You are correct,the clips I had did exactly what you said,same problem,I ended up cleaning the old ones and using them also.
I'll try to explain this clip thing. Position A is the part of the clip that holds the trim in place. As you can see the top edge is flat and the trim just hits it. The clip has to be pulled out with a tool just to make it work. Position B is where the clip snaps on to the stud on the body. I'll post a pic of the factory clip tomorrow. The difference is obvious. The above clip is also very weak. It bends or breaks very easily. They bend just trying to clip them on to the body pins.
If you look at the tab hanging down in pic that slips over pin on the body,it's cut off blunt,the factory clip is rolled slightly and the mld. slides past that tab and hooks under the tab on the bottom in pic.On the AK clip pictured,the mld. gets hung up on that blunt end and will not hook in.
Factory clip A=part of clip that holds trim. notice the 45degree angle. B=snaps on to body pin C=The trim as it slides down the angle and opens the clip. A=the angled edge that the trim pushes away from the body then snaps over the trim edge. B=snap on to body pin Thats the best I can do guys. Big difference compared to the aftermarket clip. Aftermarket clip The flat edge at position (A) is what the trim hits. Not even close.
so rather then making a tool to open the clip up. why didn't you take the clip to a grinder and round off the flat edges to make it more like the factory clip? like this Or as usual am I missing something here?
Thats not the edge thats the problem. The edge you rounded off doesnt contact the trim. Its the edge with the arrow pointing directly at it marked with an (A). Maybe the pic doesnt show it very well. That little flat edge I marked shouldnt be flat. Compare it to the factory clip. It has a 45 degree angle with no edge or lip. Like I said it may not be the best pic. I'll try to get a good side view of both clips. Then you can see it plain as day.
I just looked at mine and I can see the difference. Mine are kinda curled, not exactly flat and no small edges. I bet it was the provider of certain batches. I also got a "Customer Survey Form" and a free catalog in my box of goodies. Of course the box was packed on 3/12/08 .
So far all the clips I have found for the 72 are the same as the ones I got from AK. They even use the same picture as the one in this thread. I know the clips have a year change but I cant remember what years they changed the part numbers. Hopefully yours work out OK.
Well I finally finished the trim. Had to straighten the edge of the clips in the vice with a punch. Then I looped the clips with monofilament and pulled them open to get the trim to clip in. So the AK clips can work if you have a ridiculous amount of time and patience. Thank god I only needed to use 4 of them. Save those factory clips guys. I wasted hours because of this poor quality part. Trying to get them to work then hunting down factory clips which after exhausting all the resources around here turned to be a no go. I think it makes it worse when you fix cars for a living. You have less patience for poor parts. It usually costs us money at work. AK couldnt even be bothered to reply to my email about this. I'll store that one in the memory banks for later. They could have at least sent me a gift certificate for my troubles. Oh well. Good news is its over with only one tiny little chip. :dancingpa
If it has the factory yellow clips just make sure they fit nice and tight on the body pins. Check that the trim is not damaged where the clips make contact. Mine had some damage from removal but its easily fixed with a pair of pliers. I put a healthy dose of white lithium grease on the clips and trim. All my factory clips worked great. The trim snapped in with a push or light tap by hand. Be careful the trim dents if you use rubber hammers etc to install it. If the clips still wont work you can try what I did by wrapping some strong fishing line around the clips in a loop. Do all the loops for the trim you are installing. Pulling the loop opens the clip off the body a bit and the trim should snap in. Work your way along till the trim is installed then just cut the line and pull it out.
