Can anybody tell me how to remove the trim piece at the front of the roof? I have a small spot that is starting to bubble, and I want to treat it before it goes to full fledged rust problem.


Modified by BiXLL at 7:37 PM 11/1/2008

I'm pretty sure you have to go from the inside of the car and remove all the interior trim first. Then there are clips that hold it on that you'll need to use again. I have the exact same problem and want to fix mine too. whatever we find out we should continue to pool our knowledge and/or work together. feel like coming south for a mini vacation?

I've removed it before. It's not easy. Here's the steps.

- Remove A-pillar interior trims- Remove sun visors- Remove headliner trim. This piece is fragile. I bet yours is cracked.- Remove corner pieces. This is VERY tricky. A screw is covered with sillicone, so you have to look for it carefully. If you just pull it, you will break it.- Finally, you can get to that trim. You have to use 6mm socket or something. It's not a common tool, so I had to buy a small socket set from Walmart. Bolt is held by small plastic base and it slides around. You have to make sure you don't break the plastic base. This trim also holds down rubber trim. If they got stuck together, you have to separate them carefully. You don't want to tear the rubber trim.

I think that's about it. It's been a while, so some steps are not correct. If you remove first few parts, you will get the idea.

Well Chriss, I did not get time to tear anything apart this weekend. If you start before I do, take plenty of pics and I will do the same.

94_240sx wrote:I've removed it before. It's not easy. Here's the steps.

- Remove A-pillar interior trims- Remove sun visors- Remove headliner trim. This piece is fragile. I bet yours is cracked.- Remove corner pieces. This is VERY tricky. A screw is covered with sillicone, so you have to look for it carefully. If you just pull it, you will break it.- Finally, you can get to that trim. You have to use 6mm socket or something. It's not a common tool, so I had to buy a small socket set from Walmart. Bolt is held by small plastic base and it slides around. You have to make sure you don't break the plastic base. This trim also holds down rubber trim. If they got stuck together, you have to separate them carefully. You don't want to tear the rubber trim.

I think that's about it. It's been a while, so some steps are not correct. If you remove first few parts, you will get the idea.

i have a rust problem in the same spot... thanks.

someone needs to do a write up on this

240daveTX wrote:
i have a rust problem in the same spot... thanks.

someone needs to do a write up on this

I have a rust spot and it bubbled up too.

I will be doing this job, its just a matter of when I get the time! I do not want to go through the winter with this untreated!

BiXLL wrote:I will be doing this job, its just a matter of when I get the time! I do not want to go through the winter with this untreated!

You should keep in mind that every part that I listed above is Nno longer available from Nissan, so be careful.

Any updates on this thread? Anyone have pics of how/what was repaired? I am painting my car this spring and could use what ever guidance exists on this subject. as far as trim removal / repair methods etc.

I am thinking that sand blasting is likely required to fix that area properly (even with tarps has the potential to be a huge mess).

Did ASC not prep the area properly when they converted the cars?

Thanks

Will

vert_guy wrote:Any updates on this thread? Anyone have pics of how/what was repaired? I am painting my car this spring and could use what ever guidance exists on this subject. as far as trim removal / repair methods etc.

I am thinking that sand blasting is likely required to fix that area properly (even with tarps has the potential to be a huge mess).

Did ASC not prep the area properly when they converted the cars?

Thanks

Will

I just pulled mine off this week, I will make a full write up on it tomorrow as I took plenty of pictures. Just so everyone knows, mine was only showing small signs of a few bubbles here and there and as you can see from my build thread once I got everything off I had a SERIOUS rust problem. Look for the write up tomorrow night, I'll just make a new thread. From the looks of it ASC did a horrible job of prepping the area in the conversion.

Can't wait to see the write-up. I think this may be a problem on a bunch of our cars. It's the only spot on my car that seems to have any rust.

Thanks again.

Same problem here.

Sorry guys I'm going to get on this soon, I've been sick with the shingles for about two weeks now and I'm finally feeling better. I'll try to get this write up done in the next day or two.

I have the same problem as well...not the herpes zoster...the rust.

i did that same thing to my vert, when i took it all off grind, it bondo it back to shape, trust me if u got a bubble the inner structure is pretty much bad.before you guys put the trim pieces back, make sure you use window seal (putty) body man called it -DUM DUM- you know the thingy you find when you remove the tail light, yes that black sticky stuff, it is use for sealant purposes;so water and moisture dont rust it again.put it together and it is done.

Where is the write up!!! U_U

hello.....i did the job on dealing with the rust on the windshield trim. please note that im not a professional body work guy. i dint cut any metal and weld in a new piece. i grinded it down with a wire wheel, treated it with naval jelly, and bondoed it smooth.

removing the window trim wasnt easy and theres a famous inside plastic trim piece that always cracks so i went on without it and it seems ok. no leaks. i have some pics of the work ive done and i took them with a camera fone since i do not own a digi cam. can some1 tell me me how to post this? ive never done this before. in the meanwhile im going to figure how to post it.

so has any one taken pictures when they did theirs?.... is there a write up?

OK here come some pictures! I removed all my windshield trim in preparation for painting today.

First the outer windshield trim. I was very nervous about bending the metal parts, as replacements at CourtesyParts.com are $150 (assuming they are still available).



I should not have been worried, as the trim was all plastic. I assume the windshield was replaced and the company used stock replacement trim in whatever-mm size to push into the groove between the glass and the outer lip of the rubber main window gasket and some generic corner moldings. The ends of the pieces are very roughly trimmed, not what I expect from JDM-land factory assembly, but I could be wrong.

So pulling it straight up did the trick, and I gently pried the corners off - they made a pop but did not break. I will probably see if I can find some brand-new generic replacement for them but they could be painted and reused. Minimal damage to the main glass rubber gasket edges means it also looks fine to reuse.



I assume when painting you tape & mask under the rubber lip by pulling the lip back. I wish I could spring for a new windshield and main gasket but not this year.



On to the upper top trim.

As previous posters said, remove the A-pillar trim, the sun visors and the top trim with the dome light hole. The long flat upper trim does indeed have 6mm nuts - you need a small deep socket to get 'em. I was able to easily pull the long trim up and pop it out with the end pieces still in place because I could not find the mystery attachment point for the end caps.

To remove the big rubber weather seal there are 2 visible push-in PITA trim buttons on each side - one little and one big. I got the little ones to pop out but had to snip the bigger one on both sides. Gentle tugging will then separate the rubber from the frame all the way around - it is not fastened with anything other then glue. I pulled it off all the way down to the belt line so I could get the A-pillar door edge trim off (4 screws - real easy).





And here is the hidden Phillips head screw for the end caps. It's under the rubber weather seal. If you know where it is you can easily pry the rubber back a little to get it. Everything else comes right off easily with no hidden fasteners.



So with everything off I have no big issues thankfully. Nothing broke or snapped, hopefully no new parts needed. Surface rust was way more than I thought (the car is visibly rust free otherwise) and there is one small hole but I can fix that easily with a wire wheel and some POR-15.

My local Federated parts store has replacement push in trim buttons of all sizes. I forget the exact size and what make/model it went to, but I found perfect replacement for all mine when I pulled the frame trim and weatherstripping to have my windshield replaced.

If you did break the corner pieces for the windshield trim, they're available separate of the rubber trim at Courtesy. I ordered all new trim and main gasket when I replaced my window (which pissed the installer off cause it was more of a PITA to install those than the generic molding he wanted to use).