I have ever so slight bubling rust at the bottom corner driver's side window trim. Yes, common area I know, no leaking ever into the inside fuse area, clean and dry.

The trim is the chrome trimed one, and I would like to keep it that way, for the look.

Many years ago the windshield was replaced, and it looks like they never aligned the trim clips correctly, causing the upper passenger side trim to pop out unsecured.

I would like to remove the trim, take care of any rust, and reinstall it correctly. It looks like the clips fit under the windshield, so I am worried I would not be able to re-align it, is this correct? Also how do I pop it off without breaking anything? Does it just snap?

Anyone have any words of wisdom? I want to re-use the trim, and be sure I will get it to snap back, but I am not confident as I have always seen re-installed trims on cars popping off.

Please advise, whether to touch or not... I don;t like the idea of having rust under there.

Thanks!
Greg Mustang
Montreal - Ottawa
Canada

I admit it was a pain, but you can re-install the trim without removing the windshield. This account is for a 1986 240 sedan; I'm not sure what year they changed the trim and how it would affect this.

Although the clips can be replaced, it takes a bit of work, so I would recommend that you try to preserve as many of the existing clips as possible. If you examine them closely after removing the trim, and the lips on the old clips are completely intact, and not cracked, it's a lot less work just leaving the old ones in. If there's any doubt about a clip being 100% though, I would suggest you bite the bullet and replace it; you don't want to have to repeat this project.

1) Buy a set of new clips - $10 for part "10-70148" from FCP Groton.
2) Have a good look at the new clips, before attempting to remove the old ones.
3) I started with the clips along the side (the column between the windshield and the doors). The lip on the outside of these clips (away from the windshield) is the springy one. If you press on the trim towards the windshield, this outside lip will compress, and the inside trim edge can then be popped off of the inside lip.
4) Then work your way across the top. You can see by looking at the new 2-piece clips that the small white portion is what grips the trim. By sliding my fingers under the top edge of the trim, I was able to see the lip of the white portion. By applying a small amount of pressure down on the white lip it popped out of the channel quite easily.
5) I believe the clips along the bottom are the same as the side clips. If so, then pushing the trim up towards the glass should compress the bottom lip and pop the trim off of the upper lip.
6) After identifying which clips needed replacing, I put masking tape along the paint to mark their positions. I wanted to keep the new clips aligned with the compressions in the foam inside the trim where the old clips had been.
7) To get the old clips out, I first cut away any sealant that prevented the clip from being slid away from the glass. I ran the razor knife along the bottom of the clip's "U", right down to the bottom of the channel, from one end of the clip to the other. Then I made a slice at each end of the clip to cut that section out.
8) After that, it was relatively easy to pry the clip out by sliding a small slotted screwdriver between the bottom of the clip's "U" and the edge of the glass. I didn't have to, but if you find a stubborn clip, applying some heat might help here.
9) Since the new clips are "over-bent" so as to grip the glass, I found it easiest to heat them with an electric paint stripper, in order to make the profile more of a 90 degree bend. I know that at least on the 2-piece clips, I also cut out the thin bridge section in the middle of the clip - (this is part of the lip that must slide under the glass) - in order to get the new clips to slide between the sealant and the underside of the glass.
10) At this point I touched up the sealant where I had cut it for the new clips. I also cleaned out the channel wherever possible, and sprayed rubberized rocker guard paint into the channel to slow down any corrosion. It's probably a good idea to touch up the paint (rubbing compound) near the edge of the trim, as the trim may not end up in exactly the original position. In my case, the car had a change-colour paint job, so I sprayed over the old exposed colour to avoid obvious seams afterwards.
11) Because my trim had popped off from a re-install, I too was worried about a repeat. I found that the existing curve on the trim seemed excessive - ie. if I pressed the middle section down flat, the end sections sat about 2" off the surface, and seemed to take a lot of force to touch the windshield. I figured this would put a lot of stress on the clips after snapping it on. I decided to put more of a bend on the trim before installing it, such that the end sections were almost in their resting positions before forcing them onto the clips. This was a bit tedious; using large arc-ed objects (like tires) to push the trim down onto and cause a smooth but greater arc. In hindsight, this increased arc resulted in the end sections being slightly more rotated, and may have caused an increased wind noise in the end. If I were to do it again, I might just forego this step, and take my chances that the clips would hold.
12) Re-installing, I believe I did the top first. With these rectangular double-lipped clips (like the rocker panel ones), I try to angle the trim channel onto one edge of the clip, and then strike the trim on a bit of an angle, to force it over and around the other edge. As long as you jiggle the trim up and down (in the case of the top clips) to ensure that the clip is aligned with the trim channel, you should be OK.

