Every time I wash my car I get water standing under the ill fitting trim in both lower corners. Is this cavity supposed to be filled with butyl or a sealant of some type? I can imagine this rusting away the metal as I sleep. I occasionally get some water in my trunk could this be the source?

Nothing was put there by the factory. My CA black plate car developed pin holes under that trim due to the PO attending UC Santa Barbara where debris caught under the trim mixed with salt air. So yes, that could easily be a source of water getting into the trunk.

This is one of the fgf downfall areas. Yes to your question about leaks. But can you tell what part of your trunk is wet after washing? If in this area, then that is the likely area. But also the trunk seals were prone to leaking, and between the taillight lenses and the tail panel is a very bad area for leaks. I try not to directly spray water at those areas. And no, that area was not fully filled with sealant.

I usually run the air hose all around the rear window after a wash. I do my best to get all the standing water out from under the trim. A lot of time the seam that runs down from the back window and the trunk will leak as well. It was just seam sealed and time will make it brittle and crack.

X2 this is an engineering flaw with these cars. One thing I'm doing to fix this is adding some drain holes here and will use rubber tubes to lead the water out into the wheel well area. Pics here on my build thread (about half way down):

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/journal....=5&reverse=



Purists be warned my car isn't stock anymore

I have yet to use water to clean my vehicle. Yes, it gets driven and it has only been trailered for about 10 miles in what was a torrential downpour. Other than the move from Ohio to Texas of course.

I use a leaf blower to dry my car and blow water out from under trim.

Hmmmm. I wish I knew about this before paint.
Welding a drain tube looks like a good idea.
So is taking the trim off and filling the cavity with sealer a bad idea?
I was using a blowgun and compressed air but the dirty water that came out got that area dirty again. I try to wick up as much as I can with towels then blow out what is left. I suppose after some time that area will be clean and the water blown out won't make such a mess.

I filled mine with sealant and I still got water. Tube idea looks interesting but I think water get's in in other areas as well.

x2 I'm not going to use water anymore to clean my car.

How is the window trim attached at the back and how do I get it off and on. That's the one part the paint shop did. They said it was filled with a body filler of some type and they ground it out when they painted. Now it leaks and the trim doesn't fit well.

If you don't use water how are you going to clean off all the bugs, slugs, gopher guts, tree sap, bird dog and deer [censored], dirt, tar, soda, BBQ sauce and beer?

You use your classic Firebird as a picnic table?

LOL !!

Myself, I prefer not to eat the vermin. lol I'm just going to dodge the bugs. Leave em for the guy behind me honking his horn continuously at me for my eradicate driving!

I at least try to clean off all the melted rubber splatter from the rear lower quarters once in a while. You guys don't have that problem??? I thought that was another inherent design flaw. Hmmm. Maybe it's just me.

OK,
I may have gotten a bit carried away with the soda and BBQ sauce and I left out the molten rubber and bitumen [ashfelt]. but how do you get this stuff off if not using soap and water? Last trip I took up-island left me with guts from some unknown creature, gobs of bugs splattered on the paint and glass, deer crap and ,like Firebob, even some melted rubber.

Now back to the original topic,
How does one remove and replace the trim from around the rear window? I assume there is a speacial tool?

There is a flat tool with a hook on both sides of the end. Kind of a"T" looking thing with points at the ends of the top of the T. You slip it under the trim and work the hook under the trim clip. Then pry the clip away from the channel and the trim will pop off the clip. There's one every 6"-8" or so around the window frame.

Thank you,
Anyone have a pic of the underside of the trim with the clips?

>is taking the trim off and filling the cavity with sealer a bad idea?<

A very bad idea. It entombs water in the cavity, never able to dry out. Notice how open the w/s pinchweld is? This allows for unimpeded excavation of water; likewise, for the rear glass.

By the way, forgive me if my image size is too large because I’m computer illiterate, and I don’t know how to make smaller file sizes.

I have been drying the rear pinchweld this way for decades.

Here’s the theory behind using the clip removal tool. Shop tip: You can release from either side of the clip, the red clips, but you don’t need to flex the clip as much if you snatch it on the tab side.

(The white clip, a different style clip, is in the mix because of a factory defect. See if you can figure it out.)

You may run into a couple of problems. First, I think the moldings are glued on. I could make short work of glued-on moldings without damaging anything, but the wear pattern on the clip tool shows that this wasn’t my first dog & pony show. I would say to take your time, but taking your time and technique are different arenas. Technique comes from taking your time, and phucking up lots of chit as you develop ‘technique.’

Second, the changes are better than good that you have a bigger problem than a simple seal job. Most likely, the rear glass needs to come out and do some metal fabrication. Also, packing a bunch of sealer in it will be pissing in the wind.

Dear poop...seriously?
What they do, back up the car to take a dump?

They hear the noise coming down the road and they get scared and immediately drop a load right where you will run over it. They're smarter than they look.

I like Amervo's picture. After breaking a couple of windows with that same tool I ground the point off of one side so it no longer can catch the edge of the glass. And hello to everyone , I hope everyone is having a great summer.
Neill

Thanks for the pics and the tips.
Yes, deer crap. Not as bad as dog crap but annoying all the same. They're everywhere in these parts, like gophers on the prairies. The highway maintenance folks are picking up dead ones quite regularly. Better to run over thier poop than take one across the hood and windshield though. "Just missed an elk last trip, most likely would have wished the bird had shoulder harness and airbags if I nailed that at 70mph.

Likely would've been cleaning some other poop mess in that case. :-)

No dought