21/11/2011 - Rear Windscreen Wiper Delete

As you may recall from my previous post, I decided to delete the rear wiper and plug the hole using a glass grommet which I had purchased from GeCleant. After paying $40.00 for it, it didn't fit even though it guaranteed perfect fitment so I looked for an alternative. I had temporarily fitted a rubber grommet that I bought from Clark Rubber thanks to Ray's suggestion and it was a perfect fit. However, the only gripe I had with the grommet was that if you pushed the grommet hard enough, it could pop out and you could push it into the dark crevices of the boot trim (which is a bitch to get off). Even if you had applied some sort of silicone or super glue to make it stay in place, you could still push it in with enough force. Of course, you hope that no one does but then again you also hope no one keys your car. So therefore, I decided to use the OEM Honda metal wiper plug instead that Justin had used previously on his GTI. These plugs fit most Honda cars that came with a rear wiper from 1989-2005, which means it includes almost all the versions of Civics, Preludes and Integras, as well as CRX's and CR-V's. I was going to buy the plug from JDMYard but after a quick look on eBay, I found someone selling not only the OEM Honda rear wiper plug, but also the OEM components which would be needed to properly plug and seal the hole left by the rear wiper. After paying $22.00 including shipping to Australia from the US, and waiting approximately 1 week, this is what arrived.

OEM Honda metal plug, the rubber grommet, rubber spacer and the 10mm M6 bolt.

OEM Honda Metal Plug : 90301-SR3-000

OEM Honda rubber grommet : 90109-SR3-000

OEM Honda rubber spacer : 90105-SR3-000

OEM Honda 10mm M6 bolt : 93402-0601200

I thought that since the plug came with the components already, I wouldn't need to go and buy a spacer or stem top cap. At the end of the day though, the other three components did not fit as the hole left by the rear wiper is bigger than the rubber grommet so I couldn't utilise them. So, using Justin's DIY guide as shown here, I went on eBay again and bought a carbon fibre stem top cap and spacer made for a mountain bike by a company called OMNI. $20.00 and another week and a half later, it arrived today. Since it didn't come with the bolt and the 10mm M6 bolt from Honda was too short, I had to drop by Bunnings to buy a longer M6 bolt. I bought a 15mm and a 25mm bolt just in case the 15mm was too short. I also bought some rubber washers from Clark Rubber and cut them to fit. 

OMNI carbon fibre stem top cap.

OMNI carbon fibre spacer. It came with a 5mm, 10mm and 15mm spacer.
I used the 15mm one for my application.

Various lengths of M6 bolts. 15mm, 25mm and 30mm. I ended up using the 25mm bolt.

Installing the plug wasn't too difficult as I just followed the DIY Justin had written. It was all a pretty straight forward install and because I kept the plastic boot lid trim off from the DIY day, it made the job easier and quicker too. Because the shape of the bolt head was a hexagon and it didnt sit flush with the stem top cap, I had to use a socket wrench and a 10mm socket to make sure it threaded into the metal plug nicely and stayed tight. You have to hold and press down hard on the metal grommet when threading in the bolt, otherwise when you try and screw the bolt in clockwise to tighten it, the metal plug will move also, thus a bit of pressure is needed to make sure the plug stays in place as you are threading it in. Apart from that, the install was a success.

Socket wrench with 10mm socket to thread the bolt into the metal plug to make sure the plug stays firm and tight.

Result. You can just see the black rubber washer being pushed against the windshield by the spacer.

Installed! 

Nice, clean and no leaks!

Pretty happy with how it looks now and finally, the rear boot lid trim can go back on! I liked the size of the Clark Rubber grommet though, it was nice and small. The OEM Honda one is a little bigger but having said that, it's made from metal, there's no leaks, and personally I do think it looks good.

There are a few more aesthetic mods I would like to do before I can say I'm  happy with it (e.g gloss black roof, new wheels, subtle body modifications, etc) but slowly but surely it's getting there. I think personally I'll hold off on the power mods for as long as I can until the guys in the US get their Golf R's in January/February 2012 as from that point forward we can expect a lot of parts becoming available for the Golf R from the good old US of A. Performance wise, the car has a GIAC Stage 1 tune with a VW Racing cold air intake at the moment, but I will be adding a front mount intercooler, high pressure fuel pump, discharge pipes, actuator and a full turboback exhaust later on too. Will probably opt for a custom ECU reflash tune once the power mods are finished.