How do you remove 'weather strips' on roof (installing diffuser)
Apr 15, 2009, 08:04 PM
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Aus
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How do you remove 'weather strips' on roof (installing diffuser)
I need to remove 1 or 2 clips from the rear side to install a vortex generator but its not budging following a guide im using. All it says is push, twist pull etc etc and I can think of at least 50 different combinations/techniques consisting of those. Not to mention my hand is ripped up from trying. Any harder and it feels like its going to break.
Is there a 'professional method' of removing it such as inserting a thin tool to release a catch?
Even a photo detailing exactly how it clips on would be a good help.
thanks
Is there a 'professional method' of removing it such as inserting a thin tool to release a catch?
Even a photo detailing exactly how it clips on would be a good help.
thanks
Apr 16, 2009, 07:03 AM
#4
Evolving Member
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Lakenheath UK, but my heart is in PR
Posts: 244
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Try using either a hanger wire or something smaller that you can bend a little to gently pry it off. They are in the form of a U and you have to be very careful in the way you pull them out. I had my windshield replaced and even using specialty tools, the professional guys broke one of the clips.
Apr 16, 2009, 08:45 AM
#5
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Aus
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
yea i started poking around with a small screw driver covered in masking tape but then i figured not knowing what to poke at is probably gonna make it worse.
the thought of sliding the VG in without removing the strips crossed my mind... but i heard squeaks n creeks that didnt sound good... plus the tape would have been ruined from the sliding if i had peeled it back 1st.
well at least i now know that you can get spare clips for reasonably cheap.
gonna try again later today and see what happens
the thought of sliding the VG in without removing the strips crossed my mind... but i heard squeaks n creeks that didnt sound good... plus the tape would have been ruined from the sliding if i had peeled it back 1st.
well at least i now know that you can get spare clips for reasonably cheap.
gonna try again later today and see what happens
Trending Topics
Apr 17, 2009, 03:40 AM
#8
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Aus
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ok so i managed to do it ... accidently ... and didn't break anything woohoo!
I now know a way to do it 100% without breaking anything.
The whole clip will be referred to as 'pink clip' as there are smaller clips on it.
Theres essentially 2 ways of unclipping the weather strip. Releasing the clip from the car and releasing the clip from the weather strip. This guide will show you the easier later of the 2. The 1st way is considered harder as the bits you have to bend are significantly stronger than method 2. As such theres a good chance you'll end up breaking some important bits b4 you attain the force in the correct direction. However the 1st way doesn't require instruments.
Refer to pictures for explainations.
In short:
1. push antenna side of strip down(dividing the strip in 1/2 lengthways is a good indiction) with fingers till you can get enough grip to partially lift the closest side up with your thumbs (exactly how you would open a tuppaware container). It only needs to be raised till you can see clips B
2. You may insert a wedge such as a taped up screw driver to prop the weather strip up so that the pink clip is visible
3. Insert thin instrument (taped to prevent scratches) and push in both B. They are 'spring loaded' so they should pop off the weather strip by moving inwards and down. Being spring loaded you don't need to keep the instrument in place.
4. 'push' the strip away from you towards the antenna and C clips should come off. (see hand drawn picture below of a cross section) ... Theres nothing tricky with these clips
5. the pink clip should be sitting on the body of the car which can be removed by hand with ease.
To reinstall:
1. place the pink clip onto the protrusion D making sure its facing the correct way. Theres about 1-2cm leway in where it can slide towards the rear/front of the car... this shouldn't make a difference normally but with a VG taking up the gutter space it will need to be adjusted accordingly
2. hook in both C clips by simply looping the weather strap over them. (see hand drawn picture below of a cross section)
3. make sure the rubber rain guide connected to the weather strip isn't twisted and adjust as neccessary.
4. push down on the weather strip till you hear some clicks. It is ok to use a fair bit of force if required. These clicks are the B clips fastening into place.
5. if the weather strip looks bent ie. not flat ... open it up again and reposition the pink clip.
C = Strip clips on the side closest to the antenna
B = Strip clips on the side closest to the side you are standing on facing the car
A = Clip to the car.
Both B & C connect the whole pink clip to the black plastic strip
A connects the whole pink clip to the car
(Yellow & D) = protrusion from car body that A clips to
(Purple) = Thin and sturdy instrument such as a smaller size precision screwdriver
4 Red Verticle Parallel Lines = frame work of the plastic strip
The red lines are not exact but they show B & C and how they hold it on
Cross section
Most important picture if you choose not to understand the rest of this post. If you are seeing exactly this then all you have to do is poke those 2 B clips and the rest is cake. This is what you would see when prying up the strip slightly. It shows both B clips. This is what you push forward (and possibly down) till you hear it unclick.
