Dew Wipe Trim Stuck

[Lutrova]

I'm replacing the dew wipes and weatherstripping for the Town Car this weekend. Or at least the front doors anyway. The passenger side went fine, but the driver's door has me stuck. I can't seem to get the belt line trim off and I'm not sure if it's just the clips holding it in place or if the keypad is also contributing. Between the glass and the regulator it's tough to see what's going on. The clips definitely seem to be catching on the door, but I'm not sure how, or what sort of move would free them without damaging the trim.

Has anyone else run into this before?

[gadget73]

there is a nut at the rear edge of the door, make sure that is off. I think there is a screw up front too but its been a while since I had mine off. The keypad wire does need some slack in it, not sure how much it has stock but it might be clipped into something. Probably have to remove the door panel to check if you haven't already.

[Lutrova]

Yeah, there's two fasteners as you say, but I had those off. The clips were just really well in there. I managed to get it off this evening after getting a little more aggressive. A flathead screwdriver wedged between the aluminum trim and the petrified dew wipe, twisted around a bit, was enough to pry the clips out to enough of an angle for me to pull the whole thing out.

The keypad doesn't cause any issues until after you get all the dew wipe clips off. There's a plastic clip going into the outer door panel that holds the wires away from the regulator. It needs to be pulled out to give enough slack in the keypad. The two retention clips holding the keypad to the underside of the trim are pretty easy to pry out with pliers or a screwdriver, but you need some slack to be able to turn the trim sideways and see what's going on.

I'm sure there was a more elegant way of freeing this piece, and the anodized finish wasn't too happy about the screwdriver. But it was already a little beat up and pretty well oxidized, so I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

[gadget73]

I use a plastic pry bar trim removal thing I got from Harbor Freight, but I did still manage to slightly bend the trim on the Continental. Agree on it seeming a bit brutal to remove, but I guess after being in place for 30+ years its not exactly motivated to let go.