Evora cracked 'A' pillar trim

[Phil S1]

I recently discovered a small hairline crack in my driver’s side black plastic ‘A’ pillar trim which over the following week or two then grew to nearly half way across the trim.

Apparently this is quite a common failing, not only the ‘A’ pillars but also on the larger (and considerably more expensive) rear ‘sail’ panel that bridges the gap between the roof and engine cover.

I initially presumed the crack had been caused by me placing too much weight on the trim when getting out of the car in tight spaces like my garage but this may not be the full story. On closer inspection, I could see that the crack looks to have propagated from an overtightened self-tapping screw so it may be a combination of the two that’s caused it.

Anyway, the crack had to go! Paul Shipley of PJS Sports Cars kindly sourced me a replacement part along with the double sided tape used in part to secure it. The trim panel itself is gloss black direct from the factory and has a protective film applied to avoid any damage.

The first task was to gently remove the seal from around the door opening, followed by the seal that was stuck to the underside of the ‘A’ pillar trim by double sided tape in order to reveal the fixings. There were a total of 3 domed head nuts/washers, 1 self-tapping screw plus the double sided tape which all go towards holding the trim in place.

You need to fully open the door to gain access to the lowermost domed head nut which requires a 7mm ring spanner or similar to remove.

The other two domed nuts were much more accessible

The self-tapping screw is the uppermost fixing and was easily removed. (This photo also shows the 2 seals removed previously)

All that remained then was to carefully cut through the double-sided tape that secures the edge of the ‘A’ pillar trim along the windscreen glass.

Once fully cut through the trim could be carefully pulled away and then downwards to disengage the upper end of the trim from under the roof.

With the trim removed it was then possible to see the full extent of the crack. I guess this could well be repaired and resprayed if desired but the total price for the replacement trim and double-sided tape was relatively cheap at less than £60.

I cleaned all the old tape residue away from the windscreen and then degreased the glass with methylated spirit.

I then trimmed the excess protective film away from the new ‘A’ pillar trim, degreased that too and then applied the new double-sided tape leaving 100mm overhang at the lower end as per the Lotus instructions. Note that the protective backing is not removed from the tape at this stage.

I then fitted the new ‘A’ pillar trim, carefully feeding the upper tang under the seal around the roof and ensured the lower fixings were all aligned before loosely refitting the domed head nuts and washers. Once happy with the position I tightened the 2 lowermost domed nuts as per the Lotus instructions and then removed the backing from the 100mm overhang, left on the double-sided tape previously. It was then a case of carefully removing the rest of the backing such that the trim then bonded itself to the windscreen.

And that was it, job done, well almost! All that then remained was to refit the 2 seals but the one that was secured by double-sided tape required a new piece of tape, basically a bit more of the same tape as used on the screen was needed. Fortunately a trip to the local motor factors proved successful and I returned home with 5m of 12mm wide trim tape (which cost less than the 1m length from Lotus).

With both seals now refitted I removed the protective film from the new trim and that was definitely it –Job done!

Thanks again to Paul at PJS Sports Cars for sourcing the part and providing guidance in fitting it.

[Louise Shipley]

I recently discovered a small hairline crack in my driver’s side black plastic ‘A’ pillar trim which over the following week or two then grew to nearly half way across the trim.

Apparently this is quite a common failing, not only the ‘A’ pillars but also on the larger (and considerably more expensive) rear ‘sail’ panel that bridges the gap between the roof and engine cover.
I initially presumed the crack had been caused by me placing too much weight on the trim when getting out of the car in tight spaces like my garage but this may not be the full story. On closer inspection, I could see that the crack looks to have propagated from an overtightened self-tapping screw so it may be a combination of the two that’s caused it.

Anyway, the crack had to go! Paul Shipley of PJS Sports Cars kindly sourced me a replacement part along with the double sided tape used in part to secure it. The trim panel itself is gloss black direct from the factory and has a protective film applied to avoid any damage.

The first task was to gently remove the seal from around the door opening, followed by the seal that was stuck to the underside of the ‘A’ pillar trim by double sided tape in order to reveal the fixings. There were a total of 3 domed head nuts/washers, 1 self-tapping screw plus the double sided tape which all go towards holding the trim in place.
You need to fully open the door to gain access to the lowermost domed head nut which requires a 7mm ring spanner or similar to remove.

The other two domed nuts were much more accessible

The self-tapping screw is the uppermost fixing and was easily removed. (This photo also shows the 2 seals removed previously)

All that remained then was to carefully cut through the double-sided tape that secures the edge of the ‘A’ pillar trim along the windscreen glass.

Once fully cut through the trim could be carefully pulled away and then downwards to disengage the upper end of the trim from under the roof.


With the trim removed it was then possible to see the full extent of the crack. I guess this could well be repaired and resprayed if desired but the total price for the replacement trim and double-sided tape was relatively cheap at less than £60.


I cleaned all the old tape residue away from the windscreen and then degreased the glass with methylated spirit.

I then trimmed the excess protective film away from the new ‘A’ pillar trim, degreased that too and then applied the new double-sided tape leaving 100mm overhang at the lower end as per the Lotus instructions. Note that the protective backing is not removed from the tape at this stage.


I then fitted the new ‘A’ pillar trim, carefully feeding the upper tang under the seal around the roof and ensured the lower fixings were all aligned before loosely refitting the domed head nuts and washers. Once happy with the position I tightened the 2 lowermost domed nuts as per the Lotus instructions and then removed the backing from the 100mm overhang, left on the double-sided tape previously. It was then a case of carefully removing the rest of the backing such that the trim then bonded itself to the windscreen.

And that was it, job done, well almost! All that then remained was to refit the 2 seals but the one that was secured by double-sided tape required a new piece of tape, basically a bit more of the same tape as used on the screen was needed. Fortunately a trip to the local motor factors proved successful and I returned home with 5m of 12mm wide trim tape (which cost less than the 1m length from Lotus).
With both seals now refitted I removed the protective film from the new trim and that was definitely it –Job done!


Thanks again to Paul at PJS Sports Cars for sourcing the part and providing guidance in fitting it.

Great to be of assistance phil from all at pjs sportscars

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