Here's what you will need:
- A short length of PVC piping, any size above around 5cm diameter will do it
- Paint - preferably go to auto barn and get them to mix up a can with your paint code
- Araldite glue or some similar strong bonding glue
- Silicon sealant
- a Phillips head screw driver
- Sand paper
- Plastic primer
- Degreaser or metho
- pointed end pliers or a flat head screw driver
- Water proof tape
- A pencil
- Small ammount of Blue tack
- Spanner
- Compass
Step one: Removing rear wiper
To remove the wiper simply flip up the small cover at the start of the arm to expose the bolt, undo this and it should simply just pull off
You will then need to remove the wiper motor from inside the car, so open up the tail gateand first remove the black plastic trim piece by firmly pulling down on an edge, it's held in place by metal clips so they should just disconnect once you pull on it.
Then use either your pointed end pliers or a flat head screw driver to pull out all the little plastic retaining pins, once they are all gone the carpet should drop off to reveal the wiper motor
To remove the motor you simply have to undo the the little screws with your Phillips head to release the metal backing plate, from memory there a seven(i had already done this before writing this guide). Once the plate is off disconnect the wiring loom and the motor should pull free leaving you with nothing but a small hole
Step Two: Prepping
Ok, now we will need our PVC. What you need to do is cut off a section about 8cm long off the pipe
Then cut this section in half
Then cut one half of your two new sections of pipe into a section about 3cm by 3cm
Once you have done this clean up the edges with a bit of sandpaper, doesn't have to be perfect though
The next step involves flattening these pieces, so pre heat an oven to about 150'c and then pop the pieces in until the visibly start to loose shape and flatten (usually about a minute and a half)
Once this starts to happen quickly pull them out of the oven using something like a spatula, then press the pieces firmly onto a flat surface to flatten them out. Hold them down for about 30 seconds then quickly place them in a bowl of cold water or under a cold running tape to cool them and stop warping. The end product should be two nice flat pieces of PVC plastic.
Now get your smaller piece of plastic and a compass, use the compass the scribe out a circle with 2cm diameter.
Then use some scissors or something similar to trim the edges down until you get close to the pencil marking, from then on use sand paper to get a smooth and even edge. Keep testing if the piece fits the hole by attaching it to a pencil or something similar using a small amount of blue tack. This will help you achieve the most snug fit possible.
Once you have achieved a snug fit then it's time to paint. I first gave both plastic pieces a light sand then cleaned them up using some degreaser.
Then i gave them a few coats of plastic primer
I then left the pieces in the hot Brishole sun for about 30mins before coming back and doing about 3 coats of the Phantom mica paint i got mixed up by auto barn, leaving about 3 mins between each coat while in the sun. Once i had applied the last coat i let them sit for 30 mins before applying about 4 coats of clear coat. Heres what i ended up with (Note how s.h.i.t i am at painting haha)
*NOTE: The area you paint on the bigger rectangle piece doesn't have to cover the whole thing, in case you have not yet realised this is going to be the backing plate for the circular piece to be glued onto which will then hold it in place in the tail gate, only being painted black so if the circle piece doesn't 100% fill the hole no white will show through.
Step Three: Finishing it all off
Ok, once the paint has thoroughly dried our next step is to glue the circle piece onto the backing plate. To do this i used Araldite. Araldite is a great bonding glue but you will need to work quickly with it as it starts to set almost immediately.
Once you have mixed the the two additives together apply a even ammount to both the backing plate and the back of the circular piece, then press together and hold in place for a few minutes. If any glue gets pushed out from in between the two pieces quickly clean it up. Here's what i had when the glue had dried.
Give the glue about 10 minutes to set before doing this next step.
Next we will glue the piece into place in the tail gate. to do this i stood with the tail gate open and put down a layer of news paper so no glue would get onto the carpet etc. I then made a circular ring of silicon sealant around the circle piece to (hopefully) stop water getting through, once i had done that i quickly mixed up a large amount of Araldite and applied it liberally the both the backing plate outside of my ring of silicon and to the tailgate
Sorry i don't have any pics of this, was to concerned with the glue setting while fiddling around with the camera. This diagram should give you the gist of it though.
Once both the glue and the sealant are applied press the backing plate onto the tailgate making sure that the circle piece fits snugly in the hole. I found the best way to do this is with the tailgate halfway open so you can look above it to see where the circle piece is in relation to the hole while still being able to apply pressure easily by holding the backing plate with one arm under the tailgate. Once it's in a position that you think is good then hold it there for about 4 - 5 minutes and then the glue should be bonded enough to hold itself in place. So slowly take your hand away and make sure it doesn't fall, if i doesn't then leave it for about 10 - 15 minutes checking it so often and pressing on the plate to make sure you get as much glue adhering as possible.
Once it the glue is dried go around the edges with silicon sealant. let it start to dry for about 5 minutes then smooth it all out over the edges. This will help hold the plate in place and create a water proof barrier.
When the sealant had dried out i covered the whole thing in waterproof tape to again help hold everything in place and act as a water barrier. Once this was done i then assembled the carpet and black trim piece in reverse order to finish it all off! And then your done. Here's some crappy pictures of the finished (unwashed/ polished) product.
I also recommend leaving about 24 hours before washing and polishing the area.
