Can anyone please help me figure out how to remove them? Are they clipped in, or just held on by a high-strength double sided tape?

I'm prepping my car for paint now, and they need to come off ASAP. I've pulled on one, but only an inch came off and it snapped clean. It looks like only double sided tape so far, but I dont want to bend any body panels pulling on it.

Any suggestions for removale? Thanks again fellas - you've helped tremendously already with all the information here.

Timmy

 

They are glued/ heavy duty taped or some ****. Be carefull removing them or you will rip off factory body filler on the doors.

Get some good adhesive remover and drip it along the top of the molding(turkey baster, eye dropper ect.). let it soak down, and repeat several times.

Then carefully remove running a wire behind them or something of that nature.

 

It is double sided tape. I use a thin, 1-1/2" wide flexible putty knife, with the corners rounded off, blade dulled and a heat gun.

 

Great - easy enough. I got a heatgun and some goo-gone... back to work then. Thanks fellas.

 

Yup all the above posts are correct. A futher complication which you just experienced is that the moldings are old and have hardened. They are really expensive to buy new (close to $1000 for the whole car)

Even with the above tips, you have to be patient and work your way very slowly. If you wind up with them bent from pulling on them, make sure you flatten them back out and weight them with something or you will have a heck of a time getting them to stay stuck back on the car after paint.

 

Good advice.

If the mouldings are going back on the car, prep them before install. I have found that scrubbing them dowm with 0000 steel wool dipped in paint thinner or mineral spirits will take off that dried out top layer. Clean the spirits off, then treat with Mothers Back to Black, or similar dressing for rubber. You'll be amazed how new they look. This can be done on the car also, just tape off the paint to protect it from the steel wool. Do Not use silicone based dressings.