[takedown]

Is anyone using magnets or different clips for holding the trim on a passenger conversion? The amount of force and prying needed to remove trim has lead to a lot of wasted time, broken trees, scratched paint, broken clip holders and I'm considering other options as I'd like to button up the inside for some test trips, but still be able to get back in those areas easily.

The first thing I'd like to do is replace the few clips that basically have the one-way prongs in them. These are found on a few clips on the a and b pillar. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I can't figure out the right way to release those clips. They are silver in color and have two prongs at the tip that lock into the medal. I'm considering replacing them with the standard brass clips that are used in many other places, but not sure yet if they are the right height.

The other issue are the various trees that are all through the trim. Some are easily removed, others take so much force that the metal can warp and the paint is scratched by the long metal tools . For these I was thinking about using the plastic trees on the end, but for the inner spots that are hard to reach use magnets or velcro.

All ideas welcome on how to make this easier.

Thanks!

 

[dustymiller]

I haven't pulled wall trim down yet but this person on Youtube inserted rivet nuts into the round holes that hold the headliner tree fasteners so he could work faster in the future and he went back in with eyebolts for even more utility. Maybe a modification of this would work for wall trim.


Insert: "

"

 

[Tijoe]

Overall I like this approach. The push in fasteners are a PITA .

One issue that is not discussed in the video is that the push in fasteners, also work as a height adjuster for for the headliner. There is about a 1" gap +- between the headliner and the cross member. Using a bolt with a washer will work ok, but the bolts wont be "tightened" down onto the inserts, letting them perhaps vibrate loose. Therefore if he plans on putting in eyelets or some sort of a channel one will have to make some sort of spacer, or perhaps use a threaded standoff so that they can be tightened down.
I have all my headliners down. I will take a look on the merrits of doing this when it is time to put them back up.
Edit. I do not believe the the holes in the cross member are parallel to the floor of the van. The tree fasteners don't care about this slight angle, but may cause a misalignment between the headliner holes and the threaded insert. (Something to investigate, perhaps they are all paralled to the floor....)

The video does not discuss the hidden orange push-in fasteners. I wonder if he is leaving them in place, or did something with them using a threaded insert?

 

[takedown]

Thanks for sharing @dustymiller . I'm going to take a closer look at the different options this weekend and figure out which way to go. I have the insulation nearly complete and really need to get all of these trim pieces out of the living room 😄

I'm thinking about maybe magnets with a 3d printed holder. The normal brass clips are not an issue, they come out easily if you know where they are. It's the white trees and the silver connectors with the reverse prong that cause the metal to twist, plastic to break and paint to be scratched. Maybe one tree near the end where is easily reachable and the magnets the rest of the way would do it.

I like the change to the roof panels in the video and can see the value in some sort of track. Since we are not doing shelves a track to attach some cloth bags to hold lighter things may be an option.

 

[dustymiller]

Overall I like this approach. The push in fasteners are a PITA .

One issue that is not discussed in the video is that the push in fasteners, also work as a height adjuster for for the headliner. There is about a 1" gap +- between the headliner and the cross member. Using a bolt with a washer will work ok, but the bolts wont be "tightened" down onto the inserts, letting them perhaps vibrate loose. Therefore if he plans on putting in eyelets or some sort of a channel one will have to make some sort of spacer, or perhaps use a threaded standoff so that they can be tightened down.
I have all my headliners down. I will take a look on the merrits of doing this when it is time to put them back up.
Edit. I do not believe the the holes in the cross member are parallel to the floor of the van. The tree fasteners don't care about this slight angle, but may cause a misalignment between the headliner holes and the threaded insert. (Something to investigate, perhaps they are all paralled to the floor....)

The video does not discuss the hidden orange push-in fasteners. I wonder if he is leaving them in place, or did something with them using a threaded insert?

The youtuber said in the comments that he used rubber spacers to bridge the gap between the headliner and the rivnut and gave this link. 4-Pack - Premium Quality Multi-Purpose Rubber Spacer 1" OD x 3/8" ID x 1" Thick (AVS-X19-13): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

 

[dustymiller]

On my 2020 low roof the tree fasteners are doubled up which gives less wriggle room to try and pull them down. Will order extra and probably just cut them off. They are $1.85 a piece.