How to change the door card trim
- janelilley
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How to change the door card trim was created by janelilley
Posted 7 years 1 month ago
This is my first post, so I'm really excited.
I bought my 2006 TF earlier this summer and wanted to change out the seats which were boring black sebring fabric for some alcantara ones, which I did, but then that left my unmatched door cards looking a bit odd, so I picked up a pair to match the seats and finally psyched myself up to try and replace them. I found instructions on how to get the door card off but couldn't find any guidance on how to switch out the trim. It wasn't too bad, a couple of bits were annoying and awkward so after doing the first one, I thought I might take a few pics and explain how I did it for anyone else who might be worried its too hard to do without any kind of mechanic skills - I have none at all, so if I can do it, anyone can.:woohoo:
Tools I used: Trim pry bar and trim pliers, hammer, cross and flat head screwdrivers, glue, 3/8" socket, something soft to put under the door card when hammering the clips back into place - i used bubblewrap folded over a few times on the kitchen countertop.
I used the guide on here for removing the door card and also found a helpful YouTube clip from the "F-ing about" series which made it look way easier than I expected.
The first job after removing the door card and unclipping the speaker cable was to gently prise off the polystyrene block. I purchased a cheap set of trim tools and used the pry bar to tease it out without damaging it as its just glued in place.
Next was using a flat head screwdriver, I prised open the metal clips which secure the fabric trim panel.
Now for the really awkward bit - removing the circular clips that hold the plastic trim. These have to be removed to get the fabric trim panel out and it proved quite tricky. I used the pry bar and then a sort of side to side motion to ease the clip up. They are really tight and I found it best to put my thumb on top of the plastic pin to stop it snapping - I did snap one off but fortunately it doesn't seem to have affected anything too much - be careful though or you will have to buy new plastic trim panels as well
When all the clips are removed, push the pins through the holes from the top and the trim pieces will come away from the door card.
I then took the replacement fabric panel and lined up the holes with the plastic pins, then offered up the whole thing to the door card. The pieces just pushed into place with a little jiggling to get the metal pins through the holes. Once lined up, the trim pieces just need a little push into place on the door card.
Next came pushing the metal clips down with just a thumb - no need to hammer them in too tight.
Finally came the bit I hadn't considered before I started the job and had to think on the fly - how to get the circular clips back on the plastic pegs?
I tried just pushing them into place by hand, but they refused to go on at all so I remembered seeing someone use a socket to hammer a set of bearings into place and thought I would try it. You need to have something firm in place underneath the trim - I did this on the kitchen counter and put bubble wrap folded over a few times to avoid damaging the trim on the edge of the counter.
A 3/8" socket worked perfectly for the size of the clip and I simply held it in place then hammered down gently tapping it into place.
After they are all in tightly, the polystyrene block needs to be glued back in - I just put a bit of superglue over the top of the old glue and it worked perfectly.
Finally, I just reversed the initial door card removal instructions to put it back in place. Now I have door cards to match my seats!
Hope this is helpful for someone else.
Cheers
Jane
I bought my 2006 TF earlier this summer and wanted to change out the seats which were boring black sebring fabric for some alcantara ones, which I did, but then that left my unmatched door cards looking a bit odd, so I picked up a pair to match the seats and finally psyched myself up to try and replace them. I found instructions on how to get the door card off but couldn't find any guidance on how to switch out the trim. It wasn't too bad, a couple of bits were annoying and awkward so after doing the first one, I thought I might take a few pics and explain how I did it for anyone else who might be worried its too hard to do without any kind of mechanic skills - I have none at all, so if I can do it, anyone can.:woohoo:
Tools I used: Trim pry bar and trim pliers, hammer, cross and flat head screwdrivers, glue, 3/8" socket, something soft to put under the door card when hammering the clips back into place - i used bubblewrap folded over a few times on the kitchen countertop.
I used the guide on here for removing the door card and also found a helpful YouTube clip from the "F-ing about" series which made it look way easier than I expected.
The first job after removing the door card and unclipping the speaker cable was to gently prise off the polystyrene block. I purchased a cheap set of trim tools and used the pry bar to tease it out without damaging it as its just glued in place.
Next was using a flat head screwdriver, I prised open the metal clips which secure the fabric trim panel.
Now for the really awkward bit - removing the circular clips that hold the plastic trim. These have to be removed to get the fabric trim panel out and it proved quite tricky. I used the pry bar and then a sort of side to side motion to ease the clip up. They are really tight and I found it best to put my thumb on top of the plastic pin to stop it snapping - I did snap one off but fortunately it doesn't seem to have affected anything too much - be careful though or you will have to buy new plastic trim panels as well
When all the clips are removed, push the pins through the holes from the top and the trim pieces will come away from the door card.
I then took the replacement fabric panel and lined up the holes with the plastic pins, then offered up the whole thing to the door card. The pieces just pushed into place with a little jiggling to get the metal pins through the holes. Once lined up, the trim pieces just need a little push into place on the door card.
Next came pushing the metal clips down with just a thumb - no need to hammer them in too tight.
Finally came the bit I hadn't considered before I started the job and had to think on the fly - how to get the circular clips back on the plastic pegs?
I tried just pushing them into place by hand, but they refused to go on at all so I remembered seeing someone use a socket to hammer a set of bearings into place and thought I would try it. You need to have something firm in place underneath the trim - I did this on the kitchen counter and put bubble wrap folded over a few times to avoid damaging the trim on the edge of the counter.
A 3/8" socket worked perfectly for the size of the clip and I simply held it in place then hammered down gently tapping it into place.
After they are all in tightly, the polystyrene block needs to be glued back in - I just put a bit of superglue over the top of the old glue and it worked perfectly.
Finally, I just reversed the initial door card removal instructions to put it back in place. Now I have door cards to match my seats!
Hope this is helpful for someone else.
Cheers
Jane
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