The A pillar trim pieces have been the bane of my D2 since I lost one, then the other to wind.

I managed to find two (2) A Pillar trim pieces (windshield finisher in RAV-speak) on a new carcass here in Austin, and as they are used (and therefore brittle) I don't want to muck them up, so I have one shot to get it right.

The RAV is pretty useless on this process, and the only instructional video I've found is British Atlantic, which is pretty good, but doesn't show how the clips go onto the trim piece (I forgot to take pictures when I pulled the clips off the A pillar body seam, so not sure how it goes onto the trim piece); I broke my last junkyard A pillar trim find by putting the clip on the body first, then trying to push the trim onto the installed clip; per B-A, the wrong way to do it.

Any advice on how to get these pieces on without breaking it would be most appreciated.

 

The best way I have found, and this is certainly not fool proof, is to put the clips on the seam on the truck, then open the door and put the inside part on the door, then slowly wrap it around the A pillar. Now, the tricky part is it will try and rub on the top gutter, and the cowel. My cowel was broken, so I removed it and IMO made it a little easier. I lined up the clips as best as I could, then slowly pressed. This took a few tries, you can feel it actually pressing into the clips.

In the end, I had to bend the piece EVER SO SLIGHTLY to get it on. I broke 1 clip out of the (6?) total.

I was able to use the original clips with new push pins. I drilled out the original pins, then pressed in some that I got from a miscellaneous kit.

They haven't flown off yet! Have reached 90MPH or so.

 

https://www.roverparts.com/resources...llar-moulding/

this worked for me.

 

Usually the clip mount on the cover breaks off when removing them, at least when I get them off a junkyard truck. You are correct it is easier to put the clips on trim first then roll it on to the body. If the clip mounts are gone, a trick I use is to put the cover on, put the door pin retainers in, then I fill the cavity under the a pillar trim with expanding foam. Its sticky as hell and basically glues the trim in place, eliminating the vibration that cracks them and lets them work loose. One other trick you might want to do is to wrap them in black or carbon fiber look vinyl to keep the UV degradation down.

 

Thanks all for the ideas/advice.

Has anyone tried side-drilling, then screwing them onto the A pillar seam (I've seen one person on this forum do it)?

 

@austinlandroverbill Drilling was my solution, kept breaking clips

 

I like to carefully pull aside the lip from which the 3 plastic rivets have been removed, insert something rigid and flat into the gap, get it as close as I can estimate to the 3 metal clips, then push the moulding out forward (toward the grille) from underneath. I start from the top. Before I put it back I remove the 3 metal clips & put them on the moulding, then attach it from the side pushing inward (toward the passenger side). My guess is that's how they were originally assembled.

 

New A Pillars is the first path to success. The old ones all break when installing.

Then:

1 - Install the rain gutter ends first bc they go under the a-pillar covers
2 - Install the 3 clips on the a-pillar plastic piece, not the car
3 - Good idea to clean up / treat any scratches in the paint on those metal clips on the A-pillar of the car to prevent corrosion in future
4 - Open the door all the way
5 - Put the A-pillar cover on from the rear. Get it in position (between fender/hood especially).
6 - Then pull to try to flex the plastic edge where the vertical rubber seal on your new a-pillar trim meets the windshield - pull it toward you a bit.
7 - Wrap it around the pillar and smack it on hard while still pulling up on the edge a bit
8 - Then put the 3 plastic rivets in (new ones)

Really nothing more to it than that. I've replaced about 10 of these pairs in past few years, never broken anything. The first few times I did it, I broke something every time.

BTW if these instructions don't make sense there is an Atlantic British video that includes putting A-Pillars back on that depicts the above technique perfectly.

 

I read that thread some time back and think it’s a great solution. I’m probably going to do that after I put new ones in and then have to pull them out- and the clips break- due to windshields being a regular service item here in CO…

 

I tried this with two longer screws and captive u-nuts (what they call them here in England) at 2 of the mount areas on the pillar. I couldn't get the screw to tighten down correctly to keep the A pillar's rubber seal touching the windscreen.