03/04 Pillars different !

[Shooter]

Installed a single pod on a friends 04 SLT last week.

My 03 has a flat 1/2" rubber seal at the windshield.

His 04 did not have the seal and the pillar was about 1/2" deeper and the plastic went to within 1/8" from the glass. The wiring did not show as the slight gap was covered by the black mask on the glass.

 

[BigCarl64]

My 03 also has the rubber seal at the windshield. I just pulled the rubber seal off very carefully and reattached it to the SRT-10 a-pillar I installed for my fuel pressure gauge. Looks like a factory install.

 

[Casey Balvert]

Carl, were you able to remove the clips from the original pillar cover for use on the new one or did you buy new clips as well? Thanks for the tip on the rubber seal.

Casey

 

[BigCarl64]

The seal was not clipped on. The 03 pillar has a lip to keep the rubber seal on and the seal is attached to a plastic mounting strip that slides over the lip. The plastic strip is melted to the a-pillar at both ends similar to a tack weld. I used a soldering iron to un-melt the ends and then re-melt it to the new SRT-10 a-pillar. It worked great. The SRT-10 a-pillar does not have the mounting lip down the windshield side, but the rubber seal is fairly snug and it is not going to come off.



Yes, I did use the clips from the 03 pillar. You can just work them off carefully with a small screwdriver. The 03 pillar has 2 clips, but the SRT-10 pillar only has 1. The gauge hole is in the spot where the bottom clip would be.

 

[JRG]

BigC,



Would it be possible to remove the strip with out the iron?

Being up against the glass would hold it in place wouldn't it?

Other than that it was simple wasn't it?



Thanks for the info,



JRG

 

[BigCarl64]

JRG,



Yes, you can gently pry the melted tabs loose that re on the inside of the pillar at each end. Just be careful and use a knife or sharp blade. I would imagine a little epoxy would work very well to hold the rubber strip on the new pillar. The rubber strip does rest against the glass once you reinstall the a-pillar.