Rear screen trim

[Mike Trident]

How difficult is it to replace the trim around the rear screen on a saloon. I have developed a leak again in this area, Into the boot.

[macafee2]

I have removed one and it is quite easy so I do not think refitting one will be too difficult. Biggest risk is breaking the plastic bits that hold the trip in place but these can be replaced.

macafee2

[rab60bit]

Originally Posted by Mike Trident

How difficult is it to replace the trim around the rear screen on a saloon. I have developed a leak again in this area, Into the boot.

I too was concerned before I tried it on my Contemporary SE bright trim after all the rubber/plastic edging started breaking away randomly. I had water leaking into the boot so my intention was to replace all the trim clips (7/8 of them) that run across the bottom of the window; these are fastened using pins passing through the clip expanding spigot and square holes in the metal boot frame. Rain water is kept out by a couple of special foam washers - a square effort fitted underneath the clip and a circular job underneath the pin head - when the pin is pushed home through the clip it expands the spigot whilst squashing both washers. Over time the clip can relax and the foam washers degrade so the seal just ain't any more, result water passing into the boot space. I dumped the new washers and bonded the new clips/pins into position with a proper body sealant (polyurethane Sikaflex 501UV) hopefully eliminating one possible leak point(s).
Although I didn't intend to re-use the trim I tried to remove it without serious damage. There are the 'fixed' clips on the body with pairs of 'female' prongs and positional clips on the trim with single 'male' prongs. The prongs have complementary serrated faces so when the male is inserted into the female they grip each other. The only tool you'll need is a flat preferably wide (say at least 0.75-1") plastic trim spatula (or one of the Mrs' similar kitchen tools). The trick for a damage free separation is to start lifting the trim (a couple of inches just to one side) at the lower centre join of the split trim. Use the spatula on the inner edge of the trim i.e resting on the glass (be careful, you can also slip something very thin/smooth between the glass surface and the spatula (a bit of plastic cut from the side of a milk carton is ideal). You've already raised (flexed) the trim to get the spatula underneath it so gently lever to raise the trim further away from the glass and at the same time easing the trim outwards with your free thumb. This helps to almost disengage the serrated bits of the clips that have been keeping it all nice and snug all these years! Keep levering the trim gently upwards and you'll hear the disengagement. Work your way outwards along the lower edge of the trim moving the spatula about 6-8" at a time sideways (the clips are spaced approximately this much apart - the disengagement need only be partial to start with. Once you've got the lower section lifted move progressively up both sides and then do the same with the top section this time working towards the centre join of the trim. If the trim is not already fully disengaged along the bottom start again, this time completely disengaging each clip (by now you will be able to see exactly where each clip is located).
Using my approach to stem leaks and renew the whole trim you will have only renewed the lower set of body clips so you need to aim NOT to break any of the serrated prongs (most clip parts are still available but it can work out quite expensive replacing the lot - and there are two pairs of prongs to each clip so if you break just one part of a prong you should really use a new clip.
Lastly, unless your baby is in a nice heated garage I suggest you only do this bit of DIY when the weather is warmer - plastic is really brittle when it's cold.

[Mike Trident]

Many thanks for such an informative post. It will be a warm weather job for sure. I cured the leak last time with creeping crack cure, but it needs sorting properly this time, the trim is literally falling to pieces.