How-To: Remove Door Moldings
How-To: Remove Door Moldings
So you don't like that ugly strip along the side of your car? Well then, you can take them off, for free! Here is a before and after to show the difference.
Before:
After:
Materials needed:
-A hair dryer or similar heat source
-Fishing line (You can also use an old credit card, but the fishing line works like a charm
-General purpose adhesive remover ( I used 3M)
-A rag or cloth you don't mind to ruin
-About 1-2 hours of your time
All materials can be seen here:
1. Start at the front of the car, using the hair dryer to heat up the adhesive and molding.
2. Take the fishing line, slide it under the molding, as seen below, and slide it up and down working your way back. Remember to continually use the hair dryer to apply heat as you go.
3. Repeat on back door.
4. You'll most likely have these long strips of glue left on the doors afterwards. So grab your adhesive remover and cloth and get to work. Spray the adhesive remover on the spot you're working on, take the cloth, and rub it to get it off. I found that if you take your thumb in the cloth and rub the glue back it will roll right off for you.
5. If you have light lines in the place of your molding, a good detailing should clear that up for the most part. Otherwise, it will fade in time.
That's it! The finished product:
It's pretty simple, just take your time and it will look great!
Before:
After:
Materials needed:
-A hair dryer or similar heat source
-Fishing line (You can also use an old credit card, but the fishing line works like a charm
-General purpose adhesive remover ( I used 3M)
-A rag or cloth you don't mind to ruin
-About 1-2 hours of your time
All materials can be seen here:
1. Start at the front of the car, using the hair dryer to heat up the adhesive and molding.
2. Take the fishing line, slide it under the molding, as seen below, and slide it up and down working your way back. Remember to continually use the hair dryer to apply heat as you go.
3. Repeat on back door.
4. You'll most likely have these long strips of glue left on the doors afterwards. So grab your adhesive remover and cloth and get to work. Spray the adhesive remover on the spot you're working on, take the cloth, and rub it to get it off. I found that if you take your thumb in the cloth and rub the glue back it will roll right off for you.
5. If you have light lines in the place of your molding, a good detailing should clear that up for the most part. Otherwise, it will fade in time.
That's it! The finished product:
It's pretty simple, just take your time and it will look great!
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Definately gives it a different look. Altho I have to admit I never really noticed them on mine, I guess they don't bug me enough! It's amazing how the little things have an effect on apperance. They removed all the "Dodge" and "Neon" emblems when mine was painted, and I had to figure out why it looked so different!
Bill
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCMOlha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester
I got a 04 Neon, so if I take off my moldings "now" I won't have a faded paint line goin across the sides of my car? meaning the paint won't be a different color like a "tan line" on a female fresh off the beach... I want to do it and I got time and all that but I don't want no tan line on the side of my boo...
THE TRUTH HURTS
LOVE IS PAIN
SO REGARDLESS OF WHAT I'M DOIN
I'M BREAKIN YOUR HEART
-SYRYS-
LOVE IS PAIN
SO REGARDLESS OF WHAT I'M DOIN
I'M BREAKIN YOUR HEART
-SYRYS-
- [DJ]Tomski
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i have a red one...and ya it was a rental...and im putting vinyls on it...good idea to take those off or bad? they are black on my red car
Swordfish2Cowboy wrote:They left a pry bar? Well get the prints like they do on CSI, and track those fuckers down. Then cap them.
grindpunk16 wrote: You and about 2 dozen other folks want that cover. It came with the car, and it's all mine..
- Swordfish2Cowboy
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ya strange i know...looked the same way lol...but anyway i got them off car looks sweet! im going with the lip kit for sure...i hope it looks good...ima run down college ave (show off area of downtown for cars) and i hope i impress other cars...maybe?
Swordfish2Cowboy wrote:They left a pry bar? Well get the prints like they do on CSI, and track those fuckers down. Then cap them.
grindpunk16 wrote: You and about 2 dozen other folks want that cover. It came with the car, and it's all mine..
- Swordfish2Cowboy
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- 2005.Neon.SXT
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He's probably got the SE trim, although his garage says SXT... only the SE's had the black side moldings and the black door handles. Also, if you look at his garage he's got the gauge cluster with no tach. I do believe all SXT's had the other kind with tach and speedometer.
Or maybe I'm just flat out wrong and I'll start walking away now...
Or maybe I'm just flat out wrong and I'll start walking away now...
Last edited by 2005.Neon.SXT on Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
When I took mine off- I was actually able to take two of them off without using any kind of heat or WD-40. I used that on the first two and found that getting rid of the sealant underneath was way easier without getting it wet and it didn't damage the paint underneath.
