Rear Valance Tip and seized tail light pin

alanforn

Since I'm new trying to contribute some hopefully helpful things I am learning as I go along with this car.
I recently has the rear valance off, pretty straight forward using manual. I did however encounter 2 issues along the way, one was a stuck tail light mounting "pin" and the other the upper rear valance retaining clips. Upon attempting to remove the rear tail light I found that I could not release it after removing all bolts. I determined that one of two pins that push into plastic receivers was stuck. I chose to deal with this way to avoid breaking on wasting the paint when it would likely violently pop off, once interior pieces are removed as required for removal you can see the two pin receiver tangs pressed into the metal trunk surround (looking into the trunk and over red colored plastic pieces) I used extended reach needle nose pliers to squeeze in the tabs and pushed up slightly to clear the body. The tail light then released fine with the receiver and pin still in place on the tail light. I cleaned the pin connectors/ receivers well and applied a bit of grease to hopefully allow easier release in the future.
Second item of contention were the upper sheetmetal clips that hold the inside top center of the valance in place. There are 3 light gauge sheetmetal tangs that at first glance appear to allow the rear valance to click into place. I could not get that to happen, the clips are very light gauge and basically bend without much provocation and the top section ends up loose. I decided to crawl under the car and was able to see the underside of those clips. I fashioned a piece of all thread about a foot and a half long and ground a flat on the end similar to a screwdriver blade. I was then able to have a helper push in gently on the valance while I layed on the floor took the all thread and pushed up onto the clip which then bent and held the piece very nice and snug. Not sure if visual access is available on all models but I was easily able to see and get to them on my 09 base model.
Hope this helps someone.
Alan