Does anyone know how to remove and replace the stainless trim around the Maverick door window frames? I'm assuming that it's not available new, and that good pieces would have to be removed from a donor car without destroying them, and re-installed on the project car.
This had been discussed many times. Click on search and type in "window trim removal" That will get you all the info you will need.
I too was waiting on a "how to" reply as the search function proved to be an exercise in futility. Perhaps it was the wording I choose for the search.... Can anyone give us detailed instructions on how this trim is removed please?
It can be very simple to pop it off - it can also be impossible to get it loose without damage. The door frames and roof drip rail use no clips. It is just pressed on, and on some cars it will come off easy and on other cars it will seem welded on. Take a look at the door. There are 2 pieces to the trim. The main piece goes from the front of the door to the vertical back piece. The back short piece of the main section, overlaps the short vertical piece so start with that one. What you need to do is get under it and pry it away from the frame. If you are lucky it will come away fairly easy. Be super careful as it will kink and dent very easy. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes easy to get it off, unless it is really stuck tight. Then it is a PITA to not damage it. Once the back corner piece is off the frame, work off the main piece from the back towards the front. The long piece will get some light corkscrew twists in it as it comes off. Don't panic, it will straighten back out when put back on. Dents and dinks are the enemy. If you do dink it, they can be flattened out and sanded and polished out with a bit of work. But best to avoid any dinks. After the long part is off remove the short piece on the vertical. For the drip edge, it just pops off too. Here a bottle opener is often used to pry it away. Once again, sometimes they just pop off easy and other times they are stuck so tight there is no way to get it off cleanly. As for the quarter windows. Quarter windows are cheap and plentiful and I suggest just to swap in a good set if needed rather than try and remove these stainless pieces. To get under the door trim, I use a wide blade and very flat (thin) screwdriver to slide underneath and act as a wedge to force it up. Avoid the urge to twist the blade to lift it, as twisting often causes dents and dinks in the trim. Just hope it is fairly free, cause when they are super stuck tight it is tough not to damage it. Go super slow, take your time and think before you make any move. Another tool I have found useful is a putty knife and a piece of door frame shim to act as a wedge. One last thing. It is not always necessary to remove this trim unless there is rust to deal with. If only repainting a car you might want to just mask off these parts and avoid the hassle.
Drip Rail: I use an old can opener with black tape wrapped around the rounded end. I start at the front of the trim (the trim actually hangs past the drip rail by about 1/2") and work my way back. Then I remove the small piece around the bommerang. There is a tiny lip on the bottom of the trim that you can pry with the can opener. Go slow while gently pulling up on the loose end. When installing, I use a soft rubber mallet and work from back to front. You want to hook the trim on the top of the drip rail and tap/snap the bottom of the trim over the bottom of the rail. Door Frame Trim: There are tiny tabs (one per side) at the back top corner of the door frame that have to be straightened out before you can start removing the trim. The top/front piece overlaps the back vertical piece here. I have used the can opener here too, but care must be taken. Before you start, roll the window down and pull the felt weatherstripping out of the door frame channel. This will expose the very small lip just like the drip rail trim has. Starting at the back and staying on the inside of the door frame (because it will be loose when you straighten the tab) this is what you want to pry on with the can opener. Again, use the rubber mallet gently to snap the trim back on. GO SLOW!
I found it really helps to use a couple of putty knifes of varying widths. Seems to really loosen the trim and it offers a broader but thinner area to pry with (gently) than a screwdriver to get the trim loosened up. I used putty knifes on the drip rail and the door glass trim - worked great for both and didn't mangle anything.
