Started to take off the moldings... (updated)

srtgtr34 · Post by **srtgtr34** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:34 pm

I have been really bored lately since I have been home alot because of how slow the place I work at is. So I have been doing things to keep me busy, today I tackled those pesky side moldings, And they are a Pain IN THE ASS!.

I started with the passenger front and everything went decent I saw no large bubbles, there were tons of small ones. I start taking the adhesive off and followed with some "goof off"..... All the adhesive got removed but there is this rough looking cloudy part that now runs across the the passenger door. I just can't seem to get it off with anything, I have.

I took off the rear door while I was at it and hell that was just awefull, little bubbles everywhere and some paint came off.

Then just for the hell of it I took the moldings off the drivers side and it looked better than the other side so far. It still has the adhesive on it, but the bubbles don't form under the adhesive.

The camera doesn't seem to pick up this line in the paint. The color is the same I had no fading occur on the doors...

This pic does show the line it has created along with the damaged part of the paint.

Other side, which I havn't begun.. yet.

I know most people will say put the moldings back on, But I would've been taking them all off soon anyways. Before I sell this car I am going to do all the body work on it and give it some fresh paint since I have most of the supplies and have access to tools and a paint booth for free. All she needs is alot of panel straightening, a new fender, hood and some love.

neonslg09 · Post by **neonslg09** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:28 pm

everyone had problems with their moldings except for like me,

i sat it in the sun for an hour, then pealed. then scrubed the excess off, granted i had faded paint be that was the only issue, i didnt have bubbles or anything, i must be lucky

JeffM · Post by **JeffM** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:52 pm

I even did mine in the winter.

The 'cloud' will fade in time. It just needs to see the light of day.

2005.Neon.SXT · Post by **2005.Neon.SXT** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:41 pm

I have some bubbles on my passenger side door, but that's it. It was pretty flawless and makes it look so much better.

Nephewjag · Post by **Nephewjag** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:12 pm

2005.Neon.SXT wrote:I have some bubbles on my passenger side door, but that's it. It was pretty flawless and makes it look so much better.

x2

dtjackten · Post by **dtjackten** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:54 am

i did mine back when my car was only about two years old.... and nothing was bubbled or faded (well after a good buffing) as time goes on, salt and other road cantaminates will start to eat at the door behind the molding causing the bubbling and the paint to come off.

dodge_girl · Post by **dodge_girl** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 2:28 pm

mine was bubbles to, but it still looks better than having the side moulding lol

LowNSlow · Post by **LowNSlow** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:28 pm

Did mine when it had less than 10k miles on it... no bubbles / fading / anything

Tam · Post by **Tam** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 4:10 pm

Yeah for some reason, the driver side is always alot easier to do than the passenger side on neons.

srtgtr34 · Post by **srtgtr34** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:35 pm

I got the other side off, it had less bubbles... But it also is missing some paint like the other side..

I can deal with it for a couple months.

bigbird · Post by **bigbird** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:27 am

LowNSlow wrote:Did mine when it had less than 10k miles on it... no bubbles / fading / anything

srtgtr34 · Post by **srtgtr34** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:01 pm

Just a little update on this matter.

When I originally took the moldings off, it left me with a ghost line and with missing paint because some chipped off.

Well earlier this week I got a touch up kit from a site called automotive touchup, its a two stage touch up unlike must touch up kits that are sold. The whole system cost 32 shipped and the color was spot on.

Here is how it looked before touching it up:

I had primer spots dotted all along where the moldings used to be, it was a major eyesore.

SO I layed down two heavy coats of color, didn't really care if I got outside the chipped hole. I then lightly sanded the whole area that was under the side molding, followed by some sanding around the areas that were touched up. After that two real heavy layers of the clear went down, he whole entire side molding area got some of the clear.

Despite the color matching, the metallic doesn't react the same as the stock paint. like in the pic above.

Before I put the clear down, I tested it else where on the car. With this clear, there is no visible edge when sanding or buffing. SO in one long month, I get to have smooth paint again.