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  1. #1
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    O.K. guys, here's how to do it. I don't have pictures available, but I'll talk you through it. If you are going to attempt this job, bear in mind that it will not be a one day project. Practice patience, take your time, relax a little on the way, and try not to take the sledge hammer to your car in frustration. J/K!

    Step #1

    Assemble all of the tools that you will need. These will include a pair of vise grips, small flathead screwdriver, cotton cloths, small propane torch, 1 inch stiff chisel putty knife, small can of lacquer thinner, and even a vise if you have one.

    Step #2

    Peel the molding off of the car, using the stiff chisel blade of the putty knife to help you. This will warp, twist, and make the rubber molding look like a piece of &$%#.

    Step #3

    After the rubber molding is off of the car, place it in a vise with folded over cotton cloths on either side to prevent the vise from making indents in the rubber. Next, take the small flathead screwdriver and pry up a corner of the two sided factory tape with the metal insert (there should be 2 of these per piece). You may need the torch to help soften the glue of the tape, therefore making it much easier to pry up. Once the tape's corner is pried up, attach the vise grips to it. Now, heat the tape up with the torch while pulling with the vise grips. It is important to NOT melt the rubber! You'll only need the heat to soften the adhesive of the tape enough so that you can separate it from the rubber molding. Continue with this step until all of the pieces are free from this tape and adhesive. This process is long and drawn out, but DON'T GIVE UP! Great results will come to those who have the patience.

    Step #4

    When done with step #3, you'll notice that all of the rubber molding is still bent and twisted to all hell. To rectify this, place them on a cellar or garage floor for 2 to 3 days with heavy materials such as boxes filled with goods, or books. The rubber will return to it's natural state of flatness. Trust me! :wink:

    Step #5

    After they've returned to flatness, you'll notice that the longer pieces from the doors will be flat, but wavy (like a pinstripe that's not straight). To fix this, I propped them up against the wall/floor like a piece of wooden baseboard and pushed those same boxes up against them to hold them in place. I left them there for another 2 to 3 days. When I uncovered them, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were flat AND straight!

    Step #6

    Flip them over and wipe any dirt/leftover adhesive off with some of that lacquer thinner on a clean rag. Do not soak them in this stuff, as it may eat away the rubber!

    Step #7

    What can I say, it's now painting time. Use what you will. At this point, I sent mine to the body shop so that they could be painted with the rest of the car.

    Step #8

    You're near the finish line, and now your hard work will soon pay off! It's now time to reinstall them. I used 3M's two sided tape. This comes in different widths. I believe that I used the 1 inch wide (1/8 inch thick?) stuff that I picked up at my local auto parts store. Since I'm not too sure, just bring a piece of the molding with you when you buy it. You'll then know what size to buy. I attached it to the back side of the molding on both the upper and lower sections. I then placed it up near the side of the car and with a steady hand, slowly pressed it onto the car. The longer door pieces are harder to get right, but if you're slow and careful, you shouldn't have a problem.

    Step #9

    Pinstripe time, and final step! Yee Haa! As we all know, the stripes were molded into the rubber on the side pieces and painted onto each bumper. Well, my body guy said that it would be easier for him to paint over those said stripes. He's right. I bought 2 rolls of 3M's pinstripe kit (I don't remember the size, but it's the same size that was molded into the rubber). This is easy to get straight because you can see the outline of the stripes in the rubber molding. On the bumpers, it's a little harder. I sprayed them with Glass Plus, and positioned the pinstripes in place. The glass cleaner will allow you to move them around until they're straight. When they're where you want them, gently dab the Glass Plus until it's dry.

    Step #10

    Final step, and it's the easiest one. Sit down in your lounge chair, open up a tall cool Budwieser, and marvel at your well done job!

    Good luck everyone! By the way, I've posted the following picture to show you how mine came out. In this picture, you can't see the dual pinstripes. They are there, but the picture shows them as one. However, you can see the straightness to the rubber.

    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  2. #2

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    I have not done this yet but I would suggest what somebody else told me to do which sounds alot easier and less scary:

    Get a guitar string (or piano wire) and use it to remove the mouldings without damaging them. The guitar string acts like a saw as it cuts through the 2 sided tape when you move it up and down behind the moulding.

    I would try that first since I have seen what a pair of vise grips can do and it is terrifying :-)

    -Mike

  3. #3
    86 50CPRI
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    I know this has been said before,but I cant resist,plus the newbies probably havent heard it:

    "YEE HAW,whens that baby gonna be ready for some four-wheelin'!!??"


    Seriously,it is truly a work of art..beautiful!!

    Pete

  4. #4
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Thanks Pete! As for the guitar string, I've heard of that too. But, it doesn't separate the glued on metal backed adhesive piece from the molding. It will only remove the molding from the car. Once the molding is off of the car, you need to remove those two pieces of the metal backed two sided tape (there are two per piece). That is where the vise grips come into play. The vise grips are not scary! You will need them, as there is no other way to remove that adhesive metal backed piece. My whole family has done it this way on all of our cars ('82 GT, '85 GT, '90 LX, and my '79 Cobra) and in simple terms, it works.
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  5. #5

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    Ok, I have a question then. There is a separate metal strip that is different than the two metal strips molded into the moulding? Is this the same for all years?

    My 85-86 NOS mouldings have 2 metal strips moulded into them. There is a groove in the center (on the back) but I didn't know anything went there. The adhesive is already attached by Ford along the moulded-in metal strips.

    http://www.ascmclarencoupe.com/Parts...apped_Back.jpg

    I was under the impression that you just took off the old moulding, cleaned and painted and applied the new ones.

    So what your saying is that when the old ones come off, I need to take off the metal strip that will come off with them and apply them to the new ones?

