Try using an interior trim tool to remove the buttons.  It will basically
squeeze the two prongs on the trim fastner so that you can  remove it.
The tool is thin and slides underneath the panel. It has a V shaped
grove kind of like this \*/ where the star is the button pin.

On Wed, 29 Oct 1997, John Y. Hung wrote:

> Dear fellow listees,
>
> Does anyone out there know how to remove the interior fiberboard panels in
> the back of the Vanagon?  I'm trying to remove the panel on the back hatch.
> Do the black "buttons" pop off/are they reusable/have to be destroyed?
>
> On a related note, do you have a suggestion for replacing the rubber tube
> that runs between the top of the van body and the back hatch?  This the
> tube that covers the plastic hose and wires to the rear wiper/washer.  Mine
> has fallen apart.
>
> Thanks,
>
> John Hung
> 84 GL
> Auburn, AL
>