Write-Up: A-Pillar Re-Upholstery & Guage Pods

so the fabric on my A-pillar is loose. probably from 12 years of florida heat, always having the windows down and touching it over the years.

i plan on taking them out, pulling off the fabric, getting a can of spray adhesive for headliners and setting it up with some new fabric. (maybe suede if i can find it in matching color)
in an earlier topic someone said they just pulled up on it? i tried to just lift a little but it wouldnt budge. anyone have any pics of the back side of them? or know how it is held on?
any input is appreciated.
Thanks
Matthew

i'd like to eventually do the rear C pillars too if they can be removed easily.

i will check my books then get back to you

For the A-pillars, wedge your finger into the very top of it and pull it straight out towards the inside of the car. That will get the first retainer unseated. Then you slide the whole pillar upwards to unseat the bottem. It may not just come right up really easy. There is also the possibility of breaking the retainer even if you do it right but it shouldn't break on that one. I've removed mine twice and some others without breaking any.

For the rear pillars, you're almost gaurenteed to have to replace at least one retainer per side. They are a bit more tricky. The retainers you will inevitably need to replace are available at most auto parts stores so you got a break there. I can't remember well enough any tricks to removing the back ones but I do remember they are a bitch.

cheers

thanks guys, i will give it another go.

got them out without breaking any tabs. i will take some pics of them out and post them up for future reference. now if i could only find some light grey fabric that matches.

To Re-upholster your A-pillars:
you will need
1 can of spray adhesive (preferably the stuff made for headliners)
1/2 yard of desired fabric. i am using a micro-velvet, suede like, material b/c it was the closest color match. (cost me 3.60 btw )
a solvent to remove old glue.(maybe even a straight edge razor)
time? - about 1 hour per pillar, start to finish.

Here is the color/material against the factory light gray interior


As stated before. all you do is pull out and then up on the plastic pieces to remove them. they are held on by 2 plastic snap screws which are not the easiest thing to remove.
here they are and the slot the go into on the plastic pillars:




Oddly enough on the back of the pillar it says this:


if you cant read it- "Cadillac products inc, part #..." do the caddy's share the same pillars as us?? STS maybe?

OK, here is the pillar removed. as you can see mine has the cloth sagging off it and a burn mark from my uncle when he owned the car


Carefully pry out all the staples on the back side of the plastic and then peel off the old cloth. you will notice a nasty brown foam baked into the plastic. this needs to be removed so the adhesive will stick! i was able to get most of it off with just my fingernails and a knife, but if yours is stickier then you may want to try something like goo-gone.


next, cut the new cloth around the plastic so as to leave about 1/2 inch overlay on all sides. btw 1/2 yard is plenty to do both A-pillars twice, so if you screw up you have plenty more...maybe even enough to do the rear C-pillars too.

I started at the top and worked down, folding the sides over and gluing them as i went along. the fabric is pretty stretchy, and the adhesive i got doesnt set up too fast so i was ably to adjust it as needed to get rid of wrinkles.


The little vent just pops out. i actually broke off the little tab holding it in so i just spayed it with adhesive and it fits snug against the fabric.

here is the final product:


A few last word of wisdom; there are 2 tabs on the bottom of the pillar that just slide into the top of the dash. they are thin and fragile.
also, when reinstalling, it is easier to separate the pins into 'screw & tab' install the tabs on the car, then install the pillar with the screws in place.

the material feels so nice and it looks factory IMO. i was going to do fuzzy leopard print fabric, but im glad i stuck with the factory color
Matthew

one more pic of it installed:

Sweet! Nice pics and writeup.

Excellent! That's a much better alternative to my trying to find ones in near perfect shape from the junk yards. Where did you get the new cloth from and did you see something beige?

we have a store down here called Joann's fabric. they had just about everything possible. they had black, brown and tan suede, but it was $22 /ft :shock:

Im Gonna Black Out My interior when i get Use Of My garage Back And can remove everything from My car

IMO that does not look OEM/Original LOL

buuuttt....