Six months in, and the trim is holding like a charm.

David

14 years later your post has saved my day. I bought the windshield chrome trim clip and then realized they go behind the windshield glass.

During a lengthy end not satisfying search I found no help until your post showed up. I heated the clips and bent them out to be more square. I cut the bridge plastic on the back and my windshield trim is holding perfectly without having to remove the windshield.

Thank you for saving me grief on my 1983 Volvo DL 245.

I hope you are still on the forum and still helping folks repair their bricks.

George
Arizona

Dear Greg Mustang:

My 88 240 has the loose trim problem and after reading everything I could find on the subject I concluded it would be impossible to repaair the trim without removing the glass. I did also read that the later style windshields as used on the 91 model 240 will fit the earlier modles as well. The later models do not use the trim at all. I am now waiting for my windshield to break, at least a little, so I can justify changing it.

Len

Greg, I watched and helped them do my windshield '89 200. It was so pitted from stones I couldn't see anymore. you can't get there from here.

When taking off the trim, the clips break, no matter how careful you try to be. The windshield has to come out, the clips put on, they hang arond the windshield edge, the trim is put on, then the whole deal gets Gooped on to the car.

BAd news I know...sorry
--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwr and two motorcycles: it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

The cause for the trim to pop off is when the clips are worn and not replaced. I've had my windshield replaced three times, and once the clips were not replaced. The trim never stayed on. I tried to replace the clips without removing the windshield and broke the glass. It is not possible to replace the clips without removing the glass, which usually breaks when trying to remove it.
Believe it or not, it was cheaper to replace the windshield with new clips (a do-it-at-your-house 1/2 hr replacement for $130, than to take it to a shop and have them remove the old glass replace the clips (dealer price was high if sold individually) and re-install with the old gasket.
Look over the gasket, most of the time it is re-usable. I'm still using the original gasket after 15 yrs.
Every glass shop that uses the OEM glass (Plinkton or something like that) has a Volvo glass kit which always comes with new clips. Only the real cheap vendors don't get the clips. Ask around, use only OEM glass, you'll find it's not too bad. You could ask the installer to let you treat the rust before he installs the glass. That's the only way to do this right.
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, '96 960 sedan

Without seeing it, my guess is that you wouldn't make the lose trim any worse. I also have had my windsheild replaced and when I popped the trim to look for a leak, most of the clips stayed intact. They are set into the black seal around the glass, but mine weren't behind the glass. In order to use new/additional clips, you'd have to figure out how to mount them.

Depending on how you feel about the car, if you know about rust, and the only way to treat it is by removing the trim, it seems like you don't have much choice.

I would say if you are going to take care of the problem you will want to pull
the window and seal out. If there is rust where you can see it there is probably
rust under the rubber seal.. if that area rots away it can be a real joy to repair..$$$$. Kill the rust and treat with something like POR-15.
If you do this you will probably be better off not reuseing the existing seal.:-( more $$$
--
vw bus site w/ Volvo section - http://www.geocities.com/vw_bus_74/index.html

last time I was at a glass shop, they said they always replace those clips with new ones. Though I have never done it, it would be wise to buy some new clips before hand