Removing A pillar interior cover, 4200

[Delmonte]

I'm having another go at fitting a dab thing in the car... I know it's been epic and still not there but hey.

What I want to do thus tike is remove the interior plastic padded trim piece from the A pillar. I've been reluctant to do this because my pet hatred is things like this, that once removed & refitted, do go back right, or rattle, or get cracked, bent, etc....

How do you do this with breaking anything? Just prize off with a blunt tool? If so which side, if it matters? Or is there any sliding involved rather than pricing? Or anything else you have to remove first?

All advice appreciated before I attack...

 

[doodlebug]

I'm having another go at fitting a dab thing in the car... I know it's been epic and still not there but hey.

What I want to do thus tike is remove the interior plastic padded trim piece from the A pillar. I've been reluctant to do this because my pet hatred is things like this, that once removed & refitted, do go back right, or rattle, or get cracked, bent, etc....

How do you do this with breaking anything? Just prize off with a blunt tool? If so which side, if it matters? Or is there any sliding involved rather than pricing? Or anything else you have to remove first?

All advice appreciated before I attack...

From memory, remove the piece of trim above the side window. It just clips on and should pop off fairly easily but you might need new clips because they get brittle with age.

You'll see a cross-head screw at the bottom of the A pillar. You'll need a short stubby screwdriver to unscrew it, being careful not to drop the screw down into the dashboard cavity otherwise it will rattle around every time you go around a corner. Don't ask me how I know. The A pillar should now be free.

Replacement is the reverse of removal.

 

[Ebenezer]

,,,being careful not to drop the screw down into the dashboard cavity otherwise it will rattle around every time you go around a corner. Don't ask me how I know. The A pillar should now be free.

And break your air conditioning too
Eb

 

[Delmonte]

Great cheers lads. Glad i didn't try prize it off if it's screwed in! I take it you mean a screw at the top of the A pillar, not the bottom? Can't image you'd get access to anything at the bottom?

 

[doodlebug]

Great cheers lads. Glad i didn't try prize it off if it's screwed in! I take it you mean a screw at the top of the A pillar, not the bottom? Can't image you'd get access to anything at the bottom?

You might be right. Thinking about it, the screw I was thinking about might have been one that holds the dash. It's been a while since I took it off but I'm planning on taking the dash off again over winter to fix the clock light and the intermittent dash lights.

 

[doodlebug]

And break your air conditioning too
Eb

Oi!
The air-conditioning only stopped working just as we left Cambridge. for VEOB The screw fell down the rabbit hole 10 years ago!

Got your car back yet Stephe?

 

[jasst]

Great cheers lads. Glad i didn't try prize it off if it's screwed in! I take it you mean a screw at the top of the A pillar, not the bottom? Can't image you'd get access to anything at the bottom?

Yes, it's at the top

 

[conaero]

Yes as others say, pull the curtain trim off above the window, reveals a cross head screw at the top of the A pillar, undo and wiggle and pull and it will then come away from the dash end.

 

[Ebenezer]

Oi!
The air-conditioning only stopped working just as we left Cambridge. for VEOB The screw fell down the rabbit hole 10 years ago!

Got your car back yet Stephe?

As it happens, nope. Still somewhere in France with not a disimilar problem to yours in that it can't stay cool either! Enquired today as it's been 6 weeks now. Apparently there were a lot of breakdowns (!) in Europe this year and a shortage of garage staff fixing them so lots of repatriation....

Perhaps I should spring the maser myself... I know a man with a mohican and a flatbed...

Eb

 

[Scaf]

As it happens, nope. Still somewhere in France with not a disimilar problem to yours in that it can't stay cool either! Enquired today as it's been 6 weeks now. Apparently there were a lot of breakdowns (!) in Europe this year and a shortage of garage staff fixing them so lots of repatriation....

Perhaps I should spring the maser myself... I know a man with a mohican and a flatbed...

Eb

I am amazed that it’s taken so long, when I had a breakdown on a classic Le man trip the car came back with me on the ferry, French delivered it onto the car deck and the AA met at the other end and recovered me home.

