How do you remove 1965 windshield pillar exterior molding

I am swapping out the right side front drip rail molding on my 65 Riviera for a nice piece without a dent

in it, and I was able to mostly roll the old one off till I got to the front of the molding, when I discovered that it was tucked behind the A-pillar molding and that the A-pillar molding must be removed first. Can someone who has done this on one

of these cars tell me what all is holding the A-pillar molding on? I can see that it appears to be tucked behind the roof rail

weatherstrip molding so I assume that must be removed completely? Does the pillar molding have the conventional

clips holding it on over the windshield like an A-body GM hardtop? This molding looks similar to the molding on my 69 GTO convertible which doesn't have any clips under it where it goes over the windshield glass. Can I remove the A-pillar molding

without disturbing the fender molding that it butts into on the bottom end? Thanks in advance for your help.:mad:

There are a couple of small screws that attach it to the A pillar. Now for the good news. Those screws are under the stainless to which the window seal attaches. You'll have to disassemble everything to remove the screws.

YIKES!!

There are a couple of small screws that attach it to the A pillar. Now for the good news. Those screws are under the stainless to which the window seal attaches. You'll have to disassemble everything to remove the screws.

Ed, I assume you mean that once the weatherstrip molding is removed, I can remove the two screws and remove

the pillar molding? It looks to me like the weatherstrip molding is a two piece affair that has a separate piece in the front

of the vent window. Surely it is not that time consuming to remove that short piece of trim to get to the screws? What do you

mean by EVERYTHING? It's hard to imagine that they would make it take a long time to swap out the windshield. One question I have is am I going to be able to get the weatherstrip out of the channel without tearing it up? It looks to be in nice shape although it is 50 years old.This car still has it's original windshield so none of this stuff has

ever been removed before.

Sorry, it looks like a two piece molding but it is one piece, just a notch for the bend.

You can loosen a few screws on the top toward the front and get it out of your way. What you have to hope for is that the window seal hasn't been glued to the molding. I don't have a car here at the house to look at but look to see if the windshield can't be removed without removing the A pillar trim. By everything I just meant that it's just not a wham bam thank you ma'am job. It's going to take more effort than you had planned.

Ed

Can u use some pix? I just took my stainless A pillar trim off a while ago. I didn't take pix but I can hold stuff in place & snap a few if it helps.

David

Can u use some pix? I just took my stainless A pillar trim off a while ago. I didn't take pix but I can hold stuff in place & snap a few if it helps.

David

David, I think that I get the picture......I suspect that the weatherstrip will have a lot of glue on it and being

50 years old will tear when I pull it off. I think I'll order new roof rail weatherstrip and wait till it comes in to finish the

job. I was shocked to discover that the windshield pillar molding was in the way of removing and installing the roof rail molding. A wham bam job turned out to be a pain in the arse that I wasn't expecting. I can't understand why they didn't make the weatherstrip molding a two piece affair, it would have been much more logical to do. Also, if it is all one

piece, what is the purpose of the triangular trim splice in the upper front corner of the weatherstrip molding?

The weather strip molding is NOT one piece. The splice trim in the upper front corner receives both the A pillar & upper horizontal weatherstrip moldings.

I know u didn't want pix but I hope this clears up any confusion. The upper horizontal weatherstrip molding & splice is still in place. Excuse the mess, I only removed a few molding & haven't cleaned them up yet.

In the first pic I am holding the A pillar weatherstrip molding. It is screwed in with four screws which obviously also go thru the A pillar molding. The uppermost screw holds all three trim pieces (upper corner trim splice, weatherstrip molding & A pillar molding). Once the weatherstrip molding is removed the A pillar molding has two tiny screws holding it in place.

Both of my A pillar moldings were filled with what looks like seam sealer. Not sure if I will repeat that step.

The weather strip molding is NOT one piece. The splice trim in the upper front corner receives both the A pillar & upper horizontal weatherstrip moldings.

I know u didn't want pix but I hope this clears up any confusion. The upper horizontal weatherstrip molding & splice is still in place. Excuse the mess, I only removed a few molding & haven't cleaned them up yet.

In the first pic I am holding the A pillar weatherstrip molding. It is screwed in with four screws which obviously also go thru the A pillar molding. The uppermost screw holds all three trim pieces (upper corner trim splice, weatherstrip molding & A pillar molding). Once the weatherstrip molding is removed the A pillar molding has two tiny screws holding it in place.

Both of my A pillar moldings were filled with what looks like seam sealer. Not sure if I will repeat that step.

Thanks, David.......the two piece molding makes sense. Great pics! David if I were you i would put back the seam sealer.....it is there to keep water from running behind the molding and creating a constant pocket of water at the bottom that will cause an eventual rust out situation. Of course if you never intend for

the car to ever get wet like I do with mine, I guess it wouldn't matter.

Here is another windshield replacement shot that may help:

Bernie

Here is another windshield replacement shot that may help:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]278607[/ATTACH] Bernie

Bernie, at some point in the future I am going to probably replace my windshield.......how do you remove the trim from the

rear of the fenders as I assume you must have to do?

The stainless that runs cross the lower windshield and behind the cowl filler panel has tabs that attach it to the cowl. Remove the wipers and bezels, then the cowl filler panel screws, and slide the filler panel froward. The stainless does not attach to the fenders or filler panel.

Bernie

thanks Bernie!

thanks Bernie!

Update.......After removing the pillar molding, the new drip rail molding went right on and looks

beautiful.Tthose of you doing the drip moldings be sure to grease the drip rails on sides and bottom before putting

the drip rail molding on.....it makes the job a lot easier. Now that my car has new door edge guards and a new right drip rail molding, all the exterior trim is perfect now. The most surprising thing is that the roof rail weatherstrip wasn't glued in and never had been. I was able to remove it and reinstall it with no problem. It is

still soft and supple although it is fifty years old. Thanks to all who helped out with pictures and advice!

Congrats

David

I finally got back to the shop where all of the stuff that I took off the car is stored and found my moldings. Here are some pictures of them the way they came off the car. They separate pieces but I left them as one because I didn't want to break the crimp that holds the two pieces together.

Ed