Another angle of the pink clip
Yellow D
Another angle of the pink clip
Hope that helps
I now know a way to do it 100% without breaking anything.
The whole clip will be referred to as 'pink clip' as there are smaller clips on it.
Theres essentially 2 ways of unclipping the weather strip. Releasing the clip from the car and releasing the clip from the weather strip. This guide will show you the easier later of the 2. The 1st way is considered harder as the bits you have to bend are significantly stronger than method 2. As such theres a good chance you'll end up breaking some important bits b4 you attain the force in the correct direction. However the 1st way doesn't require instruments.
Refer to pictures for explainations.
In short:
1. push antenna side of strip down(dividing the strip in 1/2 lengthways is a good indiction) with fingers till you can get enough grip to partially lift the closest side up with your thumbs (exactly how you would open a tuppaware container). It only needs to be raised till you can see clips B
2. You may insert a wedge such as a taped up screw driver to prop the weather strip up so that the pink clip is visible
3. Insert thin instrument (taped to prevent scratches) and push in both B. They are 'spring loaded' so they should pop off the weather strip by moving inwards and down. Being spring loaded you don't need to keep the instrument in place.
4. 'push' the strip away from you towards the antenna and C clips should come off. (see hand drawn picture below of a cross section) ... Theres nothing tricky with these clips
5. the pink clip should be sitting on the body of the car which can be removed by hand with ease.
To reinstall:
1. place the pink clip onto the protrusion D making sure its facing the correct way. Theres about 1-2cm leway in where it can slide towards the rear/front of the car... this shouldn't make a difference normally but with a VG taking up the gutter space it will need to be adjusted accordingly
2. hook in both C clips by simply looping the weather strap over them. (see hand drawn picture below of a cross section)
3. make sure the rubber rain guide connected to the weather strip isn't twisted and adjust as neccessary.
4. push down on the weather strip till you hear some clicks. It is ok to use a fair bit of force if required. These clicks are the B clips fastening into place.
5. if the weather strip looks bent ie. not flat ... open it up again and reposition the pink clip.
C = Strip clips on the side closest to the antenna
B = Strip clips on the side closest to the side you are standing on facing the car
A = Clip to the car.
Both B & C connect the whole pink clip to the black plastic strip
A connects the whole pink clip to the car
(Yellow & D) = protrusion from car body that A clips to
(Purple) = Thin and sturdy instrument such as a smaller size precision screwdriver
4 Red Verticle Parallel Lines = frame work of the plastic strip
The red lines are not exact but they show B & C and how they hold it on
Cross section
Most important picture if you choose not to understand the rest of this post. If you are seeing exactly this then all you have to do is poke those 2 B clips and the rest is cake. This is what you would see when prying up the strip slightly. It shows both B clips. This is what you push forward (and possibly down) till you hear it unclick.
Another angle of the pink clip
Yellow D
Another angle of the pink clip
Hope that helps
nice post, unfortunately you are 2 days too late 
heh! but im glad to see that you got it figured out quite well im sure this will help people install their x-facrtor VG
Apr 18, 2009, 06:51 AM
#10
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Aus
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No offense to xfactor but their side air dam install guide isn't very good either. The photo quality isn't as high a res. as the VG one so you can't zoom in for clarification. I'm still trying to decipher it and I may also be missing some parts from both side/front air dam kits which is the main cause of the problems.
Alot of members on different forums reccommended them but I had the follow troubles:
1. theres no mention of removing the front mud guard (its taking up space + a clip spot)
2. it says to use 2 nuts as a spacer for the 2 underneath far end clips. The only nuts supplied is for the front air dams. Even if i used those nuts the screw isn't long enough to hold 2 nuts + a clip. The only longer screw is also for the front air dam
3. as far as i can tell the body of the car where you clip the side airdam onto is completely flat and the air dam is also flat to suit... so what is the point of the spacers?
4. they say to install the clips before aligning it to the car. imo this will cause the alignment to be off unless you clip it into place 1st then remove it for the following proceedures... which it doesn't say to do.
5. the front air dam bolts arn't your usual hex shape bolt... my local auto/hardware stores doesn't even sell them...not using 5 will cause a gap... so when i only received 4 for each dam when there were clearly 5 spots...
