OK so i figured since i had done this on the last car and it looked much smoother in my opinions I would undertake the project again today with the nice weather....and being unbarably bored

To start out I used fishing line on my last trans am just regular monofiliment from any store will do. But this time i decided to use a special type of fishing line called "spider wire"...its actually a braided monofiliment that is significantly stronger and much thinner in diameter. This allows you to use the same piece throughout the whole project also it is thinner and cuts much easier IMO. when you go to do this imagine as though you are flossing your teeth. Take about maybe a 1.5 or 2 ft. piece of line twirl it around your hands. May i add that i used mechanic gloves so the line doesnt dig into your hand and risk cutting them up. Anyhow, wrap the line around your hands and put it around the molding and slowly go back and forth with pressure pulling the line through inbetween the molding and the actual body of the car. kind of imagine a rowing motion with your hands back and forth all the way down. Sorry i didnt get pics of this part i was alone and had no one to film what i was doing. but here is what it will look like when you get the modling pieces off with the fishing line.

Before:


After:




Now what you need to do is peel all that sticky stuff of the side of the door.....I did not have to heat it up or anything of the nature i just sprayed on some mystery cleaner that was safe for paint and slowly pealed it off. If your very carefull you can pull it back towards you slowly and it will come off in larger peices. Otherwise it just takes time and comes off in lil chunks. think of it as thick doublesided tape kinda stuff.

heres with the tape stuff off:





Once the molding is off and the sticky stuff is off go ahead and try and clean the area really well. Now just a lil background on this "mod". The older the car the more the paint has NOT been exposed to the sun or the eliments. Think about it, when you take the trim off you are exposing paint to the sun that has never seen the light before, or rain, or whatever. So in some cases the older the car the paint may be a slightly different color. On my old 02 trans am it was identical...but it was also yellow which is hard to tell difference. On this car which is now 7 years old and has 60k miles on it there is a slight difference in the paint color. However now that it will be in the sun im sure it will work its way off. Also I will prolly go and have it buffed professionally and have the whole exterior cleaned up really nice. But for now I washed the car myself and here is the aftermath ...keep in mind IMO it looks so much cleaner and smoother without the molding. You can really watch the body lines flow without that trim obstructing the car.

 

Just some more pictures to show the car off finished up:








Hope this helps for anyone that is looking to undergo this...its not hard and only took me maybe 2 hours to 3 hours with washing and detailing the whole car...so not much time at all Good luck

 

Looks good. Those wheels look sweet on there too.

 

looks great!

when i did mine, i just did it by hand. on the first side, it left most of the tape. it took a long time to pick it all off. but on the second time, i got lucky and as i pulled the molding, it pulled the tape up with it.

 

hahah ya you like that dont ya??? lol how are you liking the tt2's??? good to hear from ya hope all is well.

Yellow

 

I love the TT2's. Now if my ss hood would get here maybe I could take the car out in this nice weather.

 

NICE CAR!! i think im going to do that to my car this weekend i like the way that looks, im getting those rims also, but in black...

 

looks so much better, nice work. Its nice to see that car got clean!

 

Looks great! I think I'm going to do that to my car... it's pretty damn dirty anyway. I'm just waiting for my Menzerna and Zaino to come in the mail this week and then I'll be giving it a real nice polish. Maybe I'll take the trim off before I do it so I can try to clean the paint up to match.

 

is there any thing i have to do after taking it off or does the color match right up??

 

Looks great. Silver front bird and side emblems to match the ram air decals on the hood and itll be perfect.

 

It depends on the condition of your paint. If the car has been garage kept most of its life, there shouldn't really be an issue but paint fades in the sun. Being an 8-9 year old car, your paint may or may not match up perfect. It shouldn't be a huge issue as long as your paint is in good condition. You can also get your car's exterior detailed and it will definately help match up the paint.

 

well its been shaded half its life, never garage kept as far as i know, paint looks GREAT though still so i dont think its going to matter, so basicly i just pull them off and hope it matches then right?

 

im doing this next weekend

 

Yep. Just make sure you use a paint-safe product to remove the adhesive residue left over after you remove it. Make sure you wash it after you remove it as well to make sure you remove all the residue and anything left over from what you used to remove the adhesive.

 

just use the fishing line....it works really well and doesnt sractch anything. As far as gettin the sticky **** off just make ABSOLUTE sure taht its safe on paint and your all good most of the stickyness will just come off in pieces and just wash the car afterwards.....IMO it really cleans everything up and the body lines really shine...just my .02

 

looks good

 

Has anyone tried this on a camaro? The reason I ask, is that my trim is becoming pitted right after the doors and instead of replacing with the hassle of painting I was wondering if anyone has done this and has pics of it. If so, PLEASE POST pics. Thanks.

 

here it is on a camaro

Before


After

 

Hmm... not sure I like it removed on the Camaros... I'm second guessing it now.