# Replace roof molding retainers



## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

Does anyone know how to replace the retainers that the roof molding clips on to? I had to replace those prices of trim because the somehow dried out and cracked. Well when installing the new ones the clips broke off in some places. Now the new trim won't stay flush.


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## dhpnet (Mar 2, 2014)

I replaced my roof moldings as well. The rubber coating started cracking and looked bad after only a couple years. Now I put dielectric grease on them about once a month. Fortunately, I didn't break any clips. The moldings came off very easily. 

The clips are riveted in place. I bought one new clip when I got my moldings, and it came with a new rivet. The service manual doesn't give any information on how to replace them. I would imagine that you need to drill out the old rivet. I would be concerned about where the bottom of the rivet goes after drilling the top. Hopefully it doesn't roll around in the roof.


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## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

How did you take them off? Wow sounds like I'm screwed.


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## dhpnet (Mar 2, 2014)

Snappa said:


> How did you take them off? Wow sounds like I'm screwed.


To remove the roof moldings, I used a thin plastic trim removal tool. I slid it in on one side and carefully popped it off. 

The clips are not very expensive, and you can get a pop rivet gun for about $20 on Amazon. The rivets are aluminum. The aluminum is very soft, so I would be extremely careful using a drill. They are so soft that they could be drilled out by hand. The only problem I see is that the bottom part of the rivet will fall off. I don't know where it would go. I don't know what it looks like under the clip. It might have some sort of metal tab that it connects to. If you remove them, please provide a photo of what it looks like under the rivet for any of us that may need to do this someday.


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