Plastic Trim Strip coming loose - fixable? (1 Viewer)

[dowtchaboy]

My campervan is 1994 so some of it is getting a trifle jaded. One annoyance is that many of the plastic "trim strips" are coming loose. Am not sure if that's the correct term for the plastic stuff that clips into the aluminium track surrounding doors and so on - covers the screws.

Mine are all a bit grey and have gone hard-ish in the sun and ease out especially at corners. Now every journey I keep listening for that little buzz that will turn into a flap....looking in the mirror to see if I am whipping a cyclist....

1 - is there a nifty trick for pushing them back into the channel? I use fingernails, edge of keys, breadknife...... I suspect there is a neat tool that would push it all back in a jiffy.

2 - is there a way to put some flexibility back into the strip and have it stay put? Olive oil? WD40? something (as ever) from LIDL.......?

I know ya'all have long since moved up to monocoque and so on - but there are one or two of us poor folks with old vans!

(P@ - HEHN 1994)

 

[weeme]

trim strip

Hi there
we had same problem in 1987 caravan
never found a cure.
now 2006 swift motorhome
and it has just started up on that too.

has anyone found an answer to this?

weeme

 

[vwalan]

have a word in your local camper shop or try o,leary,s its available quite cheap .its easy to replace and you may get choice of colour so look abit like a new van.

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[Terry]

have a word in your local camper shop or try o,leary,s its available quite cheap .its easy to replace and you may get choice of colour so look abit like a new van.

I agree with Alan :thumb:buy some new it is cheap and easy to fit :thumb:
http://www.olearymotorhomes.co.uk/
If not on the web - phone them they have loads of stock other than what is shown
terry

 

[pappajohn]

this is a variation on the correct tool for fitting the trim.
it slightly opens the channel while pressing the trim in pkace


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if the trims dried out and brittle you'll need to replace it.

 

[vwalan]

think your a better man than me if you can open the groove on aluminium trim with a tool like that. rubber yes but the trim in question usually slips in from one end. i used to have red, blue, black ,we used it as side trim on some of the early vw resto,s looked like a period piece.try woolies at market deeping near peter borough. think thats where we used to get it. they do lots of old fashioned trim stuff.

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[gazz]

it's the UV that makes it brittle, like most plastics (i notice the fiamma roof vents go brittle after about 5 years, slightest knock and they split)

but the trim stuff is very cheap, so dont faff about fixing it, replace it, go for a new colour to make the van look a little different,

only thing is, once you have new trim it'll make the other trim bits look old and dated, so you'll need to replace them too, then you'll need to polish the van nice, replace the graphics and so on, where do you stop,

next thing you know, you'll be applying tyre dressing everytime you park up, and placing mirrors on the floor so passers by can see your immaculate chassis

 

[sedge]

It is a knack which anyone used to replacing old Mini windscreens will tell you about.

What you used to do with them (windscreens) was:

You drop the new plastic trim, coiled, into a bucket of WARM not hot water for a few minutes.

Assuming you are right-handed, you insert the tool whererever you wish into the channel and put literally a spot of washing up liquid into the channel to the right of the tool.

You can add more later as you need it but don't be clever and do the whole lot first, you will defo always have far too much and mixed with the residual water on the trim strip, Suds R Us!!

Insert the start of the strip through the hole in the tool, with the roller on top. The short end on the left of the tool, the supply on the right.

Pull the tool to the right - the tool opens the gap, at the same time the roller pushes the trim down. You have to ensure that the spreader part stays flat in the groove. Round a windscreen the corners are a right pig.

Some tools are different and need to be pushed not pulled. They used to do different specific tools for specific shaped strip.

It is an acquired skill LOL

Aluminium channel? - silicon spray, the sort caravan shops sell for caravan awning rails!

 

[pappajohn]

think your a better man than me if you can open the groove on aluminium trim with a tool like that. rubber yes but the trim in question usually slips in from one end.

yep!!! you're right alan.

i wuz thinking ally trim in rubber, not 't' other way round. oh:

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[vwalan]

we,l let you off .i do agree it is possible to warm the plastic trim and get it in using a similer tool or a bit of shaped stiff wire. .it isnt the best job to do. but can spruce up an old looking van. .a trip to a local sign maker for some new graphics and they look much better. bit of aluminium spray on the wheels think you have a new one.
spend a weekend and add 1000quid easily to the value.

 

[dowtchaboy]

Thanks for all the replies! I was hoping for a magic liquid that would Make Everything Right but I guess it doesn't exist.
OK - guess I will have to have a think about what colour would spruce it up. Maybe that's a job for some weekend when the weather is good but I won't be heading off anywhere...errr...that could be difficult!

Meantime I must dig into those various liquids I have gathered up over the years - dashboard cleaners, bumper revitalisers - all the stuff that seemed like a great idea at the time until I realised I had better things to do of a Saturday morning than clean my car or go to B&Q!

(thinks: hmmm..... business idea - go to all Rallies - flog bottles of Dr. Dolittles "Fix-U-Trim" potion with the caution that it requires sunlight to activate and results will not show up for a month.... could get a few month of sales before Trading Standards come looking for me.....heehee)