2001 A8 D2 Ski Hatch

[steamship]

Have managed to remove the ski hatch from my A8 prior to me getting a LPG conversion at some stage. Am planning to put it on eBay to get it out of the way, but offering it to anyone here for £30 + £10 postage. I'm based in Northern Ireland, so unlikely anyone will want to collect. Will leave it here for a week before it goes on eBay for £40 + £10 postage. As you can see from the photos, it comes with the little metal bar for the magnet to latch onto, and also the two screws that held it in place. The inner covering is beige (code WJ). Part number is 443 885 215 E. Not sure what else it will fit on.

[HPsauce]

Is it possible to fit that just working from inside the boot, without removing the rear seats?
If so (and unless anyone advises it won't fit my FL D2 S8) I'll take it. Colour code is the same as my car.

[steamship]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

Is it possible to fit that just working from inside the boot, without removing the rear seats?
If so (and unless anyone advises it won't fit my FL D2 S8) I'll take it. Colour code is the same as my car.

Assuming that the S8 has the hole already there, then yes, you can do it from the boot. To fit it, you would just slot it in at the bottom and then push the top into place as there are two plastic securing lugs. The metal bar just slots into place on the underside of the parcel shelf. The two retaining screws can be fitted by moving the centre headrest up and then detaching the cover that hides the metalwork. The two screws go either side and slightly above the two bolts holding the rear seat in place.

I would however wait and get confirmation from others who may have done this, as I ain't no expert. This is my level of work on the car. If the seats needed moving, it would still be there.

[HPsauce]

OK thanks.
I think I need to remove something to make the hole, not sure if that's actually cutting metal or just screws/clips. Need to look behind the trim in the boot I guess.
The seat has the appropriate flip-down latched panel behind the armrest so presumably that needs no modification.

On the other hand I will at some point need to take the backrest out anyway to investigate/fix the jammed offside electric rear headrest that was "discovered" recently by another member here .

(Might just take it anyway and sell it on if it's too much for me)

[Dezzy]

The rear seats come out pretty easily, you'd need to to cut the hole. Well i'd want to to give more room, you could remove the lower and just pull the backrest out the way without removing the seatbelts. The opening is pretty much cut already just some tabs to cut( well PF anyway), a hacksaw blade with electrical tape wrapped round to protect your hand and go for it.

[Zip]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

The rear seats come out pretty easily, you'd need to to cut the hole. Well i'd want to to give more room, you could remove the lower and just pull the backrest out the way without removing the seatbelts. The opening is pretty much cut already just some tabs to cut( well PF anyway), a hacksaw blade with electrical tape wrapped round to protect your hand and go for it.

Can confirm that FL just have tabs to cut through round the blanking plate. Best without rear seats in though......and they're very easy to take out in all honesty.

Zip

[HPsauce]

Thanks for the info folks, I'm going to give it a go!

Out of interest, I see that A8parts have one for sale (black though) and it seems to include an elephant-sized condom to presumably cover the skis and protect your seats from snow, mud etc..
This unit doesn't appear to include that, which isn't a problem (I don't ski). Anyone know if it's an add-on or just a standard component that has gone missing?

[steamship]

The 'elephant condom' is part of the entire unit. I just photos of the front and back. It evens comes with its own seatbelt attachment for that extra bit of 'safe sex'

[HPsauce]

OK thanks, sorry about the misunderstanding.
When I looked at the photos I thought I could see right through and incorrectly assumed it wasn't there.

[HPsauce]

Received safely today.

One intriguing component of it is in the photo below. Only those who haven't "experienced" one of these units are allowed to guess what it is, where it is and what it does!