Honda Civic (FK): Fitting a Type R (CTR) Rear Centre Light Panel

There are two ways to reach the panel's retaining nuts: through the small bulb-service covers on the tailgate trim using a slim ring spanner, or by taking the entire inner tailgate trim off. Many people in the discussion reported success using only an 8mm ring spanner, so attempt that route first before committing to full trim removal. Undo the two screws sitting behind the tailgate handles. The rounded-rectangular cover in the middle conceals no fasteners, so leave it in place. Pop off the small covers over the bulbs to try to reach the nuts from behind.

On many cars the boot-side plastic hides some nuts and a spanner will not reach them; if that is your situation the inner trim has to come off. Warm the panel first with a hair dryer so it flexes instead of cracking, because cold, brittle plastic is what usually breaks. Study where the white nylon pins sit and always pull the trim directly over a pin, never by the moulded handles. Slide a flat plastic trim tool down from the top to release one upper popper; once one lets go the neighbouring ones free easily by hand. Then climb into the boot, brace your feet against the lower boot floor, and draw the lower edge straight toward you with steady force. The two retainers beside the latch often stay in the bodywork; pull them out with pliers and press them back into the trim.

With the rear of the assembly exposed, work off the nuts. Each side light panel is held by three nuts and the centre light section by ten. Two of the centre nuts sit out of direct reach and are turned through access holes in the metalwork, and two others are threadlocked because they also secure the handle section. Most spin off without trouble. Keep a magnet or your fingers under each nut as it releases, because several people dropped nuts down into the tailgate cavity and could not retrieve them without removing the trim.

Unplug every connector feeding the centre light section. Move to the outside of the car and ease each brake light panel away from its outer edge until its locating tabs clear the centre unit. Once the tabs are released, draw the centre panel out of the tailgate.

Move the bulb holders across into the new Type R centre panel; they release with a twist and a pull, and a couple sit tight enough that pliers help. Seat the new panel in the tailgate and reinstall the nuts from the inside. If you also have the matching Type R brake/fog side panel, fit it now; if not, refit your original side lights for the moment.

The standard pre-facelift car carries its rear fog inside the centre cluster, but the Type R centre panel has no fog position, so the fog must move elsewhere to keep the car road-legal. If your Type R side panel already includes the fog housing and its bulb holder, splice the existing fog feed into that new housing and skip the rewire in the next step. If you lack the fog housing, relocate the fog into the driver's-side reverse light so it sits on the correct side for legality.

Peel back the loom tape to free slack in the fog cable so it reaches the reverse light housing. On the fog connector, prise off the removable section of the plastic body with a small blade to expose the terminals, depress the white locking tabs with a pin or nail, and slide out the yellow and black wires; keep the plastic body in case you ever fit a proper fog housing later. On the reverse light connector, pull the plastic centre pin, then reach in with the pin to lift the side-mounted locking tabs and withdraw the brown and black wires. Fit the yellow and black fog wires into the reverse connector in their place. Insulate the freed reverse wires and tape them onto the loom so nothing shorts or rattles.

Install a red bulb in the relocated fog; if a red one is unavailable, a clear bulb coated in high-temp red caliper paint works as a temporary measure. Push the fog unit into its home in the reverse light aperture and reconnect everything. Switch on and confirm the fog, brake, side and reverse lights all behave correctly. Finally retape the loom, refit the interior plastics (they need firm pressure to reseat every pin), and replace the two screws by the handles.