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Rear Numberplate panel removal??

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yorkxx   
Sat Sep 08 2012, 03:18pm
Joined: Aug 29 2012
Member No: #1005
Location: Scotland
Hi,

Anyone know how to remove the Numberplate panel/rear fog light etc?
It say's in the manual to remove the Four (X4) screws and pull, That don't work?

I don't want to break anything just in case there is a sneaky screw somewhere I don't know about.

Cheers
Hawkie   
Sat Sep 08 2012, 10:16pm
Joined: Feb 01 2010
Member No: #45
Location: Stockholm
I had my numberplate panel off last week. It is not as easy as it says in the manual. But there are only the 4 screws that you have to remove. Then you have to lift the lower part of the panel just right out from the boot lid. The problem is that it is hold in place with 2 wings and a self-locking device... you have to be determined and use some violence. In my opinion the self-locking clips are unnecessary and I can not understand why they are there. When that is done it is easy to just pull down the panel. I did obviously not replace the clips.

Good luck!
/Hawkie
yorkxx   
Sun Sep 09 2012, 12:30am
Joined: Aug 29 2012
Member No: #1005
Location: Scotland
Hi Hawkie,

thanks for your suggestion, spot on!!!!.

Got it off with a bit of a struggle, as you said it makes no mention of the two clips in the hand book, that's not good, someone has tried to take this panel off before on my car and broken two of the four screw/clip holders, I've made new ones from hard plastic and Araldite, thankfully it worked out ok.

It's a real nasty bit of kit Citroen used, one can imagine that there has been a few broken panels, clips and paintwork scratched too.

For any others interested in doing this work, make sure you have a thick towel or bit of material along the bumper to protect it, three hands would be good on this job too.

Cheers

dsharples   
Sun Feb 03 2013, 07:06pm
Joined: May 18 2010
Member No: #119
Location: Woodbridge
I removed my boot-lid number-plate panel today, as a) I wanted to change the number plate screws which had rusted, forced off their caps, and where un-removable from the front, and were nicely staining the plate and car, and b) all of the 4 screw-clips were broken along the bottom edge - so needed epoxy repair. The 4 clips have progressively broken through use of boot, so it must be the vibration effect that causes them to fracture. I noticed that a coupe of the light mounts were fractured as well, so these are clearly a weak spot where the boot used daily as mine is....

MikeH   
Tue May 31 2016, 07:57pm
Joined: Jan 22 2014
Member No: #1555
Location: Norfolk
Hi. I have tried to remove the panel and even with a bit of violence, it remains firmly fixed at what seems to be the area around the boot unlock switch. Can you let me know where these unmentioned retaining clips are and in what direction to apply leverage. Many thanks.
nouveaucitroenist   
Tue May 31 2016, 10:10pm
Joined: Jun 19 2015
Member No: #2222
Location: Sussex
I think there are some clips that go horizontally through panel so you have to pull it straight back.
userpco   
Thu Jun 02 2016, 12:27pm
Joined: Sep 15 2011
Member No: #622
Location: Ascot, Berkshire
nouveaucitroenist wrote ...

I think there are some clips that go horizontally through panel so you have to pull it straight back.

That's right and you really have to use a lot of force, needless to say I didn't replace the clips. I repaired the broken lugs by supergluing lugs made from ally angle
MikeH   
Sun Sep 04 2016, 06:19pm
Joined: Jan 22 2014
Member No: #1555
Location: Norfolk
Thanks to all and yes, the panel came off with a straight pull, albeit with a little force applied. I've attached a few pics of the panel off to illustrate how it is fixed in case these prove useful to others.



tich731   
Mon Apr 03 2017, 07:09pm
Joined: Feb 25 2017
Member No: #3023
Location: Bury St Edmunds
A surprising amount of force was required to free the locating pegs at the top of the panel when I finally succeeded in removing it this evening. Thanks mainly to the advice given, and especially the photos, in this thread.

This forum is an invaluable resource. Thanks to all.
smorphet   
Mon Jul 29 2019, 01:11pm
Joined: Apr 13 2010
Member No: #88
Location: Hertfordshire
I struggled with this panel myself at the weekend. Many thanks for the tips and pictures here, which helped. What I didn't completely understand, until I had it off, was the relationship between the horizontal clips on the back, and the locating pins along the top edge. I sketched the following, which hopefully will help someone else:




To remove the panel, remove four bolts (B). To disengage the clips (C) requires a hard backwards pull (1) at the bottom edge of the panel. The panel rotates about the top edge pins (A) which remain engaged. Finally, drop the panel (2) to release pins (A).

You can't just pull the whole panel backwards, because it's retained along the top edge. That's what I hadn't understood.

The reason for taking it off at all was to repair the four mounting points along the bottom edge, all of which were broken. It was also an excuse to play with my new 3d printer. I made some little blocks, with captive nuts, that were epoxied into place.




It seems to have worked. The panel fits tight and flush with the boot lid in a way that it hasn't done for years! I just hope the glue holds.

Steve.
cruiserphil   
Mon Jul 29 2019, 02:21pm

Joined: Jan 24 2010
Member No: #38
Location: Celbridge
Thanks for that update Steve,

A very elegant solution. It looks like the original mounting points break away from the impact of boot closing over time.

From the piccy, I understand the block with the captive nut, what are the larger blocks? Are they spacers?

Best regards,

Phil C.
smorphet   
Mon Jul 29 2019, 02:47pm
Joined: Apr 13 2010
Member No: #88
Location: Hertfordshire
Thanks Phil.

The two larger blocks are exactly the same concept as the smaller ones, but they fit in the two outer positions. There's a hex pocket for a nut at the bottom of the big hole.

You can see, in MikeH's pics above, that the return on the lower edge of the panel has a little kick up around the outer mounting points. The taller blocks simply fill that deeper space.

Steve.

cruiserphil   
Tue Jul 30 2019, 07:59am

Joined: Jan 24 2010
Member No: #38
Location: Celbridge
Thanks for the reply Steve,

It's a while since I had that panel off so I had forgotten. I had to do a repair but nothing as good as yours. I'm actually not happy with the repair as an excessive gap still exists between the top of the panel and the boot lid. A friend of my son has a 3D printer so I'm going to commission a set if you don't mind?

Best regards,

Phil C.
smorphet   
Tue Jul 30 2019, 10:22pm
Joined: Apr 13 2010
Member No: #88
Location: Hertfordshire
Phil,

You're very welcome to copy my bits. I've uploaded the STL files to Thingiverse, so you, or anyone else, can grab them from there:

- Click Here -

I hope they work for you. Let me know how you get on.

Steve.

[edit - files now available]
Garfield   
Mon Feb 24 2020, 09:45am
Joined: Jan 24 2020
Member No: #4234
Location: Home
I also took it of today, my tip for the 2 metal center-clips is:

Do NOT start pulling on the bottom of the licence plate moulding but use a plastic/wooden rod or likely item to push the clips up and out near the center out of the metal clips fitting in the boot, by doing this they will not break as the force on the clips is much lower and directer than when you start pulling violently on the clips and almost breaking them for shure..

So hold the boot open, push the moulding a bit up/open to create a gap big enough to push in the plastic rod and use it as a lever to push the center clip left and right of the center out of the boot hole without breaking them, i did both sides and non of them broke so an easy fix without breaking the @#$%^&!! 2 plastic lips with the metal fasteners on it.

I used this plastic one and it worked as a charm..




 

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