6. the kit came with 3 extra plastic fastener clips... 1 was damaged beyond use so that leaves 2...i assume you can substitute for the metal ones? but why they would supply something totally different is beyond me.
7. the VG came with 2 rows of strips of double sided tape as opposed to 3 in the install guide. the last thing you want is a VG flying off and smashing through someones windshield causing an accident.
8. the kit doesn't include an itemisation so you have no idea if somethings missing.
They also ship with zinc plated (indoor use) nuts/bolts/washers/screws as opposed to stainless steel. 1 nut already looks corroded and I havent even used it yet.
re VG: Ive got a fingernail size gap running about 2-3cms on each side of the antenna... I don't think i pushed it to the rear enough... hope that doesn't cause problems for the tape. ie: water/car wash/etc. Being an automotive/outdoor tape it should hopefully resist any waters/heat ...
Alot of members on different forums reccommended them but I had the follow troubles:
1. theres no mention of removing the front mud guard (its taking up space + a clip spot)
2. it says to use 2 nuts as a spacer for the 2 underneath far end clips. The only nuts supplied is for the front air dams. Even if i used those nuts the screw isn't long enough to hold 2 nuts + a clip. The only longer screw is also for the front air dam
3. as far as i can tell the body of the car where you clip the side airdam onto is completely flat and the air dam is also flat to suit... so what is the point of the spacers?
4. they say to install the clips before aligning it to the car. imo this will cause the alignment to be off unless you clip it into place 1st then remove it for the following proceedures... which it doesn't say to do.
5. the front air dam bolts arn't your usual hex shape bolt... my local auto/hardware stores doesn't even sell them...not using 5 will cause a gap... so when i only received 4 for each dam when there were clearly 5 spots...
6. the kit came with 3 extra plastic fastener clips... 1 was damaged beyond use so that leaves 2...i assume you can substitute for the metal ones? but why they would supply something totally different is beyond me.
7. the VG came with 2 rows of strips of double sided tape as opposed to 3 in the install guide. the last thing you want is a VG flying off and smashing through someones windshield causing an accident.
8. the kit doesn't include an itemisation so you have no idea if somethings missing.
They also ship with zinc plated (indoor use) nuts/bolts/washers/screws as opposed to stainless steel. 1 nut already looks corroded and I havent even used it yet.
re VG: Ive got a fingernail size gap running about 2-3cms on each side of the antenna... I don't think i pushed it to the rear enough... hope that doesn't cause problems for the tape. ie: water/car wash/etc. Being an automotive/outdoor tape it should hopefully resist any waters/heat ...
Apr 18, 2009, 08:45 AM
#11
I had that gap too so i just got up there by standing on my rear seat and pushed down for about a minute on each side. Before I installed mine i added 3m to the middle so that there was more tape, i also replaced one of the long strips with 3m i was going to replace both strips but i got lazy and figured it wasnt necessary. the tape they supply is actually pretty strong once its on the car. the tape should be ok with the water i know the next day after i installed mine it rained :\ but yeah should be ok. i already ordered 2 new clips should be here in a week or so.
Apr 18, 2009, 10:27 AM
#12
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Aus
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
gonna try push it down in the morning but i dunno if it will still work being at least a day since i installed it. i poured water on the roof and the water went through my gaps. i guess my major concern is car washes since they tend to have solvents that may affect the tape.
yea i also stuck an extra row of tape on but i couldnt get my hands on 3m tape. as such i didn't replace the existing one thinkin it should be better quality than the generic one i bought.
and as a last line of defense, the weather strip clip sits partially ontop of the VG so that should provide extra holding power.
can never be too careful as at high speeds the uplift force on the vg (note the vg itself) can be quite significant.
btw:
i've noticed that you've got a carputer in your sig? how is that set up? i was thinking of :
running a removable mini pc (7"-9" notebook running on an intel atom)
running everything through the pc (ie: audio, video, cameras, gps, wireless, maybe internet, etc etc except standard radio- not sure if radio is possible)
storing the pc somewhere in the footwell/under the seat/glovebox
hooking it up to a cheap touchscreen with basic features (touchscreen being the main interface)
powering it through the 12V/120W "cigarette lighter" (maybe through the car battery if it doesn't provide enough power... haven't calculated power requirements yet)
main form of media storage = hdd / usb hdd
secondary = cd / dvd
yea i also stuck an extra row of tape on but i couldnt get my hands on 3m tape. as such i didn't replace the existing one thinkin it should be better quality than the generic one i bought.
and as a last line of defense, the weather strip clip sits partially ontop of the VG so that should provide extra holding power.
