Stripping my mk4 golf interior for welding..advice please

[DegsyE39]

Hi hope everyone is good, im getting ready to weld the holed front sill on my mk4 golf.. im stripping out what i can less flammable crap in there the better right? So seat is out bonnet release handle etc. Does anyone know how to get the pictured trim pieces off? (Arrowed) I've got trim removal tools etc. I can't find any more screws how do i get these buggers off? Cheers chaps

[GreenV8S]

I don't know that car, but on some similar looking ones the trim piece is held down by some horizontal pegs that engage in slots sticking up from the shell. To release those you need to pry up on the side furthest away from the retaining pegs (usually the outside in my experience but ymmv) and this will enable the pegs to slip out of their slots. Sometimes one end of the sill plate is also trapped under the front or rear trim and the sill needs to be slid forwards or backwards slightly to free it once the pegs are released.

[VanDiesel99]

the ideal for jobs like this is to find a car in a scrapper and do a 'Dummy Run' on that first and if you break 'em getting off the scrapper and finding out how they work so be it

but failing that my experience has been on my old Pug (405) and more recently on the Focus that you often have to...

'start at the top and work down'

ie, the headlining trims, then work down the pillars

which is obviously a bit of a PITA

Hopefully not in your case, but might be so...

Pay particular attention to where one trim obviously goes OVER the one its attached to (not under) and remove that first.

[TwinKam]

These things are usually banged on by robots rather than screwed on by a chap in overalls with a screwdriver, it's cheaper. Not designed for easy or break-free removal, just low factory gate cost. Often the retention is by plastic or metal barbs, if plastic they may snap, if metal they may tear the plastic they are attached to, all the more risk if it's a cold day... so go easy, you'll get the 'feel' of what you're doing after a while, but sometimes a surprising amount of force is required and yes sometimes something will break. Sounds obvious but those sill covers will either pull upwards if they're retained by the vertical seam of the inner and outer sill joint (most common), or horizontally into the car if they are retained into holes on the inner sill, once you've done one you'll get the protocol for the rest of the car.