How Easy Is It To Get This Panel Off?

[Polygon]

Or maybe I should be asking if it can come off at all?

The panel in question is the black panel on the hatch, under the banana wing on a Stealth. I would like to remove it and have a body shop weld up the hole for the wiper motor over the winter.

[x2xtreme360]

Nope that's part of the hatch.

[Polygon]

FUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!

Oh well. I guess that will be the first little job of spring. But now I can't have it powder coated. I guess I'll just have the shop paint it while they're at it.

[x2xtreme360]

Most people paint it body color or simply black.

[Polygon]

Hmm, body color.....

I can see that working on a base or a 3000. However, with the sail panels that just wouldn't jive, I don't think. My plan was to stick with flat black. I'd like to remove the sail panels to do the same, but I'm not in the mood for that PITA.

[RL7]

I halfway did this on my (used to be) es. I painted all the trim temporarily with rattle can trim/bumper paint, because I couldn't stand how faded it was. I'm probably going to spray it body color eventually. I welded little pieces of sheetmetal to the back of the panel. This is a pain. I think I ended up using one hand to hold the patches up with the ground clamp of the welder and the other hand to tack it up on top. I ground down the welds, hit the spots with filler, and sanded. Masking everything to paint the trim takes a long time.
http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/qq49/rlyons7/11102010529.jpg

It's dirty as hell and I have some random spots with a bit of silver paint , but it looks ok for now, until I finish painting the car. RT sails would look different. I've heard of people filling the entire indentation with body filler and sanding it smooth, but that is a crapload of filler. I think it would look fine body color. If you want to get an idea, get a rattle can that is close, mask and spray it. You should be able to wipe that stuff off with acetone or some other solvent afterward.