There are 9 windshield trim pieces: 2 cowl reveal moldings, 2 vertical pieces on each A pillar; and 3 pieces on the top of the windshield frame running horizontally. The rear of each A pillar also has a stainless roof rail rubber channel, bu those are things that have to come off to get at the A pillar stainless moldings. Each A pillar also has 2 interior moldings. They should come off.

I've been a little scared of messing with my windsheild trims for fear of cracking the glass or ruining the trims. I was right.

The last person who put these trims on (not me) goobered the trim undersides with enough mastic to stop Mr. Incredible:

Heat gun & solvent help remove 3M sealant. Heat also melts it for reinstallation. Heat parts on the bench, not your windshield.

Tools help: with the "Y" hook, you can only grip the clips under the molding from one side and they seem to want to chip the windshield. With the molding pliers, you slide one tooth along the clip channel, hook the clip, close the pliers, and pull gently.

GM windshield (and rear window) molding clip tools. Bending tools (right) create gaps under the molding (on the glass) for the pliers or Y hook on the left. Then pull the clip toward the windshield center.

1 Reveal Moldings
Begin with the moldings at the bottom of the windshield. I got away with leaving those alone this time. That gives you access to vertical windshield reveal moldings using the pliers above. Once the vertical pieces are off, the thin horizontal one at the windshield top unclips the same way. Be careful about chipping your windshield. Don't rush or you'll chip/crack the glass. I chipped mine in a few places, while I was getting the hang of the molding clip pliers.

Typical GM reveal moldings. The best tool for removing them.

2) Remove sunvisors & interior trim.
Easy, pull 3 screws per side. Also a good time to remove the mirror & the windshield top interior moldings too. Screws are all visible.

3) A-Pillar moldings
Once the reveal moldings are off, on the front of the windshield you can see a bunch of screws in the channels holding the A pillar and top molding in place. The A pillar front screws are easy, but the top forward ones are flush with no room for tools due to the glass. I ground them off with a dremel instead of pulling the glass. There are 2 screws on top of the A-pillar moldings, but they're easy. The A pillar wraps the side of the windshield frame. There are screws on the back side too.

Once the reveal moldings are off, you'll see 3 screws securing the A-pillar molding to the windshield frame on the front.

I chose to grind off this screw on the front top of the A-pillar molding, but only after protecting the windshield with a piece of bent metal. It's probably smarter to remove the windshield.

Passenger side A-pillar. Grind this screw off or remove the windshield to get at them.

You can't get to the 2 rear A pillar screws until you remove 4 roof rail rubber channel screws. To do that, remove the sponge rubber seal between the door and the windshield. The top of the seal is secured to the A-pillar molding with another screw. If your seal is glued in, it will need to be replaced. Mine seals aren't glued, so I reused them. Once the rubber is out you'll see 4 black screws securing the roof rail to the A pillar through the A pillar molding. Remove them. If your roof rail is glued to the A pillar molding, use one of the plastic wedges to gently separate it. The last 2 screws secure the A-pillar molding rear to the windshield frame and are pretty small. This is a good time to remove the interior A-pillar moldings too. 2 screws per side.


Screw slot locations, symmetric on each side of the car. This is the passenger side as viewed from the rear.

Once the screws are _all_ out, the moldings may come off easily. Or you may begin a wrestling match with ancient mastic glue used to seal the moldings against the windshield frame like me. If they're stuck, the thing to do is work very slowly and use the plastic wedges to slowly separate the glue. Yanking on moldings will bend or kink them into scrap. In the removal process, a little warping is ok, but really try to avoid kinking or tearing the trim metal.

4) Top Molding
This is a top view of the curved piece that the convertible top closes onto.

Convertible windshield top molding. Passenger side on the left.

This was a tricky for me. From the front it looks like the molding is screwed in. It's not. There are 4 screws that look like they go through holes, but the holes are actually just slots to correctly locate the molding side to side.

Here's a shot of the slots that look like screw holes when installed:


On the bench: As you saw above, somebody went nuts with 3M Mastic goo. I used a heat gun on the moldings, scrapers, and 3M solvent to get mine cleaned up for future use. If you're reusing your original stuff, clean off old mastic/sealant & buff up all visible surfaces. I'm not real good at removing dings, so mine have a few, but that's "patina".

Reinstallation
The parts go back on in reverse order of how you took them off.

1) Windshield Top Center Molding
Top center molding goes back on first. It's the trickiest. It must be low & rearward enough to cover the top edges of the interior moldings. Mine bent a little on removal, so I tweaked it back to sit low & tight against the windshield frame.

I lightly redid the Goo with new strips of 3M mastic, but heated the strips with my heat gun to get a consistent thickness coating (and not go ape-sh*t). I aimed at a seal, not cavity filling, So I put a heated bead in the front lower corner & spread the heated goo with a toothbrush. That sealed it to the windshield pinch weld. When you put the molding back on, use the locating screws to get it back in the right place (side to side) and then affix it using the 4 interior screws that pull it rear and low into the interior.

2) Check top molding fit against the interior underside moldings
Check the fit of the top molding by test fitting the underneath (interior side) ones. If the top piece doesn't cover the edges of the lower trims, you'll need to tweak the interior screw hole lip to get the molding to sit lower on the interior.

3) A pillar moldings: screws front, top, inside & rear
Next are the A pillar moldings. Same deal with a thin line of fresh goo, heated to get a consistent coating and seal. They kind of pop on, but I lightly tensioned all the screws and tweaked (or bent) it just a bit with the screws on since it will be totally visible. Then tighten down front, rear, and top screws. Pay close attention to gaps & lines where moldings meet each other so you can tweak or bend them to get the right overlap. If you have to bend something, put one of the non-marring plastic tools over it and strike the plastic. This can help shape the trims just a little without scratching and denting them.

4) Door to body seal channel
Reinstall roof rail channel with the 4 black screws. Locating this channel is important for a good wind & water seal. I use a 3/16"'s thick plastic stick to get a consistent line between the inner rail edge & the windsheild frame. You could use a paint stirrer. The foam rubber seals seem to fill that size gap driest & quietest. Next slip your convertible roof rail A pillar rubber seal back in and secure it with a phillips at the top of the pillar. Repeat the A pillar steps for the other side.

5) Frame Top Underside moldings
Reinstall the underside right & left moldings beneath the top of the windshield frame. Then the rear view mirror. The long piece top edges should slot right up into the top center molding. It has a kind of skirt to hide the interior molding upper edges.

6) Sunvisors & Inner A pillar moldings.
Reinstall your Sunvisors and the Interior A-pillar moldings.

How'd it turn out?
Here's the driver's side.

After few hours with the buffer.

Here's the passenger side:

Hours just to get a few shiny moldings in place.

If you're pulling or replacing a windshield, that is the best time to pull and buff up all your stainless steel trim.

Hope this is helpful to some of you.

Cheers
Chris