Guys, as many of you know that how commonly the defroster panels on S-Type break (and I'm in Texas). I didn't want to spend ~$280 nor did I want to buy a used one as they break when they are aged. Talked to 3 body shops and they recommended to replace it after seeing it broken into 2 pieces

My Defroster panel was broken at two places:

1) Broken into two pieces 25% vs 75%.
2) Broken half way in almost the middle of the panel.

I thought this is so common so it would be worth to share this info with y'all so it can benefit someone.

Tools: A putty knife, flathead screw driver.
Parts: 3m Fiberglass cloth, 3m fiberglass resin.

Before Picture:



1) Remove the weather strip from the car with the help of putty knife (you don't need to remove it all the way, only where the A-Pillar is and may be 8-12 inch surrounding of A-Pillar.) Pull it away from the body to remove it.



2) Once weather strip is off of the A Pillar Trim, you'll see 2 tabs and a tether on the pillar trim attaching it to the body.

Undo the tabs by pushing the tabs with the screw driver. Then I cut the tether (will replace them) to remove the pillar trim as you need to get it out of way to remove the defroster panel.



3) Panel has several tabs which hold, start from one side while undoing each tab with putty knife or screw driver.



4) Release the cable from the retainers and electric connector to release the defroster panel.



5) For repair follow the instructions on 3m Fiberglass Resin box. (I also did some sanding for strength).

I put 3-4 layers of fiberglass cloth and resin on top of each other to give extra strength.













OK, the bond looks PRETTY strong with the fiberglass mesh patches but I don't wanna make any claims until it survives coming Texas summer.

Cosmetically its not perfect but I'm sure it could be made much better by taking it to a professional body/trim guy and have him touch up on top of the repaired area but I'm pretty happy for the output which costed almost $16 and some free time on the weekend.

This was my first write up so please pardon for any mistakes .

Thanks,
Rizwan

 

Nice job Rizwan.

Thank you for taking the time to post. I'll FAQ it.

 

Thanks Rick... My pleasure, hope it'll help someone

 

Thanks for the info.Mine is in about 4 pieces and really kills the look of the interior. can't wait to fix it!!
Gary

 

I'm glad you found it helpful...

Here are a few tips for you:

1. Lightly sand the edges and surroundings (under) which needs to be bonded together.
2. Resin dries fast! Do one bond at a time. Only mix enough resin with Hardner to do one bond at a time (cuz it dries and becomes useless).
3. Better use a disposable container (a disposable cup is good) to mix resin with the hardner. Use new disposable (cheap) paint brush for each bond (as resin dries fast and ruins the brush by making it stiff)
4. Use super glue to hold the pieces together so when you are doing patching it does not move.
5. For better finish on out side, do not apply super glue or sand on the upper side.

I hope this helps.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Rizwan

 

One other tip. It's not necessary to remove the A-pillar covers completely nor cut the tether straps. Just remove the A-pillar covers and let them hang. That's how the factory designed them to work.

The tether is so they don't get blown into your face when the air bag goes off during a wreck.
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Yo, fantastic write up. (You mentioned a tether but I wasn't too clear on what the tether was.) I like the fact you did the work yourself.

 

Thanks for the tip tBird something to keep in mind next time. I still couldn't find the part with the tether.. do you have the part number?

Appreciate it.

Thanks,
Rizwan

 

Thanks Man,

Its a retainer with a kind of string which holds the pillar to the body (as tbird mentioned in the case of deployment to keep the pillars attached so it does not hit any passenger).

 

Oh I see. So you just tied or glued a new piece of string or something to act as a new tether?

 

Yes. The Lincoln LS uses the exact same parts.

The A-Pillar covers have two clips per side. They are the same except for the addition of the tether on the top clip. The tether is just a fancy word for retaining strap!

Ford part numbers;
3W4Z-5403552-AA Clip W/Tether List $12.34 each
F6DZ-5403552-AA Retainer (Different name but same as above without the strap) List $4.32 each

You can replace the one with the retaining strap with the one that does not have one if desired.

One other tip. The defroster panel is a known rattle area. Note your foam is pretty smashed. I removed all the factory foam and replaced with sticky backed 1/2" wide foam strips. I even added a bit to the width just to cover all bases. If you get the foam too thick you wont be able to get the clips to snap in tight.

Also check your clips. I always spread them just a bit so they grab good. Seems like removing them weakens the grip.

One more tip. The center round ball is the PATS sensor and has been reported to cause rattles too. Mine did not but more sticky foam will stop that.
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Thanks for the info man! Just a question.. If two different types of retainers are swap-able with one another, how does the later (without strap) hold the pillar trim (I'm confused)...

I have to get these to put them as I fitted my A-Pillars without these retainer for not having the part numbers.

JTIS said to cut those to remove the A-Pillar, I wish I could have seen tbird's suggestion to move them on side to remove the defroster panel.. but anyways...

Thanks a lot for the help.

Rizwan

 

Sorry it was not clear!

The clips hold the A-pillar cover to the A-pillar of the car. All the tether does is keep the A-pillar cover from being completely separated/removed from the car.

So the retaining strap has absolutely nothing to do with installation clip. The clips do all the work holding the covers on. The strap does nothing until the clips are removed then all it does is let the cover hang from the strap. The strap has a plastic rivet that attaches the strap to the metal of the car body.

Hope this helps?
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Absolutely! Thanks a lot...My Retainer is good...

All I need is the part with the strap which happens to be

3W4Z-5403552-AA Clip W/Tether List $12.34 each (according to your previous post)?

Thanks again for the great information!

 

nice work up thanks, I broke mine half way across last weekend, also in Tx. there is a great salvage yard in Houston that deals only in Jag, MB etc. had 8 or 9 s types there in case you ever need some bits and pieces. cant remember the name off the top of my head but have their card up at work if you need.

 

See my comments in red below.

 

Nice write-up and the Demister should be replaced if you can afford it. I replaced mine since it was making a cracking noise for the last two summers and finally cracked. The foam was falling apart and I do believe it was the source of the noise.
XR837884AEK Grill-Demister $349.00-15%=$296.00 from my local dealership.