MOT'd it again for a few summer events i want to go to. Then finally refitted the A pillar cladding after a poor refit after a windscreen (missing 4 clips per side and not seated correctly) - clips again ordered from Singapore after my previous order got thrown out in the Xmas recyling surge : the joy of parts being shipped in brown paper packaging.
Then inspected where some water leaks were, the sealant around the big clip is fine and prevented the wet seat belt issue these cars have for the last 7 years or so, the clip sits in a natural well in the body where the ally A pillar extrusion is welded to the body - however the caulking is shrinking and drying out. So ive scrapped it out, removed loose bits and made more of a V groove for silicone sealer to get in properly. Image below was before so remains of the old stuff was still there, ive been far more liberal this time.
New clips as the old ones basically break sacrifically to protect the cladding.
Smart these Honda engineers, the clips all float to a degree apart from thet mid point one with teh tab to lock into the cladding and hence act as a datum between the part and bodyside, after all the curved door profile and primary seal sit against this part so getting it right is key.
Combo of the tabs into the metal clips and the traditional clips (plus a bolt fron at the front that also secures the cladding to the wing to the body) means you really have had to screw something up for these to come off.
All on now and wind noise is much better.
Worth updating anyway as the ownership somehow continues.