This guide is about the plastic cover on the top of the sill, the part you sit on and slide over when getting in. If the fibreglass sill under it is damaged, see sill damage: repair or replace.
Removing the cover
- Remove the fixings. As recalled in 2006 there are about three: one on the inside at the front, one on the inside at the rear, and a screw at the rear. Another owner in 2008 found two plastic screws and one metal screw.
- The centre of the cover is stuck down with two very wide strips of double-sided tape. There are reinforcements in the top of the cover that you can pull on, but easing the tape off bit by bit all the way round is better.
- Warm it first. A hair dryer or heat gun along the top of the sill softens the tape.
- Start at the rear and work forwards if you can. The front end is a strain to get past the dash.
- Once the tape is exposed, cover it with a piece of thin plastic sheet. Lint and dirt on the tape stop it sticking again, and you may need more tape on top to get the cover to stay down.
An owner who bought a car with covers that had been stuck on with sealant said it was a pain to remove, and now fits his own with recessed Velcro so he can take them off to clean them (2017).
Refitting
- Double-sided tape. The original tape was described as having a green backing. It is a motor-factors product, but we have no part number.
- Velcro. Asked in 2006 and not answered. The one owner who does use it (2017) recessed heavy-duty Velcro into the underside of the covers.
- Sealant. One owner stuck his stainless protectors on with silicone sealant, and said clean double-sided tape would probably do. Sealant on the cover itself is a pain to undo, as another owner found.
Cracked covers
- The usual crack is at the top, where you slide in and out. One owner repaired a corner crack with superglue, then reinforced the corner underneath with carbon fibre mat and epoxy, after warming the cover with a heat gun to get it off (2006). A second owner said superglue is fine but pipe-weld is better for soft plastic.
- If the cover is badly broken, a second-hand one is the practical answer, from a breaker or another owner.
- Cracks in the fibreglass sill itself (along the line where the door meets the sill) are a different job. See sill damage.
Turbo and NA covers differ
One owner found the spare cover he had was a Turbo one: it stops before the curve up where the front speaker pocket is, while his car was an NA. Another owner described the Turbo cover as having a deeper pocket. This is from a single 2006 thread. Check the shape of the cover you are buying against yours.
Fitting door pockets: you don't need to remove the cover
An owner fitting leather door pockets did not remove the sill cover. He took out the two screws in each standard pocket and the seats, slid the old pockets out from under the sill cover towards the gear stick, and slid the new ones in with double-sided tape. He did it in under an hour, and the hardest part was removing the passenger seat (2006). Another said no tape is needed because the screws hold them. The person who started that thread had already wrecked his cover before finding this out.
Protecting the sill
- Carbon or stainless plates. One owner made plates from about 2 mm carbon and stuck them on with double-sided tape. He said they spread the load and strengthen the cover. Another has laser-cut 2 mm brushed stainless plates, clear lacquered, that cover almost all the cover. They are heavy but protect well, and he stuck his on with silicone.
- Small decorative metal plates are tiny and give no protection, according to one owner.
- Leather covers (2017): a made-to-fit leather covering fitted by one owner is soft, works as an arm rest and adds comfort. The leather wears where you slide across it, there is no tidy way to finish the ends, and the seam leaves a raised line. He would glue only the seam first, get it straight and then glue the rest, and would use the best contact adhesive he could buy, because spray adhesive let the triangular depressions lift after a year. A second owner thought the seams did not sit right and planned to try a layer of foam scrim underneath.