Thor904

So today I decided to remove the side molding off my 2002 SOM Trans Am. I love the look of them without it cause I think it looks clean, especially with the natural line on the door panel. I watched a bunch of videos and read some threads about removal, it seemed easy and I took to it. I used fishing line, a heat gun, and goo gone, just like all of the threads and videos suggest.

The drivers side came off fine, but when I went to the passenger side, clear coat starting coming off with the molding on the door! It looks as though someone had put an extra layer of clear coat on this side and not removed the molding. I noticed the clear coat was attached to the top of the molding once I had already removed about 1/4 of it. With all of the other pieces already removed I went ahead and kept working.

After I had completely removed it, I stood back and nearly cried as there is a line of ripped clear coat where the top of the side molding used to be... I can't find any other thread or evidence of anyone else having this issue. I'm fairly certain the car has never been repainted as it only has 40000 miles on it. Now the only thing I can think to do is get the whole door repainted. Is there any other fix to this?

Also, on both sides, there is a faint line where the side molding used to be. I've tried everything to removed the "shadow". Goo Gone, WD40, clay bar, and nothing works. When I run my finger along it I can feel a line. I feel like there shouldn't be any raised line here as the side moldings were just stuck on with glue.

Please help here, any advice is appreciated. I am devastated that this beautiful paint is messed up now...

bammax

A good paint shop should be able to wet sand it out without much trouble. The line is from 20 years of gunk getting stuck in there and hardening in. The clear issue may take a wet sand and a new coat of clear. There's no reason to go down to paint for either issue.

BFK86

iTrader: (1)

something was repainted on that side, might have been a minor paint fix but they had to blend and reclear that whole side..there's nothing you can do to "fix" it besides either repainting it or putting the moulding back on.

Thor904

Thanks for the responses. I guess the next step is to find a good paint and body shop. Just my luck that this couldn't be an easy mod...

Thor904

So I took it to a couple of paint and body places here in town and every place I went to told me the door and fenders would need to be repainted... Cheapest quote I got was $3000...........

This has turned into a nightmare. I think I'm just going to put the side molding back on and try my best to cover up the ripped clear coat. Does anyone know the best adhesive to use to put the trim back on?

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

3M double stick moulding tape....get it at any auto body paint supply store

Aaron23

That's a $300-$400 repair, not $3K! You could also take your time with some 1000 sand paper and feather that edge back.