How To: Shaving Side Moldings.

[BinoMP5]

you just have to get the right strips and stuff... but idk about how it will hold on high speeds... my moldings are still pretty good... except the driver side rear door... it snapped... there's like a pre made snap u guys have to be careful for...... but its nothing u cant glue back on...

 

[Equinox]

RICE lol

Hey guys, here is an easy way to make your car look a lot cleaner.

On the sides of your P4s and P5s (I think MP3s don't have moldings) there is side molding along the doors and a little on your fenders. Unlike most cars, our side moldings are not mounted with screw holes... they just glued them on. Because all of us have relativley new cars, there is an easy way to shave these moldings.

1. You need a sponge, and somethign that will be a little harder to get.. '3m General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner'. ONLY this stuff will work, everything else like 'goo off' or other adhesive removers cannot be used on car paint and if they can, they are too weak to do anything. The 3m adhesive remover I bought at a local ACE hardware, but any hardware store can get it for you. I had to have them order it because ace only sells 'ace' brand adhesive thinners. the 3m I.D. no. is 62-4787-6509-2, or try the UPC code: 51135 08984. This is what it looks like: 3m General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner

2. Pour a little bit of 3m adhesive remove on the top of the side molding along your car that you wish to remove. Give it about half a minute to a whole minute to soak in the adhesive, the waiting makes a whole lot difference. Then slowly pry the molding off with your fingers(your paint wont peel because the adhesive will stay on your car, also your paint is too new.)or what I used was a 'shoe horn'. Anything that is softer than the metal of your car and not sharp (plastic wedge).

3. Now that you have no moldings on your car you will probably have two lines of adhesive for each strips. To get the adhesive off it is somewhat time consuming but comparitivley easy. Just pour some 3m on your sponge, soaking it to the point of dripping. And run the sponge over the adhesive strips, soaking the lines, you may need to soak the adhesive a few times to start off.

4. The most repetative step... peel off the the adhesive in a recently soaked area with your thumbnail - anything else will leave marks in your clearcoat. Now the first time is not going to get it all off, so when the adhesive stops coming off with your thumbnail, soak it again with your sponge, and scrape it some more with your nail. The process is slow, it took me about 15 minutes for just one door, but the end is great.

5. If you happen to be one of the rare people that is able to see some difference in the color of the paint under your car's sidemoldings now that they are shaved (you bright color cars) just wax the area and it will BE seamless.

A picture of finished car...

and yes believe it or not, I wasted tons of money on the wingswest bumper to get rid of the ugly orange sidemarker on it (that and to have bigger foglights than my friend's subaru! )

 

[ivyfoxy5]

So I did mine the other night and it looks great! I'm very happy with how well it came out. But it took so damn long for me that I think the next time I do something like that I will pay one of the kids to do it.

But one thing I have noticed is when your start rubbing or picking you will figure out a rhythm and after a while it gets easier. Mine was with my thumb I pretty much peeled from the left to the right, right after I applied the 3M.
I also took a old credit card and on the parts where it was still on really thick, I pushed down from the top and up from the bottom to loosen up the edges then put the 3M on it.

 

[bazooka joe]

no side moldings FTW!

 

[D-rock240]

+1, so much cleaner looking without them

 

[KZL_99ES]

so i just finished one side:

(yeah... i got a boo-boo there, the tape's there so it won't rust, and so far it's working...i have some touch-up paint i'm getting here so that'll be fixed soon!)

this is my other side...

still need to do that side... what i found out what works really well is a 3M rubber sanding block (no sand paper obviously...) and just use is like you would your thumb and it saves you on blisters!

I just use the corner of it and she works out pretty well IMO...
it does take a little bit longer, but i don't mind sitting there with some good music and beer peeling away, good times!!!

 

[ivyfoxy5]

what i found out what works really well is a 3M rubber sanding block (no sand paper obviously...) and just use is like you would your thumb and it saves you on blisters!

Great Idea! I wish I would have known that when I did mine.

 

[dxaveP5]

sum of my paint is peeling around the moldings when i tried to remove the moldings T_T
not good i need touch up paint but cant find it anywhere (Laser Blue Mica)
i did did get the front fender's molding and wow it looks nice.

 

[99ProtegeKV]

AS bondo said, yes the rear emblems have adhesive, but they also ALL have 2 guide holes each. I removed all of them, painted them body color of the car, and put them back on. Hey atleast it's BETTER. ALso, even if you have a silver car, the difference of silver and chrome is huge.

anyone kno a tutorial of how to paint the emblems, or some suggestions of what to use for this (kind of paint, etc.)? and do they look ok with white? i was thinking about doing this

 

[dxaveP5]

white? iono never seen whiteout emblems,
but get urself the Krylon White Primer, then do a couple coats like 2 or 3 is fine, and wait 5 mins between each coat, then go do couple coats of the color u want it to be. and then couple coats of clear coat if u want it glossy. all these sprays are Kyrlon brand.
walmart or autozone ne where with spraypaint

 

[azmp5]

I really want to do this but im afraid it will be faded . car is an '03 I live in Az and it came from Indiana earlier this year. The guy moved here and traded it in.

 

[dxaveP5]

mine is in texas and its at 100K bought brand new and im the second owner, and i shaved it, no fades, but what i do need is quick detailer cause sum paint attached itself to the molding. so i have little paint chip spots.
but u cant see, unless ur lookin at it up really close.

 

[Not Jo3L]

I cant find 3M adhesive remover anywhere..I can only find the opposite (3M adhesive spray)

found out why...its restricted in CA

http://www.shop3m.com/62466749306.html

 

[RGN .5 AASN]

ok removed the side moulding and for the most part it turned out great...my problem is the glue outline(edging) that is a b**** to take off...any suggestions? Washed it, waxed it with no positive results.

 

[Matt V]

Here's mine:

 

[KZL_99ES]

Looks good!

...one thong that I did notice about my car after I did this is that the doors are much louder when you close them, even the lightest touch sounds like a door slam... but you can yell and make your friends feel guilty about it, lol

 

[Matt V]

I noticed some people had this issue, but my doors weren't any louder after I did mine.

 

[RGN .5 AASN]

that ride looks good man

 

[Equinox]

man this is one old thread of mine XD

 

[blueamcat]

Shaving mine soon! Super excited about it.