How To: Remove Roof Rack (P5)

[ELEmental59437]

I used to work in tech support and they burned "we" words into my brain, so I use that word alot when giving instructions. (sorry, too lazy to retype)




Start by removing the trim around the inside of the sun roof. Gently pull until you have seperated it from the car and follow it arround until you have it completly off.




Remove the A pillars by pulling it towards the center of the windsheild and gradually towards the center of the vehicle. It is very easy to break the plastic clips that hold it to the car so be sure it is fully unclipped. Repeat this process for the passenger side A pillar.




Next, the sun visors will need to be removed. There are two screws on one side and one on the opposite side.




It will be easier to start with the two screws on the hinge side, so we will remove these first.




Next, we will unscrew the clip side and pull all the pieces down and unclip them.

[ELEmental59437]

Next we will need to pull the metal tabs from the moon roof area off of the metal frame for the window. Simply pull the metal bracket towards you and down.




Another picture of the metal bracket that needs to be disattached from the metal frame of the moon roof.




Next we will need to remove all four door sills. Gently pry these upward from the floor to unsnap them.




The rear sills have two clips each, unsnap them the same way.




After removing the door sils, we will need to take off the middle pillar by prying one side up (as shown in the picture) and pulling the whole piece up.

[ELEmental59437]

This is what it will look like with the panel off.




We will need to remove this plastic piece aswell, but there are a few steps involved.




First, we need to unsnap this piece by pulling the top part off and removing it.




Next we will need to remove the seatbelt bolt with a rachet.




A picture of the seatbelt bolt and plastic removed.

[ELEmental59437]

Once everything else is removed, we can unsnap the grey plastic piece and put it aside.




Along the roof in the rear are three clips that are holding the roof in place back there. Pull the middle of the clip outward to unclip it from the roof and then pull the whole thing out.




Each of the three hand bars (a.k.a "oh shit bars") has two rubber trim pieces that easily pry out to reveal a screw on each side.




Simply unscrew both screws and remove the whole piece and put them aside. Be sure you dont misplace the rubber pieces we took out to get to the screws.




Next we will need to pry out the top part of the grey trim in the back. There will be a few clips, and we dont need to fully remove the piece, only the top.

[ELEmental59437]

Then we will need to unscrew the dome light, there are two screws and the whole unit comes out.




Once the dome light is removed there is one single clip holding the middle of the roof in place. Remove this the same way we removed the ones along the back by pulling the middle part of the clip out first, then the rest of it.




The map lights in the front of the car are held in with a metal clip on each side. You may need to open the moon roof and pull some of the roof down to be able to see each clip. I used a screwdriver to push the sides down through the gap I was able to look into between the moon roof and the cloth roof.




Once the map lights are discconected, you can turn it at an angle and put it through the hole and leave it there attached. The next step may require a second set of hands, because we will need to pull the whole roof out from inside the car. It should slide out pretty easily if there is someone feeding it through the rear hatch.




Now the moment you have been waiting for. Along the inside of the roof there will be four evenly spaced nuts on each side that will need to be unscrewed from the black pieces that run along the roof of the car. There are two more nuts that are within two inches of each other that will need to stay tightened as they are not a part of the roof rack.

[ELEmental59437]

Another angle of one of the nuts.




Once all four nuts are removed from each side, you can pull the roof rack off and fill the holes with something to keep the water out. I took eight nuts, bolts, and rubber washers and tightened them down in the places the roof rack was attached to seal the holes left.




Once all is done and the holes are sealed, you will have a roof rack-less Protege5. Even without the plastic filler strips (they have not arrived yet) the car looks sharp.

[y0sky]

Those handles are called "OH Shit Bars", LOL. Very nice How too Bro.

[L8R]

holy shit is right. nice write up with a nice selection of detailed pictures. good job! - chris

[Ryan]

dayumn have to take the full car apart jsut to get the rack off, screw all that buy a 03 w/o roof rack to save the trouble LOL.

[ELEmental59437]

Originally posted by y0sky
Those handles are called "OH Shit Bars", LOL. Very nice How too Bro.

TOO FUNNY, thats what my friends call it.. I fixed it in the post..

My same friends neon isnt equiped with any oh shit bars.. or rear power windows... now thats just cheap.. j/k

[Carl]

This is very detailed, yet succinct. The "pro" in Protege5 stands for project. Thank you ELEmental59437.

[ELEmental59437]

Is it bad that I had to look up the meaning to succinct? Oh well, thanks guys. I felt the need to contribute to the site for all the info I have gotten here. I would like to thank the academy, and all the people I had to step on to get here.

[SilverProtege5]

Do you have a part number for the filler strips that go on the top of the car?

[Doogs]

omg.... looks like my roof-rack will NEVER be removed!

Nice write-up though

[ELEmental59437]

Originally posted by SilverProtege5
Do you have a part number for the filler strips that go on the top of the car?

The replacement part numbers are BJ3D-50-9H0D and BJ3D-50-9LOE. I didnt order these as they are hella expensive, instead I traded my roof rack for the parts off a Canadian P5. I paid for shipping my parts and he paid for shipping his and it was an even trade. He had to drill a few holes but I hear everything went well with his install.