 

[safrane]

I am amazed that it’s taken so long, when I had a breakdown on a classic Le man trip the car came back with me on the ferry, French delivered it onto he car deck and the AA met at the other end and recovered me home.

Anyone going to blame Brexit?

 

[Delmonte]

OK I'm now trying something else with regard to getting DAB reception (yawn). I'll talk about that more if I ever get success.

Anyway. What I want to do now, is remove the B pillar trim (if that is the one that holds the seat belt).

Anyone got the low down on this? Just so I'm pulling and tearing at stuff that's going to break.

Thanks!

 

[spkennyuk]

OK I'm now trying something else with regard to getting DAB reception (yawn). I'll talk about that more if I ever get success.

Anyway. What I want to do now, is remove the B pillar trim (if that is the one that holds the seat belt).

Anyone got the low down on this? Just so I'm pulling and tearing at stuff that's going to break.

Thanks!

If your anywhere near lancashire either come over to me or i can come over to you. Ive fitted dab systems in 4200 and GS and have a full set of trim removal tools.

Happy to sort the dab system out for you.

From memory to get the B pillar trim off there is a screw you can see if you pull the seat belt to one side which has to be removed first.

Pm me if you want.

 

[CatmanV2]

Similarly happy to help in the Essex area.

C

 

[RussBird82]

Can anyone give me a ball park estimate how long an interior trim and healdiner removal should take? As per OP it's not something I'm experienced at, however as I've been quoted £500 to do the headliner and £600+ for dent removal (which he advised would be best with interior out) I'm opting to do the headliner myself to offset the cost. So I'm thinking in an ideal world I'll be removing the passenger seat, rear seats, rear seat side panels, parcel shelf and obviously then the headliner. It's not a job I'm looking to tackle until Spring but just so I can get an idea what to expect as a novice.

 

[theoldsmithy]

Shouldn't take long, 1 - 2 hours I would think. This is in German but the the YT subtitles aren't too horrendous if you want them on! It covers getting the headliner out pretty well, he does it without removing any seats, the rear shelf or C pillar trims so you might need to go further in your particular case, but hope it helps you on your way.

Here's a descriptive piece from over the water about it as well in this case with all the trim out

Headliner Removal (4200)

www.maseratilife.com

 

[RussBird82]

Shouldn't take long, 1 - 2 hours I would think. This is in German but the the YT subtitles aren't too horrendous if you want them on! It covers getting the headliner out pretty well, he does it without removing any seats, the rear shelf or C pillar trims so you might need to go further in your particular case, but hope it helps you on your way.

Here's a descriptive piece from over the water about it as well in this case with all the trim out

Headliner Removal (4200)

www.maseratilife.com

Great find with the German vid . I had seen Maserati Life post although I was struggling to picture some of the steps without corresponding images.

 

[theoldsmithy]

I don’t know if you’ve seen it but he also does a part 2 (‘teil 2’) where he re-trims the liner, which might be useful?

 

[RussBird82]

I don’t know if you’ve seen it but he also does a part 2 (‘teil 2’) where he re-trims the liner, which might be useful?

He's gone for the same colour of Alcantara I'd be looking to install. Not 100% sold on the leaving the visors the same, I was looking to get mine retrimmed to match but would need to see how it looks once I've done it.

 

[Black Mazerati]

Can anyone give me a ball park estimate how long an interior trim and healdiner removal should take? As per OP it's not something I'm experienced at, however as I've been quoted £500 to do the headliner and £600+ for dent removal (which he advised would be best with interior out) I'm opting to do the headliner myself to offset the cost. So I'm thinking in an ideal world I'll be removing the passenger seat, rear seats, rear seat side panels, parcel shelf and obviously then the headliner. It's not a job I'm looking to tackle until Spring but just so I can get an idea what to expect as a novice.

I had a hard time finding someone to reattach my leather headliner to the backing when I 1st bought my car here in the states. Most only wanted to replace the headliner at insane prices. I was finally hooked up with a guy that did it for $600 or so and I think it was a bargain. This is also a pre-pandemic price as most over hear have jacked their labor rates 25-50% in the last year or so.