The only problems I had however were due to the fact that the dealership that had my car before I bought it painted two doors and painted over the moldings that were already in place leaving a slightly visable paint difference. They still look fine to me
The only problems I had however were due to the fact that the dealership that had my car before I bought it painted two doors and painted over the moldings that were already in place leaving a slightly visable paint difference. They still look fine to me
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- 2005.Neon.SXT
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I had the same results. One side, I used my heat gun and it made taking the adhesive residue sucha pain in the ass. The other side, I just slid my credit card underneath and pealed the molding off. The adhesive on that side was SO much easier to take off.Sykora wrote:When I took mine off- I was actually able to take two of them off without using any kind of heat or WD-40. I used that on the first two and found that getting rid of the sealant underneath was way easier without getting it wet and it didn't damage the paint underneath.
Mine had very, VERY tiny bubbles, but you can't even see them unless you literally get inches away from my door. I've had them off for nearly a year and no issues with the paint.
- gtxtreme19
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This year I removed my moldings using a hot air drier.
They went off very easy, but the result was shocking...
On both frontdoors the painting ripped off and I found a lot
off tiny bubbles. At the reardoors there were only a few tiny bubbles.
Some other Neonbuddies here who did it had similar problems, but not all.We thought, it maybe depends on the colour and the age
of your car.
Btw. the SE here was sold without the moldings.
They went off very easy, but the result was shocking...
On both frontdoors the painting ripped off and I found a lot
off tiny bubbles. At the reardoors there were only a few tiny bubbles.
Some other Neonbuddies here who did it had similar problems, but not all.We thought, it maybe depends on the colour and the age
of your car.
Btw. the SE here was sold without the moldings.
- Haganracing
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You could get a bodyshop to blend the doors where the paint came off.. Shouldn't cost too much.
occasional demons wrote:So maybe a FuzzyDanteHagan sammich might just beat a FuzzyHagan.
Danteneon wrote:My advice is to fight those urges and enjoy the fact that you have both X and Y chromosomes. And an SRT. And your hand. You don't need a girl.
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- n00b
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I just did this on my car, and the car does look better from a distance, but the paint did peel on me at least a little on all four doors. That, and my blow dryer crapped out on me . . . lol. I knew that I wanted to get'er painted anyway, but now it looks like it's gonna have to come sooner, rather than later. Anybody know of any good body shops around Cleveland?
2002 Dodge Neon Base Model
Exterior: Bright Silver Metallic Clearcoat
Interior: Dark Slate Gray
Mods: Panasonic AM/FM/CD, Alarm system
side door molding removal with many photos
first start with your neon (not any one elses)
and you need these things to start -the adhesive remover is a MUST!!! (I recommend using something very un-sharp to get the trim started, I used a knife today as it was all I had and was very careful)
then as soon as you can get your fingers in there and start pulling away from the car
and this is an action shot as the trim springs loose (it was really floating in the air for this second too)
and this is what it looks like with the trim removed....all yucky from 11 years of dirt and adhesive strips
use adhesive remover generously!!!!! It makes a huge difference!!!
and start with your own improvised adhesive scraper (the top of the bottle had one but I broke it off getting the vinyl letters off the back of the car)
the angle matters-more pushing it back instead of cutting under it did wonders...learn as we go method
half cleaned
use this to clean up the residue after adhesive is gone....(DO NOT use this abrasive of a product if you have new or great quality paint...my car wasn't perfect so i was okay with it)
half cleaned
cleaned!!!
use this to get it all shiny...maybe it was too fine cuz it took forever
and there you go...clean and smooth!!!!
and you need these things to start -the adhesive remover is a MUST!!! (I recommend using something very un-sharp to get the trim started, I used a knife today as it was all I had and was very careful)
then as soon as you can get your fingers in there and start pulling away from the car
and this is an action shot as the trim springs loose (it was really floating in the air for this second too)
and this is what it looks like with the trim removed....all yucky from 11 years of dirt and adhesive strips
use adhesive remover generously!!!!! It makes a huge difference!!!
and start with your own improvised adhesive scraper (the top of the bottle had one but I broke it off getting the vinyl letters off the back of the car)
the angle matters-more pushing it back instead of cutting under it did wonders...learn as we go method
half cleaned
use this to clean up the residue after adhesive is gone....(DO NOT use this abrasive of a product if you have new or great quality paint...my car wasn't perfect so i was okay with it)
half cleaned
cleaned!!!
use this to get it all shiny...maybe it was too fine cuz it took forever
and there you go...clean and smooth!!!!
If you had checked first, you would have seen a thread on this subject.
viewtopic.php?t=31618
viewtopic.php?t=31618
- 2005.Neon.SXT
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