How to remove aluminum side trim

[Gene Obie]

Can anyone tell me how the painted trim is removed from the internal aluminum support? The support has pulled loose from the frame and my battery compartment door flexes when opening.
 
I'm going to remove the battery door but not clear if the painted trim slides out the back (it sort of sits in a channel) or whether I just pry it up and out?? I've drilled out the rivets but it's still really tight.

Thanks

[Gene Obie]

Perhaps finding an answer to my own question. The trim appears to be sitting in a groove on the top edge and to be adhered on the face with some type of caulk/adhesive. I've found a method of softening with 99% alcohol (dripping in gap on top edge), warming a bit with heat gun and driving a sequence of wedges (tile floor levelers) ... it's painstaking slow but I think I'll be able to get the entire rail loose without damaging anything (fingers crossed)

There appears to be many screws rusted or broke that attach the extruded aluminum piece behind the trim to the frame. As I'm getting things loose I'm also seeing some moisture intrusion and what looks like delam on the bottom and back of the fiberglass side panel. Hope I'm not getting into a mess here, but parked here for 3 more weeks so hopefully can find some time to get this off and repaired.

The attached pic looks like the rail is bent but it's just optical illusion. Once I removed the shims it's straight.

[Bill Lampkin]

Just curious, Gene, but on our '05 PT, I noticed that trim piece has a nice bead of caulk run along the top of the trim where it meets the coach sidewall, on the driver's side. On the curb side, no such caulk!  Noticed any caulk on your trim?

[Gene Obie]

No caulk on the outside anywhere on my trim, but as I pull it loose from the bottom there's plenty of caulk/adhesive on the inside face. If you have previous owner perhaps they caulked? Seems like caulking the top seam would be a good idea as now that I'm seeing a little better behind the trim it looks like the water will not drain well with all that caulk on the inside. I've been pouring rubbing alcohol in the top seem and it stays in there pretty well.

Looks like water has been pooling behind the trim and working its way up the wall so once I get this off it will be interesting to see what I can do to seal it up or let it drain better. I was tempted to not try to remove the trim and just get some jb-weld between the extrusion and the frame, but there's broken and rusted screws back there that need to be cut out - and really didn't seem like jb-weld would hold long term. The door lift arms were weak and previous owner I think had just been pulling up on the door causing twist and strain on the hinge and possibly snapping the screws. Replacing the lift pistons on battery door is what started me down this path.

Curious that no one else seems to have had this issue.

[George Harwell]

Gene, why are you removing the belt line. The doors can be removed by removing the struts and opening until it falls out of the “C” channel. Takes two people. There’s also a couple of small black 1 inch blocks that hold the door from moving Fore or aft on the C rail. I don’t recall but I think they have to be removed. Good luck with your endeavor.

[Gene Obie]

George, I've removed the door without issue (well I had to cut out one of the plastic stops since the rusted screw snapped). But you're correct to remove the door there's a black plastic block that centers the door and 2 white plastic stops that keep it in the c-channel when you lift the door. I'll have to fabricate one of the white stops from something since it broke trying to drill out the rusted screws.

Anyhow, my problem is not the door hinge but the C-channel and frame behind the trim that screws that entire extruded assembly to the frame. The trim came off with some difficulty for the first 5ft and now I'm all stop on the last few feet that's really stuck down hard. It looks like it might be dicor - and they were generous with it. So my wedge/heat technique is not longer working... tomorrow if I get a few free minutes I'm going to try to heat up a long thing icing spatula that I have lying around and see if I can break the dicor loose from the trim sliding it in at an angle.  Whoever put that trim on made a decision that it would never need to come off I think. The only other way I can think of fixing this is to drill all the way thru the trim and extrusion into the frame and find some way to cover the holes. Maybe if I paint matched it wouldn't look so bad. Or maybe i can get behind it enough to get it clean and get some JB  weld back there for a 1 or 2ft section and clamp it.

I've attached a pic which shows what's behind the trim. It's the screws behind the trim that need to be replaced or redrilled. There's about a 3ft section that looks to be loose.

[George Harwell]

Got it now Gene. Boy you have quite a job there. Sure will be a valuable lesson for all when you are finished.Thanks for your posting and good luck with your project.