Fancy some opening rear quarters on your FSI
heres how its done
First of all your going to need to remove the B and C pillar trims from your car,
the c pillars are easy, unpop the boot struts and undo the screw holing it top and bottom remove and put to one side.
now the ever so slightly more coplex b pillars
clip the cover off the seatbelt and undo the large torx bolt there, put this down on the floor then if your seatbelt hieght is adjustable pop the adjuster clip off, dont lose it.
now undo the 2 screws top and bottom and remove the covers
one more thing to remove now before you can get rid of the glass
fold the rear seat down and undo the screws holding the rear quarter trim in
remove this and flip the seat back out the way
now there are 2 ways of removing the glass one you can do on your own the toher ideally needs to people unless you fancy cleaning up broken glass!
the propper way, using a large flat bladed screwdriver slide this under the window rubber and lever up, use an off cut of cloth between the screwdriver blade and the body work to avooid damage, this can be a tedious job so be patient,
have your mate stand outside to stop the glass from falling out, chances are it wont but why risk it.
once you have lifted the seal all the way round you might need to give the window a slight push to get it to come free of the opening, do this from inside, now you see why you need a mate, once window is removed place to side.
the other way of removing the window is to get a stanley knife and cut into the rubber on the outside and go around the shape of the glass the window can then be removed and the rubber can be pulled out of the apature
right now you got that out the way you can go ahead fitting your new opening rear quarter
fit the opening quarter window rubber and tap it in to make sure its seated properly
hold the window up to the apature and put masking tape wherever the hinges/catch will go on the paintwork this makes it far easier to mark out
now make sure you are happy with the positions and mark out where you want to drill the holes.
drill pilot holes and recheck position. its easier to adjst em now than when you have drilled the full size hole.
if you want you can use a centre punch and a hammer to mark the holes
when you are happy with the positioning drill the final holes
now you can remove the tape. get a small countersink and just lightly touch the holes you have just drilled to deburr them, dont push hard you dont want a tapered side just take the burrs off
now it is ideal to touch up the bare metal you have just created, you can use hammerite or scratch repair paint for this use a very fine brush to do it,
now you can have a cuppa tea or a smoke while that dries,
do not leave ya car unattended though as it has no rear windows!
Insurance companies wont appreciate you saying my stereo was nicked after you have told em the way the got in was via the 2 windows you ahd just removed!
after your break the paint should hopefully be touch dry unless you decided to drown the holes in it.
now you can hole the window back up to the apature and screw in the self tappers.
check all is working as it shoudl at this point
if it isn't rectify it could be just a case of losening off a couple of screws and slightly adjusting the angle of the component.
right now you can go back to refitting the interior parts.
if your c and b pillars dont have the holes precut for the opening windows, (some do some dont) you will need to trim them so they fit. this can be done very easily with a file of if your confident you wont ruin it a stanley knife
once the tabs are cut out refit the pillar covers, dont forget to tighten your seatbelt mounting to the correct torque its a safety feature after all.
refit the rear 1/4 trim and fold your seats back up etc.
job done
HTH Tony
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