Is there a Trick to remove the A-pillar trim? I pulled all of the screws that I could find. Looking at the pic, there should be a screw near the rear of the Dash, but I am not seeing one there. It feels caught on something as I pry. I don't want to pry too hard to just have it crack/break.

I have pulled the black speaker panel at the front on the dash already. That was a pain to do with the windshield in the way.



Also, any tips on removing the trim around the sliding door window in the pic? Pulled all the screws and it still feels attached to something at the top.

Thanks for your help!

 

Not sure about the A pillar, but it may be similar to the sliding door trim. That has a tab that is clamped by a strip of spring steel that runs almost the full width of the glass. You need some way to release tension of the clamp on the tab to release it. I know there are a lot of trims that are held in the same way; tabs with barbs that get pushed into the metal clamps, and not really meant to be pulled out.

 

yes, the sliding door plastic trim over the glass area needs to be pulled very carefully but it will come out, it is "trapped" at the top width as xlt4wd90 says, you need to pull a little from each side at a time as you go.

the 1997 A Pillar trim does not have any catch behind it, just a front screw, a center screw, and a rear top screw. The drawing above must not be for a 1997.

 

Well, I found out why I had such a hard time. I took a closer look and noticed some black stuff between the plastic trim and the windshield. Crud, it looks like at one time the windshield was replaced. And they got really happy with the glue so both sides are glued in along with being screwed in.

I tried using a knife to cut some of it away, but no luck at being able to pull it away from the glass. I was able to pull enough back to look inside with a flashlight and it looks like the trim is embedded in the glass glue.

Any ideas how to remove the trim without pulling the windshield?

 

I heard of using a steak knife coated with dish washing liquid to cut through the sealant. The dish soap prevents the sealant from sticking to the knife. Maybe you can use something like that to cut through the excess sealant that's grabbing the trim.

 

a hot knife also works good to slice through that black adhesive.

 

You'll need to cut it with a razor knife of some kind. The installers have them with extra long thin handles with either single edge razor blades or box cutter blades.

That adhesive it great stuff. It adheres to just about anything - got a bad motormount? You can use it to form a new one.

When I replaced the rear window on my Aerostar, some of the screws came loose on the used replacement and I re-attached them with windshield adhesive - they were stuck good as new after it set-up.

 

Well, tried a razor with dish soap, could not keep a good enough grip on the razor with the soap sliding down, and it would not cut.

Pulled out the blowtorch and heated an old steak knife and started cutting away. Just a fair warning, a cheap steak knife with a plastic handle will fall apart when it reaches high temps. Use a solid metal one with gloves.

I was able to pry them away with a little burning on the inside edge, which will be unnoticeable when installed.