I've got some of it off, but I've come across some puzzlers.
The trim that goes vertically along the back edge of each door. can you just pull it off? do you have to heat it?
Same question for the trim along the back edge of the trunk lid.
The two pieces of trim on the top of the front clip that become the tips of the hood trim. Can you just pry those off? or can you pull of the plastic on the tips of the studs? or do you have to cut them off?
The trim that wraps around the back of the soft top under the rear window from rear door to rear door. Do just pull at these? or can you get access to the clips that hold them on?
I have no idea how to remove the trim on the back of each door (door edge guard trim.) I think you pull it off, but I'm not sure how to do that without damaging paint or bending the trim.
The trim at the bottom of the vinyl window and the bottom of the trunk is held in place by plastic clips on the trim that go around metal studs in the body.
I don't recall how to remove the trunk trim exactly. You have to either go up, down, or towards the outside of the car with the metal trim. The plastic clips that hold the trim on (square/ rectangle shaped) have 2 circles in it side by side where one circle is larger than the head on the metal stud and the other one isnt, allowing it to lock the trim in place. My car is in the shop, otherwise I'd take some pictures of how they attach (I removed the trunk trim to sand/ paint the bottom inside lip of the trunk.)
As for the trim around the bottom of the vinyl top, IIRC, the clips are similar (but smaller) to those that hold the trunk trim on. IIRC, you shift the trim back and the clips release off the studs. I removed the side trim once to clean the top, but one of the clips didnt go back on.
I've pulled the door trim off by hand before. I think it's just factory adhesive in there. I don't remember if it was salvageable after taking it off. The trim on the header has speed nuts on the bottom of the studs. You should just be able to get them off with pliers.
I've pulled the door trim off by hand before. I think it's just factory adhesive in there. I don't remember if it was salvageable after taking it off. The trim on the header has speed nuts on the bottom of the studs. You should just be able to get them off with pliers.
he's talking about the front clip piece behind the grille
I got the vertical along the door edges off by using a piece of wood and very lightly/slowly tapping the wood with a hammer and it came off beautifully.
I'll work on getting the rest off tonight hopefully.
Ok, So I've got a bunch more off.
I broke a bunch of the black clips that hold on the trim piece that goes under the rear window. I'm working on finding replacements, but it looks like I'm down to just calling different body shops and bringing the clip in to see if they can match it.
I've got the rear door handles off, but I couldn't get the fronts. I couldn't even get the interior trim panel off. I can see the screw I need to get behind the ash tray/lighter trim piece. How do you get the ashtray/lighter trim off? I've found 2 screws on the front edge (1 behind the lens for the door light, and 1 behind the trim piece for the interior door handle) but even with them out I can't seem to get it off. I obviously don't want to pull too hard unless I know there are no more screws.
It also looks like I'll need to remove the rear window glass to get the outside trim piece that has the window felt attached to it. Does anyone have any good advice for when I start ripping into that?
You need to remove the cig lighter to remove the wood trim piece around the cig lighter/ ashtray. When I removed mine, I disconnected the electric connection then wedge a panel popper (a thick standard screwdriver would probably work too) into one of the side slots in the cig lighter and twist counter clockwise, which unscrews the part of the lighter that attaches it to the trim panel. After you unscrew the inset part of the lighter, you can remove the wood trim panel.
There are no more screws behind the door trim. You kinda want to push down and pull out but things may still break because they get stuck pretty good if its been a while. Look for a pic of the piece on ebay or something to see if you can find a pic of the rear. Go to Clipsandfasteners.com to see if they have the clips you need. You get a small bucket full for less then $10.
Thanks guys,
I tried get the cigarette light out with a big screw driver, it moved about a half turn, then got jamed. I was starting to do more harm than good, so I think I'll try and track down the right tool.
The next on the list...
antenna bezel (does this screw off? or do you have to take the fender off to get at the antenna?)
light indicators at front of fenders (I either need to take the fenders off, or shrink my hands to fit) Has anyone gotten these off without pulling the fender?
antenna bezel (does this screw off? or do you have to take the fender off to get at the antenna?)
light indicators at front of fenders (I either need to take the fenders off, or shrink my hands to fit) Has anyone gotten these off without pulling the fender?
My car was missing the antenna bezel when I bought it and the antenna was bad. I replaced the antenna with an aftermarket, which came with it's own bezel...but recently, I ran across an 83 deVille at a junkyard with the bezel still attached. I was able to pry it out with a flathead screwdriver. The car did not have the antenna mast still attached, so I don't know if an intact mast would be in the way. I honestly cannot remember how I put it all together...but the bezel pops into place in the fender hole.
As far as the light indicators on the front of the fenders...I'm guessing you are referring to the lamp monitors and not any of the lights, themselves. First, remove the headlight trim (chrome piece that surrounds the headlights/turn signal lights and wraps around the side-marker lights and cornering lamps)...then remove the side-marker light and cornering lamp (they are connected to each other). With the cornering lamp out of the way, you should be able to access the nuts underneath (2 for each monitor housing). The housing will come off, leaving the 3 fiber optic leads connected to a black rubber piece that has the lens on the front (the lens sits in the cavities of the rubber piece). When you have the lens off, it's a good time to clean it (it often has layers of wax, dirt, etc. which makes the lens cloudy). The fiber optic leads can come out of the back of the rubber piece if you fold back the split part of the rubber piece where the leads go in. The leads have a metal piece with a lip that holds it in place in the rubber piece. The leads have color coding on them that identify in which order they go...but it's easy to figure it out if you don't know. The outside lead will be to your turn signal...the center lead will be to your low-beam headlight and the inside lead will be to your high-beam headlight.
Great!
I looked under the hood and could see the nuts, but couldn't reach them. I guess I never pictured what the fender would look like with the cornering lights gone!
She's getting pretty bare at this point. I still couldn't get the cigarette lighter out even with a tool I got from the auto parts store. I've got some funky angled screw drivers that I'll use to try and get at the last screw without pulling the ashtray/lighter piece. I'll probably leave it out when I put the panel back on.
Great!
I looked under the hood and could see the nuts, but couldn't reach them. I guess I never pictured what the fender would look like with the cornering lights gone!
She's getting pretty bare at this point. I still couldn't get the cigarette lighter out even with a tool I got from the auto parts store. I've got some funky angled screw drivers that I'll use to try and get at the last screw without pulling the ashtray/lighter piece. I'll probably leave it out when I put the panel back on.
I managed to get the screws out and the panel off without removing the lighter, it took quite some time with an angled screw driver, but at least I got them. The lighter is bent up after my attempts at removing it, but I'll probably just try and straighten it. I manged to short the door lock switch to the ground and blew the body fuse while I was at it, but hey, at least I don't have to worry about draining the battery with the doors being open for hours now!
The antenna bezel popped right off and I got the indicators off. The major things left now are the bumpers, and all the door glass needs to come out (don't know how to do that). Then I can get the mirror's off and the last of the chrome.
Ok, I've got pretty much everything off. But again, I broke some more clips. I've found every replacement clip I could except for the ones that hold the rear lower moldings on. The GM part number is 20181298.
I've found a listing on GMpartsgiant.com and parts.nalleygmc.com but neither one will ship it to Canada!
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