HOW TO: remove door trim and clips without breakage.

There seems to be a need for this topic, sorry to have not done it sooner. These little 'Z' or 'tetris' or 'chair' shaped pieces are getting hard to come by- junkyard only. Luckily the underlying attaching clips can still be bought.

First, remove the plastic-coated nut at the trailing edge of the door:

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then flex the trim out and down to disengage from the bottom of the first clip:

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Then work it upward to unhook from the top of that clip

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Continue- down,up,down,up- one clip at a time. rear doors have 2, fronts have 3.
When you have it loose except for the clips at the leading edge, open the door like so

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to give the trim a place to slide and then bump it forward with the heel of your hand. You'll likely sacrifice the lower clip, but it's the best way I've found. Any other method risks paint or molding damage.

Now on to the fun part. There's a simple combination to this, I had a real EUREKA! moment after breaking a few dozen :oops:

Use something thin and flat, like a knife blade. I used this pocket scale today to reach up from the bottom and unlock the puzzle:

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Gently pull out on the lower part until it clears the door, then rotate the clip 90 degrees like so:

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AHA! the holes are rectangular, it just falls right out.

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I don't know why the front clip on every door is red, but they usually end up like this. If you want this one, the easiest way is to push it inside the door and get it fom there. Good news is the whitish ones work just fine in this position, too.

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Comments

  • This is great - I did not think about trying to get the moulding off the z clips first. Very cool.

    Sticky?
  • stephenstephen Senior Wagonist
    Another detailed and useful write-up. coming soon from Bam-Bam:
  • vtecn8ivevtecn8ive Senior Wagonist
    I think I normally go from the inside of the door.
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    vtecn8ive wrote:
    I think I normally go from the inside of the door.

    I thought of that early on, but there's a door reinforcement beam in the way. I couldn't get to the clips to release them. YMMV.
  • I just wanted to leave another thank-you for this tutorial. I removed the driver's side moldings today without breaking a single clip.

    I did find that the studs slide out of the plastic tetris pieces when you give it the bump; that made it easier to do the second one. I just unclipped the first one, then bumped the whole thing forward. All the tetris pieces came off their studs, and the molding dropped into my hands. I removed the studs at my leisure.

    I also confirm that there's a big door beam smack in the way of removing the clips from the inside. I had to push the frontwards clip in and retrieve it later, just like bam-bam said.
  • QCnukQCnuk Wagonist
    sweet
  • what about the little one on the rear fender? is it similar to the doors and front fender clips? the door clips are still available, but we couldn't find a number for the clip on the rear most little piece, and I really don't wanna have to rig something up if I don't have to.
  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    The rearmost molding just in front of the rear wheel is all one piece. It almost always will break the studs off the back when you remove it. It can be glued back on, or you can buy new ones for about $7 per. (At least this was true when I did my first wagon in '07).

    Side note: If you paint the other door trims (recommended) make sure you also paint any new parts as well. I didn't paint the very parts you're talking about, and it shows.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    I went to Honda today, with the intent of purchasing two clips.

    $6.81 a piece! They can kiss my big ass!

    Roll of 3m trim tape for $5.99 will do... (hopefully)
  • Thanks. When I buy the clips, I'll probably just buy those. $7 is cheap enough.

    Majestic shows like $2.50 for those clips. I can get em for right at $2 each from a friend at honda. Lemme know if ya need the hook up.
  • tape...getting brittle...
    in 2345 years or so...
    more ore less...
    I think...

    buttah.. no j-yard around, no ?

    Bam FTW
    !
    :mrgreen:
  • just used this technique! flawless!! thanks for the tip.
    could've used something similar for the window sill trim...
  • topochotopocho Band Wagon
    I'm going to try this tomorrow at a nearby junk yard where they just dropped a wagon. The previous owner of my wagon used drywall screws in a couple of spots to hold the trim in place!
  • I've never got one off in one piece untill i read this, this was a lot of help, thanks.
    now im a pro.
  • inceptioninception New Wagonist
    I think on every honda ive ever had ive broken these clips.I will bookmark this for sure.
  • This worked on my 1987 2WD Wagon! thanks a lot. Now I just need to figure out how to straighten the bent trim piece ...
  • GriftyGrifty Wagonist
    This is the best method ever!

    I discovered this method while pulling apart a Concerto that was destined for scrap metal, it's hard to put it into words without pictures!

    bam-bam you have done a great job!!
  • simplyhondasimplyhonda Council Member
    Yes, thumbs up on this one! Just be careful with that pocket knife operation, I decided to go with a small screwdriver.
    114.jpg
  • chuckshinchuckshin Wagonist
    Thanks for sharing this tip Bam. My only experience was with the doors but I've been pretty successful in the past using a plastic pry tool from a standard molding kit. You can find them cheap at Harbor Freights.

    Just got to take your time when it comes to the old brittle plastics.
  • Not to step on bam's toes cause hes the man but I found a little tid-bit that helped me on a few of these. Sometime I've seen the bottom clip get stuck inside the car and you can't get it with a blade. In that case I did this while wiggling the clip and it got the bottom portion to protrude enough to get the blade on it.

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  • DatWagonThoDatWagonTho Band Wagon
    I did this and didn't break any but the small back two. I broke one nipple off of each of them but its ok to me. I plan on filling the holes left over. Not decided on how yet though. Probably just filler in case I want to put the moldings on later. Thank for the write up though.
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