Im in a similar boat, mine have grease and dirt soaked into parts of the pillars, and Ill prolly redo mine. ( I would like to do Leater/Vinyl)

for future reference - interior leather, vinyl and fabric is always available from GM *up to a point*

They almost always have it for cars 5 or less years old, and will continue to have it as long as they are using those same interior materials.

If anyone has a parts fiche set, the yardage is usually listed on the bottom of one or another in the model (G-body for us) set , under "out of fiche calls."  A parts counterperson who knows what he is doing can find it too - may have to ask at the dealer bodyshop.  That is, where does *the dealer bodyshop* get the yardage from.  Shame that GM quit cranking out fiches some years ago, like around 2004, it'd make things a whale of a lot easier.  

Anyway - Up to a certain point there is not that much variation in automotive interior materials like headliners, so don't be surprised to find matching stuff at JoAnn Fabrics or even larger Wal-Marts, but also don't be surprised to not find it (umm, due to the variation in materials and the fact that the buyer at the fabric store did not ask you what you wanted).

If you have time on your hands, it's not a bad idea to recover everything at once.  Once-and-done, so to speak.

The rear might be easier to mess with if you remove the rear seat first, which actually is not that hard.  The seat bottom is just clipped in place (if you feel the lower edge with your fingers you will find the attach points) and the seat back is held in with two (Count 'em! just 2) bolts.  Undo the bolts and lift up a little to get the wire at top of seat backs off the hooks.  Oh by the way once you have it out be careful about the exposed VERY SHARP edges, exposed wiring, and that big-behind battery.

By the way - I don't recommend you do this but I don't warn against it, either...  I made my Riv somewhat quieter by putting a piece of carpet padding under the back seat.  I used one of the kinds they put under commercial carpets that looks like about a 1/2" thick layer of matted cat fur and yarn scraps.  I made sure to keep it away from the wiring and the battery and not to block places where it's apparent the engineers were letting air flow under the seat to cool the electricals somewhat.  All that required was snipping some away.   SO it's at your own risk... but for me it's been in place for some years, I think 3 years now, and I'm pleased.  As always your mileage may vary and if you are unsure you can get that in there without causing a problem don't do it.

Albertj

[added 12/8/2016: Cadillac Products Inc. makes a lot of the clickety trim bits you find in automobiles. See http://www.cadprodauto.com/]

does anyone kno if the a pillar guage pods will fit on the riviera?

http://www.3800performance.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=LOTEK-MC&Category_Code=INEX&Product_Count=7

or this one

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=661&catid=168

alright nevermind.

emailed zzp and they said they probably won't fit.

I had one from my local GTP buddies and held it in place, no it wouldn't fit.

deekster_caddy wrote:

I had one from my local GTP buddies and held it in place, no it wouldn't fit.

alright. mayb ill buy one after xmas and mod it a little to get it too fit or maybe fiberglass me a new one

but anything would really look better then what i have now with the universal pod drilled on to it

With the Riv pillars being upholstered, it makes me wonder if you couldn't just take the stock one in your car and pull all that fabric off. Then put a couple universal gauges on it and maybe fiberglass them on so it looks clean. After that get new fabric to reupholster. Might sound like a stretch but I think it could be done.

DEMonte1997 wrote:

With the Riv pillars being upholstered, it makes me wonder if you couldn't just take the stock one in your car and pull all that fabric off. Then put a couple universal gauges on it and maybe fiberglass them on so it looks clean. After that get new fabric to reupholster. Might sound like a stretch but I think it could be done.

This is pretty much exactly what i am doing..

Can you still buy the a-pillar with fabric on it from gm? Does anyone have a part number for the fabric or a-pillar?

I don't know. I've searched walmart and no luck for the correct color match. Gonna try a fabric store next. Finally got the glue off the pillar with an sos pad. It may scratch it, but I don't care since it's gonna get covered anyway.

Pics of my newly started dual pillar pod installation.

Lookin good. From the angle you have those pods, it appears that you won't be able to see them. That A-pillar trim is on a pretty good angle. Judging by that, they'll be pointing at the roof?

I've already done premounting to get them in the best place for me. I couldn't find any other gauge pod to fit any better, but with the way they angle they should be ok.

Couple of pics of the gauge pods in the car.



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