94 Camaro molding

[rustover]

I need some help guys. My wife's 94 Z, the molding on the left side has faded and looks terrible. The other side was repaired from a collision awhile back and looks great.

I was going to just buy new molding, but the molding is very expensive and I would still have to paint it to match the car.

I'm wondering if I can tape the whole car up and sand/paint the molding the way it is on the car and hopefully do it so that no one would be able to tell? What would be the steps necessary to achieve this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Senile Old Fart]

why not take the moulding off and repaint it, be far easier and a better end result imho.

 

[rustover]

why not take the moulding off and repaint it, be far easier and a better end result imho.

I agree. I was thinking I would not be able to get the molding off without damaging the pieces. Any suggestions on removal? Thanks, Russ

 

[Senile Old Fart]

I agree. I was thinking I would not be able to get the molding off without damaging the pieces. Any suggestions on removal? Thanks, Russ

I have never replace that moulding so I don't know how it is held on. I would think it is a combination of adhesive tape and a couple fasteners.
With lots of patience you can cut thru the tape with dental floss. Holding a piece of floss at both ends, insert it at the end of the moulding and "saw" the adhesive. It will take a while and many pieces of dental floss but you will get it removed without any damage to the paint on the door panel. Wearing gloves is quite helpfull too.

Bob H probably has a better method as he has much more experiance than this senile old back yard hack

 

[metalman]

Warming the molding and door with a heat lamp or heat gun helps to soften the adhesive, don't overheat. All the ones I removed the panel was getting painted and I used a thin 2" putty knife to part the molding or emblem from the panel. I keep the edges and corners of the putty knife soft with fine sandpaper. Sometimes they come off clean and sometimes not. I have removed emblems, adhesive letters with heat and just lifting them with good results. Of course my own door emblem on my Chevy van got overheated and distorted when I removed it for repairs to the door .
Never thought of dental floss but I have thought of using heavy test nylon fishing line, haven't tried that.

 

[metalman]

You may not like this idea and I may get harpooned for saying this but a used car lot trick is to get a body/paint supply make you a rattle can (I'm ducking) with your paint code. Leave the molding on, tape around it, scuff, clean and paint. You could get away with 18-24" of paper around it. The paint would most likely be thinned out acrylic enamel and will fade and get dull after a while. Don't know how long your keeping the car. Yes I know it's a tacky used car trick but not that bad. I've seen way worse things done to used cars.