windsheild trim

[904dr]

Does anyone have some advice on how to put on the chrome trim at the top of the windsheild. Mine is fucked up after new glass was put in. It's on right now but is not sitting flush.

[P5ylance]

ah yeah that's a pain...

i had to reinstall mine too, my dad said while he was driving my car it flew off on the freeway *yikes!*

two options:

the ghetto way = silicone that baby down (which i will discuss in detail)

or... the "legit" way = get clips and all that OEM mounting stuff somewhere. this method wouldn't work with my car because theres just... too much space, and it wouldn't grab on even with clips.

Ghettooo way

NOTE: done on a dry (important!) and slightly warm day. cooler temperatures will require more time for the silicone to cure.

*must be done within a reasonably quick time

1) get... 3-4 (4 to be safe, i still got a little space where there could've been more) of those small tubes of window silicone from the auto parts store, the flowable kind to get into all those cracks. and some painter's tape, or some kind of masking tape. painter's tape preferred

2) clean your surface, both! clean the trim, and clean the part of the car where the trim goes.. i'm just gonna refer to it as the channel. use a brush on the channel to clean most of the dirt and leftover grimey silicone away. as an additional cleaning step, I personally used rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball and used that to clean it as well. that and the trim. I then allowed both to dry. usually dries up fairly quickly.

3) squeeze out 1 to 1 1/2 tubes of silicone into the channel (more if you want, more for security and peace of mind! just make sure you have at least two tubes left over for the second application), then quickly install trim, making sure to press the trim down to get the silicone up in it and stuff (this method works even better if you have the old clips used in the trim for the silicone to wrap around) and squeeze a little bit of silicone in between the trim and the channel (you'll need 2 and a little more for the second application of silicone, so save those! or get another tube might as well, its useful!) and smash that trim in there good! push it in as flush as you can!

NOTE BEFORE YOU INSTALL, CONSIDER THIS ALSO!

you could possibly try bending the trim like...

|x = roof of car, x is the glass

)/( = the trim

try bending the trim slightly like so...

)|x

so that when you put it in, the middle is pressed against the center. that's the hardest part to keep down because when you put it in and you leave in the side trims, you naturally have to bend it to put it in like so...

(|x

and slip it in the side trims.

END NOTE

it's gonna come right back up. so this is where the painter's tape comes in handy.

4) starting from the center, out, apply painter's tape across the trim like so...

- = tape
| = trim

-|- (it's supposed to cross over)

make sure the tape is taped on there real good and theres little to no space between the tape and the car/windshield/trim. so get your finger in there and push in any loose tape. leave at least like... an inch and a half between each cross.

keep doing that across the trim.

5) now, take a long strip of tape and tape it across all the tape you just did, longways parallel to the trim. the more you tape the flusher your trim is gonna be. the gaps between the cross taping is so that THIS tape can stick to something. if you wanna be super serious about it, a strip holding down the tape on the windshield, and a strip across the trim. i'd be careful about putting a big ass strip on the paint part (i pulled off some paint. ouch!)

6) press it down one more time, glide your finger/hand over the trim to smoooth it out and all the silicone underneath. let it cure. the longer the better. i left mine taped for like... 4 days? it was hella cold though. and raining. but 2-3 days is a good amount of time, you're in no rush.

*waiting... during the first day you apply, 24 hours to cure, i kept rubbing down the trim and smoothing it out. i did it actually for all 4 days, peace of mind lol!*

7) take off the tape. you'll notice that when you do, the trim has come up slightly (the less the better, but it probably did). this is where the other two tubes of silicone come in. go crazy on this part, you wanna fill it in with as much silicone as possible and get it flush with the car, leaving no crack! squeeze silicone in between the trim and the channel, or whats left of the channel, and just keep squeezing it in there (slowly, steadily, be patient) until it overflows. take care to clean up along the way, especially if it gets on the windshield. eventually, you're gonna fill it all up.

8) if you desire a smoother silicone appearance, get some soap (not too much where its runny, but enough to provide some lubrication) on your finger (i used carwash soap) and smooth the silicone with your finger. run your finger along the seam between the trim and the windshield to smooth out the silicone for a professional, cleaner look! anywhere you want to smooth out the silicone (the seam between the trim and the roof of the car) go for it. it helps to spread out the silicone as well and close up any gaps.

NOTE: i think smoothing out the seam on the trim/windshield to correct any gaps and spaces is a very important step, so no wind slips into that crack and flips your trim away! it'll be like a little film coating the trim/windshield, blocking the wind. trim/car seam is important too, but this is noticeably important haha

9) let dry until the silicone isn't sticky/runny anymore, and put a strip of painters tape LIGHTLY over the seams. it's just to prevent dust and stuff from getting on it, or block some rain while it cures. you could even put a plastic bag/cover over your car as well. i did both cuz i'm paranoid.

*waiting... 1-2 days*

10) remove tape. DONE! if you got silicone on your windshield, or if you want to clean up and give it a straighter edge (the film of silicone) you can use a razor and lightly scrape away the silicone. VERY LIGHTLY. i'm not responsible for any etching into your windshield. when you do it, it'll just feel like you're floating the razor over your windshield. that's how lightly you want to do it.

and that concludes the ghetto way.

the legit way is getting clips and all proper hardware to re-mount the trim. no guarantee it's gonna stay on, the cars are all hella old. and i've been writing this post forever now so i don't remember if you replaced your windshield but if you did there might be a slight tolerance issue now, the channel could be a little wider now.

soo... (fake percentages) 80% Ghetto way + 20% legit way (having OEM clips and stuff so the silicone can wrap around) = your trim being reinstalled.