After researching how do remove these moldings I finally did it today. It was so easy and the car looks much better. I never liked these things but my car came with them.

Anyone know where to buy the sticky stuff if I ever want to put them back on?

 

Makes a major difference in how the cars looks :thumbs:

 

What method did you use?

 

4 pound fishing line, hair dryer and leather gloves.

 

Any auto body supply store in your area should sell the strips of trim adhesive. If I remember correctly, it comes on a roll.

 

Do you know what it's called?

 

Nope, I sure don't. But if you go to an auto body supply store (as opposed to a regular auto parts store) and tell the counter person what you're looking for, you'll get what you need. What you don't want is a can of liquid trim and weather-stripping adhesive. What you do want is the "foam" tape that has peel-and-stick adhesive on both sides.

 

I want to do the same thing but concerned about body/paint damage. I take it from your response that you heated up a section of the molding and then pulled the fish line through to remove the molding from the car. What did you use to clean off the adhesive left on the car? Any other suggestions before I begin??
Thanks!!

 

You really don't need the hair dryer to heat the adhesive. Using just the fishing line works great. Once the line is inbetweent the molding and the car pull it through in a back and forth motion slowly. I got more movement on the downward pulls. You might want to wear some leather gloves for your hands. Any adhesive left on the car can easily be removed with your fingers by rolling it off. You can't even tell the moldings were ever on my car now. No marks what so ever!

 

I did this this weekend, however, since my build date was last year (I just bought the car new 2 mo ago), the sun has had its way with the paint, and I can just make out a darker section where the molding was. I will give it this summer to see how it pans out.

Here are some hints for those of you on the fence of doing this mod:

1) Have somebody help you. Saw thru the adhesive about 3-5 inches, then have somebody slightly pull the molding away from the car. It will make the sawing thru the 3M tape 5x easier/faster.

2) When you are down to having to remove the remnants of the 3M gray tape, here is a trick to remove it quickly. Pull up an edge of the tape, then pull the tape at a 45 deg angle from the surface, AWAY from the direction you are removing it. The idea is that you stretch the tape, and it will peel right off the car if you do this slowly.

3) Meguiars paint cleaner and/or wax will take off any residue very easily. Then use your favorite wax or Zaino to finish off the finish.

To put it back on, pull off all tape from the molding, clean the painted surfaces with a paint cleaner, then get your hands on the 3M molding tape at your auto store. It will be a roll of the same kind of foam double-sided tape with a red peel-away backing. You might have to lay 2 strips side by side on the thicker sections to cover the same area as the original tape.



[Modified by TeamSpeed, 12:54 AM 7/2/2003]

 

Just had my moldings removed yesterday. I wasn't sure how to do it, so I had a local body shop do it for me. It just took a few minutes and they did it for free!! :D Jeez, this car is sweeeet!!

 

For those wanting to reapply........ I have purchased the 3M Weatherstrip adhesive roll at WallyWorld. Used this to attach a chrome drain gutter in my shower that had come off. This stuff is really strong.

 

MiamiDave and myself removed our BSMs this weekend and we are both very pleased with the outcome. To anyone who might be on the fence about wether or not to remove them I would say to go for it. They really aren't hard to remove and you will love the way your car looks without them :thumbs:

 

I told the dealer to take them off and put them in the trunk before I picked it up. I have noticed one tiny white spot of missing paint (half a millimeter round) right where the tip of the little front one would have been in the air vent, I'll hit it with a toothpick and touchup. Not sure if it was from the removal but I figure so. This same dealer happened to leave a crust of wax over some scuffs in the clear coat on another part (coincidence? the only spot on the car that had wax residue on it). I'm going in next week to have it buffed out, hopefully they don't mess it up. Dealers :rolleyes:

 

See what happens when you let dealerships mess with your car. You should have taken them off yourself.

 

Took mine off this past weekend, what an improvement!!
Thanks for the details on your message, made to job real easy. [IMG][/IMG] :cheers: