Rear hatch trim question.....

[Drake69]

I just went through removing most of the rear hatch trim to get to my rear shock towers in swapping out my worn shocks/coils with Tokicos and Eibachs, and now I'm looking at the interior and wondering if I want to put that stuff back in. I know it's mostly for looks, but really all I want to put back in are the rear hangers for the targa support brackets, the cargo cover, the cargo base panel and carpeting, the speaker covers, and the rear lip that covers the trunk latch. I'm also adding a rear strut tower bar and know I'll have to cut slots in the trim to get the tabs to poke out, but if I can get away with removing the rear side trim altogether, I would only have to mount the bar and my other stuff. (It's really not laziness, I just like the utilitarian look of the towers without the trim.)

Does anyone have pics of what the rear hatch looks like with the towers exposed AND the targa brackets still on? And is it possible to still retain the cargo cover as well?

 

[SupaMan]

Im pretty sure you cant retain the cargo cover without the side panels on as it latches into them.

Im gutted from the front seats back. My targa holders are in place also. If you want pics i can go get them.

 

[ForcedTorque]

Im pretty sure you cant retain the cargo cover without the side panels on

You probably could, but it would take some fabricating. For the reason already stated, it won't be a plug and play thing.

 

[gelboy1015]

You can retain the cargo cover without the panels. The place where you screw down the speaker covers is attached to the body, I believe... Just screw them down and attach the cargo cover into the slots. I had to do this when I took off my struts and left the panels off overnight.

 

[SupaMan]

Ah thats right i forgot all about them screwing down. Good call.

If your gonna run your targa holders without the panels, It would be a little better to run the covers on the ones that use them. It helps line the targa up correctly its a bit of a pain in the ass without them. Just a tip.

 

[Drake69]

I'm definitely keeping the pop-up brackets that support the targa in the back part of the hatch, but I'd also like to know how to tighten those up as well (right now they flop down when any weight is applied on them, so I have a cardboard radio box supporting one side to keep the targa top from falling into my hatch). The only pieces I'm looking to ditch are the ones that cover the strut towers, which also might involve cutting (if I have to retain the clips to the cargo cover). I'm going to clear out my hatch today and do a thorough assessment of what's back there and loose as far as trim goes to see what I can get away with in keeping and what I can cut away.

I also found a way to trick the cargo cover into covering the hatch WITHOUT providing extra load to the glass door. I screwed in hooks with clips into the back trim and can stretch the cover over items in the back, then clip it to the rear without using the hangers on the door. This keeps the weight down on the door shocks (which, BTW, are brand new, so it's not that big of a deal, but it'll reduce wear-and-tear on the shocks!!!), and is still usable if the targa roof is in the hatch. Now I'm looking to fab a bracket to hold the targa bars and fire extinguisher back there as well!!! :icon_razz

 

[SupaMan]

The targa holders should lock when you pull them up and not flop down. Maybe the locking part is dirty or something? Im not exactly how they work as ive never really looked at them but im guessing a pin locks in place to keep them up.