Taking off moldings ( or mouldings?)

54SuperWasp

Don't remember when, but one Hudson forum user wrote about it. I just remember him saying he uses that GM rust penetrant and inhibitor ( that I found) and working with some plastic scrapers. Could not find back the topic but told myself to give it a try since the last owner had taken a few ( the bad way...). Took me about 30 minutes to patiently work myself in taking off the upper side moulding of the left rear door. And it worked perfectly. The molding was straight as an arrow and it took about 5 seconds each to take off the screws that holds the retainer. So, I would like to thank whoever he is ( and I know he will recognize himself) cause it helped me a lot. I did not realy started the restoration yet but wanted to try a few things. And to all of you who give tricks and good advice here and there I say: THANK YOU ALL! Michel

RL Chilton

That's good news, Michel. That's one of those jobs that's just as easy to do right as it is to do completely wrong and have terrible results. A little patience goes a long way . . .

54SuperWasp

RL Chilton wrote:

That's good news, Michel. That's one of those jobs that's just as easy to do right as it is to do completely wrong and have terrible results. A little patience goes a long way . . .

Thank you Russ. This is what I noticed in about all I do. Patience is a great gift.
Will explain pretty soon all about my restoration project. I've never done anything but brakes on my cars when I was young. I will be the "laboratory mouse" in my garage trying to test if, with the help of my forum friends, I can achieve something that seems almost impossible to everyone I talk too. The knowledge is on this forum. I was wondering if it would be better to create a blog, but still I would prefer to share that experience with all my Hudson forum community. Will send picture of the garage when it will be ready and the step-by-step programm I would like to follow. Will tell more in a few weeks. Michel

Snailslayer

its a good feeling when the trim pops off without damage. 51HornetA has given the plastic scraper tip trick before. I used it successfully as scary at it was to do it. Definitely start a build thread on your car, everybody including myself like to follow along and the more pics the better!

mars55

For those who want to the orginal post on removing trim, here it is.

http://www.classiccar.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=13&id=68037&Itemid=152

Hudson Grandpa

Warning, Dont Pry Anything, If You Want To Reuse It, Soak With Wd40 And Get A Dull Putty Knife Start From Either End And Using As Hammer Drive The Putty Knife Between Retainer And Stasinless, If It Digs In Go To Bottom And Use Same Procedure, The Worst You Can Do Is Gouge The Retainer In A Few Places, But The Stainless Will Come Off Straight And Undamaged, Have Been Doing It That Way For 37 Years, Good Luck, Bill Albright


Dave here:
Thats a rubber hammer, and lots and lots of WD-40. Do about a ft or so at a time on a side molding, and take your time with a plastic putty knife. Half the time you can save the clip, the other half no go. Too rusty. You will be surprised how resiliant stainless steel moldings are. If your bound to get it off in 10 minutes it will probably come off bent. If you take your time it should some off the way it was on the clips. There are plenty of guys that straighten stainless steel. Rick Monroe in San Antonio does fantastik work, as he did on some of my stainless. Once you get the hang of it, in short order you will be calling yourself an expert. The side window stainless moldings are buggers, but workable. Slow going. clips come off first, then as above with plastic putty knife WD-40. Stainless is on a metal lip (part of the body). Work it down from the top where you took the clip off, and as you proceed you will see that in order to get it off the ends have to be bent carefully towards each other. Once you get it off the stainless will pop back to it's regular shape when it was on the window frame. Reverse procedure to get it back on, again with WD-40.

Good Luck

54SuperWasp

Thank you all again. I'm taking this very seriously. It took me more than 30 minutes for one moulding but it went perfect for my first experience. As for the side windows mouldings, I think it will be a good thing to give it a try first on my parts car. Have to go now,our QNFC chapter is meeting today and I must drive 3 and a half hour to get there. Québec is a very large province! Michel

DavidC

I will add that a vinyl siding removal tool carefully slipped under the spear can ease removal if done gently without prying. It's easy to damage thse and so time-consuming to repair
Dave