    -Mike

  6. #6
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    No. On the NOS pieces, you can just pull off the wax paper backing and reapply the moldings straight to the car. If you're restoring your molding, you have to remove those metal strips via the vise grips/torch method. Those metal strips are not molded into the rubber. They are attached with adhesive. The 3M two sided tape is then substituted for those strips upon reassembly to the body. That groove in the center of each piece is rubber and nothing goes onto that. That is there to help center it into the side of the car (the grooves in the fender, door, and quarter panel).
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  7. #7

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    This thread is great, just hit it with the search button, was just what I was looking for.

    Any tips to cleaning the rest of the glue/tape off of the car itself??Razor blade??

    I have to re attach my door piece.
    Jeremy
    -86 mustang SSP X CHP Unit # 3788-bone stock & staying that way
    -66 Mustang, bench seat car,8.8,t5 fuel injected 92 engine
    -72 Maverick 5.0 resto in process
    -12SS Camaro 6 speed. 600 FWHP, Kraftwerks Supercharger
    -03 z71 Avalanche 9" lift on 35s Daily Driven 20k a year. 290k miles at 11.8 mpg
    Entire 1986 electrical and vacuum troubleshooting manual download
    http://slantnosefox.com/picturehosti...g%20manual.zip

  8. #8

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    Just get adhesive/gunk remover.

    I use the 3M stuff. I never go near paint with sharp objects. I'm a clutz.

    -Mike

  9. #9
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    Good luck with your molding. Just take your time and it will come out real nice. Negusm is right about cleaning the body with "Adhesive/Gunk remover." Here's another picture of mine, hopefully it shows the molding well enough for you to see how it came out.

    Edit: Damn, I hate shrinking photos. You can't really tell the quality of how it came out. Sorry!

    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  10. #10

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    Yours looks really good.

    While I have a propane torch, I am tempted to take the fast track to putting this on, let me know if I am wasting my time.

    I haven't tried yet, but can't I just scrape off the old stuff with a razor, and just re attach with 3m adhesive???

    The molding came off of the car without really any wrinkles, luckily.
    Jeremy
    -86 mustang SSP X CHP Unit # 3788-bone stock & staying that way
    -66 Mustang, bench seat car,8.8,t5 fuel injected 92 engine
    -72 Maverick 5.0 resto in process
    -12SS Camaro 6 speed. 600 FWHP, Kraftwerks Supercharger
    -03 z71 Avalanche 9" lift on 35s Daily Driven 20k a year. 290k miles at 11.8 mpg
    Entire 1986 electrical and vacuum troubleshooting manual download
    http://slantnosefox.com/picturehosti...g%20manual.zip

  11. #11
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    I couldn't help you with that. I did mine the other way, only because everyone else in my family did it like that. I suppose it's worth a try. If it doesn't work out, at least it won't be ruined, and you could give our method a try. Good luck!
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  12. #12

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    If your now talking about removing adhesive from the moulding with a razor, it'd probably work. But if your still thinking about taking a razor to the car body...I still wouldn't recommend it.

    The adhesive remover works pretty darn fast. For most applications, I think it works faster than a razor. Just soak down the adhesive and the stuff starts dissolving right away. Its really nifty stuff. Every garage needs a can.

    It does a wonder on undercoating (or road tar) too, although it takes a fair amount more since undercoating is laid on so thick.


    -Mike

  13. #13

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    just happened on this while doing a search and have one question. exactly how do you go about painting the moldings? when i do my paint job i want the moldings to be body color. my paint job is a ways off, but i'm thinking of doing flames and they will have to go over the moldings. will regular auto paint(2 stage) stick to the rubber? do i need to add a flex agent to keep the paint from cracking or peeling? kinda off topic but is the flex agent required for the front/rear bumper covers? anyone that can help?

  14. #14
    Venomous Moderator Hissing Cobra's Avatar
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    I'm not a pro, but you will need the flex agent when painting the rubber moldings and bumpers.
    Pete Slaney

    1979 Mustang Cobra

    347/T-5/4.30's
    420 rwhp/380 rwt (New Motor)
    11.49 @ 121.86

    306/T-5/4.30's (Old Motor)
    307 rwhp/278 rwt
    12.38 @ 111.38

  15. #15

  16. #16
    FEP Senior Member Mike 83 GLX's Avatar
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    I just got a set of moldings from an '86. They are in decent shape, but somebody painted them black with really thick paint. How do I remove the paint without damaging the rubber? I still have to remove the metal strips from the backs of them all too before the will be usable again. Lotsa fun!

    -Mike
    '83 Mustang GLX---T-Tops, 5.0 EFI/TKO600/8.8, Ebrock hds/int, F303, 4whl discs, 3.27s, 70mm turbo @16psi.

  17. #17

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    I'm in the middle of doing the bumper cover now. I think the strips are made from the same material and I'm using coarse emery cloth in an orbital sander (electric).


    This is not damaging the rubber at all . In fact I have been able to smooth out some light gouges. I've got up to six layers of paint I'm removing here.

  18. #18

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    I dipped some corners mouldings in a tire cleaner called "Bleche White" or something like that (read it on a modeling web site). It dissolved most of the paint in about 48 hours. It didn't touch the plastic one bit. Only drawback is you need a way to keep it submerged in the stuff. But it works great on rubber/plastic, etc. with no harm.

    I thought about using a diaper genie refill to hold the long pieces and pouring the stuff in there. For those who don't know what a diaper genie refill is, it is a very long (like 100ft) rolled up plastic bag opened on both ends. So you pull out as much as you need and tie off one end, put stuff in and tie off the other.

    -Mike

  19. #19
    Malleus Banificarum
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    Archiving this one till Pete can get us a nice full blown tech article

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