Front Driver & Passenger Door Inner Trim Panel & Seal?

[anewstartinchrist]

Looking to replace the trim seal panel on both front doors that seals the gap between the front fender and the doors. The weatherstripping is attached to it. I noticed that the a lot of the rubber was missing and was disintegrating into a greasy mush as soon as you touch it. The clips that attach it to the door seem like they can't be removed unless you unclip them from the INSIDE of the door. I have attached pictures of the clip ,the new trim panel, and the driver door showing the existing panel. I bought the passenger side panel too since it's doing the same thing. Is there a tool that can remove these clips? Or do I have to somehow unclip these from inside the door ....

Driver-side trim seal panel part #: 80839-1MA1A

[Ilya]

Do the clips have to rotate and then come out? Have not seen clips like that before.

[VStar650CL]

Nissan doesn't use very many of those, they're pretty much just for thick rubber or plastic. When they're used in a keyhole they can be rotated and removed as @Ilya suggested. However, if they're in round holes then you won't get them out from the front side without distorting the sheet metal, they can only be cut or drilled. The fact that they're usually destroyed when removed is the reason new panels like those always come with new clips. Cutting the heads off and pushing the shafts through is simplest. Because they're plastic, the cut ends won't generally cause any audible noise when they fall inside a panel.

[anewstartinchrist]

Do the clips have to rotate and then come out? Have not seen clips like that before.

No I don't believe so. I squeezed the tabs on one of the clips from the new panel to show it here. I can try to rotate then to see what happens.

[anewstartinchrist]

Nissan doesn't use very many of those, they're pretty much just for thick rubber or plastic. When they're used in a keyhole they can be rotated and removed as @Ilya suggested. However, if they're in round holes then you won't get them out from the front side without distorting the sheet metal, they can only be cut or drilled. The fact that they're usually destroyed when removed is the reason new panels like those always come with new clips. Cutting the heads off and pushing the shafts through is simplest. Because they're plastic, the cut ends won't generally cause any audible noise when they fall inside a panel.

I was hoping I didn't have to just cut them. I don't want to have something possibly rattling in the door . I'm surprised they would have a clip like this that you can't remove without cutting them. Unless the dealership has a special tool that can unclup this somehow? I was thinking about something like this tool from Amazon:

I guess it may be better to cut them that continue letting water and debris continue to get in the jam. I will run by Infiniti to see if they have something they can use to remove these. I feel like they will say they can't and can only cut them. Then tell me, in order to remove the cut pieces they'll have to remove the door panel and fish for the pieces. Either way, I appreciate the insight.

[VStar650CL]

I think you're getting worked up about something that won't happen. Most of those clips are 6/6 nylon or polyethylene, both of which are relatively soft and used as noise insulators for metal parts. I will be very, very surprised if any cut end makes any sort of noise audible above the sound of the road and engine.

[VStar650CL]

PS - You can also just lever them out, but you'll probably need to get out a tink hammer and flatten the sheet metal before reinstalling the new ones. Have some paint handy, because that usually breaks the paint around the hole and you'll want to seal it up so the holes don't rust.