can never be too careful as at high speeds the uplift force on the vg (note the vg itself) can be quite significant.
btw:
i've noticed that you've got a carputer in your sig? how is that set up? i was thinking of :
running a removable mini pc (7"-9" notebook running on an intel atom)
running everything through the pc (ie: audio, video, cameras, gps, wireless, maybe internet, etc etc except standard radio- not sure if radio is possible)
storing the pc somewhere in the footwell/under the seat/glovebox
hooking it up to a cheap touchscreen with basic features (touchscreen being the main interface)
powering it through the 12V/120W "cigarette lighter" (maybe through the car battery if it doesn't provide enough power... haven't calculated power requirements yet)
main form of media storage = hdd / usb hdd
secondary = cd / dvd
Apr 21, 2009, 09:13 PM
#13
Evolving Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: florida
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I broke one too on my first try, but after that it was easy. You have to put your fingers on the pink part, lift it up, then pull toward you (not up or diagonal) as much as you can then pull up. Don't pull up too much, if it doesn't come up with a little bit of force, try pulling toward you a little more. And 3 bucks each for a clip? Your dealer is ripping you off, I paid 75 cents each from the dealer.
Apr 22, 2009, 04:38 PM
#14
I broke one too on my first try, but after that it was easy. You have to put your fingers on the pink part, lift it up, then pull toward you (not up or diagonal) as much as you can then pull up. Don't pull up too much, if it doesn't come up with a little bit of force, try pulling toward you a little more. And 3 bucks each for a clip? Your dealer is ripping you off, I paid 75 cents each from the dealer.
thats the list price, i got them for 1.25 and that was shipped to my house, my dealer around me sucks ***** so i didnt even bother to go over there, id spend 5 bucks in gas just going back to and from the dealer F that pay .50 more and have them arrive at home !
Apr 22, 2009, 04:46 PM
#15
gonna try push it down in the morning but i dunno if it will still work being at least a day since i installed it. i poured water on the roof and the water went through my gaps. i guess my major concern is car washes since they tend to have solvents that may affect the tape.
yea i also stuck an extra row of tape on but i couldnt get my hands on 3m tape. as such i didn't replace the existing one thinkin it should be better quality than the generic one i bought.
and as a last line of defense, the weather strip clip sits partially ontop of the VG so that should provide extra holding power.
can never be too careful as at high speeds the uplift force on the vg (note the vg itself) can be quite significant.
btw:
i've noticed that you've got a carputer in your sig? how is that set up? i was thinking of :
running a removable mini pc (7"-9" notebook running on an intel atom)
running everything through the pc (ie: audio, video, cameras, gps, wireless, maybe internet, etc etc except standard radio- not sure if radio is possible)
storing the pc somewhere in the footwell/under the seat/glovebox
hooking it up to a cheap touchscreen with basic features (touchscreen being the main interface)
powering it through the 12V/120W "cigarette lighter" (maybe through the car battery if it doesn't provide enough power... haven't calculated power requirements yet)
main form of media storage = hdd / usb hdd
secondary = cd / dvd
yea i also stuck an extra row of tape on but i couldnt get my hands on 3m tape. as such i didn't replace the existing one thinkin it should be better quality than the generic one i bought.
and as a last line of defense, the weather strip clip sits partially ontop of the VG so that should provide extra holding power.
can never be too careful as at high speeds the uplift force on the vg (note the vg itself) can be quite significant.
btw:
i've noticed that you've got a carputer in your sig? how is that set up? i was thinking of :
running a removable mini pc (7"-9" notebook running on an intel atom)
running everything through the pc (ie: audio, video, cameras, gps, wireless, maybe internet, etc etc except standard radio- not sure if radio is possible)
storing the pc somewhere in the footwell/under the seat/glovebox
hooking it up to a cheap touchscreen with basic features (touchscreen being the main interface)
powering it through the 12V/120W "cigarette lighter" (maybe through the car battery if it doesn't provide enough power... haven't calculated power requirements yet)
main form of media storage = hdd / usb hdd
secondary = cd / dvd
clips just came in today, installation took 15 sec
haha, but yea i also ordered a paint pen and an extra clip incase i ever decided to take the vortex gen off and retape it down the road.the carputer is working good the only problem i have is in high heat the laptop gets overheated and shuts off but initially i had the vents of the laptop downwards to there was no airflow going to see what happens with laptop upside down, vents pointing up, i wrote a basic run down of what i did...oh here it is
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/la...ter-works.html