Outer Trims

[Inygknok]

Well, I'm done removing everything I can remove in a building parking lot, cleaning it, spraying it a bit if it looks too opaque, and put back everything i could which won't make the head hard to take apart when I get the gasket kit.


So, I moved to the exterior. I noticed that some of the outer trims are somewhat damaged (just the paint though). I wanted to remove them to clean them off and fix up the damaged ones out of the car so I don't have to go buy more rolls of tape and keep carrying newspapers for cover. So my question is, are they all glued on or bolted on?


Also, there is this ONE piece of trim that is located on the rear hatch, at the very top where the little water spray to wash the rear windshield is. Yeah, the one that goes from side to side and is around an inch tall. The black thin plastic that covers it is peeling off (it has peeled off quite far already). Can I just buy that or should I just paint the mirror-like metal that lies underneath and not go through so much hassle?

 

[Suprastic]

You can paint it, but I'm unsure how esy it is to get it to match looking like the others.

As for the mouldings/trim I assume you are referring to the black exterior trim. They are very easy to take off since the are all held in place by clips (mostly). The doors have a 10mm nut at the front. If you open the door and look where the hindges are, you'll see a circular hole where the 10mm nut is. Take it off and slowly and carefully pull the mouldings away. There is foam tape sealing the mouldings, so you may need to buy some 3M 2-sided tape. The mouldings on the 87-88 are metal, so it is important that you don't bend them...especially the door mouldings, as the can be easy to bent. Just go clip by clip and pull as closely to the section that is still attached to the car.

The front and rear 1/4 mouldngs have a screw or a plastic reinforcing plug securing them into place along the wheel well lip. Unscrew or pop these off, and again slowly pop the clips out. These one and harder to bend because the aren't long at all. The front piece with the side markers is the same procedure, but you need to take out the front turn signals...there is at the side corner of the signals that is holding the piece in aswell.

For the rear you'll need to romove most of the plastice pieces inside to make it a bit less difficult and reduce the risk of looing a few nuts. The rear corners are held in mostly by 8mm nuts. You have to reach in the wheel wells from the inside of the car and take off all the 8mm nuts you you can find. You then make your way to the back where ther is a few other nuts of the same size. Its easier to make you way around removing all the nuts. There are also a screw on the wheel well lip that need to be removed. Before you remove the corner mouldings remove the center piece of the taillights (license plate surround). This will prevent you from benting/warping those pieces as well.

I hope this helps you out. Good Luck!

PS: if you happen to break a piece or deform it, I still have the black/greyish mouldings from m 87 in good shape. I replaced mine with 89+ to match the center taillights moulding.

 

[Inygknok]

Nah, I didn't mean the mouldings where the turn signals and such are. I was referring to the ones that go around the hatch, around the targa top (outside), around the front windshield, etc. I had already taken away most of the other moldings to repair some frontal damages. I noticed that the trims on top of the hatch (2 of them at least) were held on by a small screw at the rear, but I couldn't find anything else holding them on. Imagined it was glue or something. Any special type of 3M double sided tape I should get?