Exterior

Side Rear Window Removal

Get some chord (I used nylon-type wound chord) something thicker than kite string, but not hay bale sized, either. If possible, slather some silicone lube (Wurth's, for example) to make it slicky slidey. Three or four feetwill do.

1. Open back hatch. From inside the car, somewhere along the lower edge of the quarter glass/seal, lift up on the lip of the seal against the window opening in the body. I found the area closest to the back seat where the glass makes the curve toward the back of the car easiest to work with.

2. While putting pressure outward on the glass at that spot, try to stuff some chord under the seal, over the glass opening lip of the body, and as far as you can toward the outside of the glass.

3. Assuming you didn't get the chord all the way under the seal to the outside, use wood or a nylon 'stick' or something else to fish for the chord from the outside. I found one of those wood skewers for shish-kabob an excellent tool for this purpose. If you are REALLY brave and wish to join 'Beer Can Mechanic' brotherhood, you can use a flat blade screwdriver or any other choice that will scratch your paint with any misstep.

4. Once you've fished the chord to the outside, grasp the chord at each end (one arm inside the backhatch area and the other outside the car) and using a slow-saw movement, carefully pull the chord in such a way that it curls the lip of the seal (as viewed inside the car) over and out of the window opening in the body. Be mindful that this happens only while the chord is being passed toward the outside of the car, and if you aren't careful, you will cut the seal with the chord.

5. Once you get about 1/3 of the window seal outside of the body opening, you should be able to press on the glass from the inside to get the rest to let go. Use care and use the chord to relieve more of the seal if it's still too tight at this point.

See separate Tips for window installation.

Good luck!

JP Rodkey
79 Euro