Technically they were not free, but I just found them in my neighbors house which I bought my car from. It was funny, because he was talking about finding left over door molding that he put on the sides of the car when he bought it. As I was checking to see if he had enough to redo the molding it occurred to me I never got the hatch cover that rolls up. I described to him what it was and its purpose, and he swore up and down he didn't have it. I happened to catch a glance of something red in the back of his junk room, and asked what was that he pulled it down sure enough there it sat all these years. It has never been used, so I cleaned it up and installed it. Looks brand new!



Quick question the door molding has an adhesive back what do you guys recommend using to get the old molding off?

Grinder.

ummm...... I think I'll just try scraping it off somehow. Thanks for the advice FlyingT.

Heat gun (hair dryer may work) and a scraper, be REALLY careful.

Thats a really nice cargo cover. Even if it is red. lol

michaelp: Yeah, after some thought I will lay a strip of tape down on the parameter as I work the molding off. (Not to damage my paint) I have a nice putty knife somewhere around here. Ill use the hair dryer as well. Thanks!

reddzx: Thanks I was pretty stoked when I found it! Yeah my interior is red, but I like it.

Ha! I've never seen a red one. (knew they had them... just never seen one...)

Good score.

PT

wow that is REALLY red... if the rest of the interior was that colour when it was new, i can't imagine how bright that shit woulda been

not only do you need to be careful about the surrounding paint, but also keep in mind the adhesive that's on there has been on there for 20 years and that bond is strong. If you get impatient you'll take off the paint with the molding. What I did was cheat, I used a razor blade and cut the adhesive as I was slowly pulling it away from the car, then what was left on the car I used a steel wire brush with a rotary tool and took that off. It didn't even get though the paint to the primer, and seeing as your replacing them you won't need to repaint either.

Well after watching some youtube "Do it yourselfers" I found a video where a guy used WD-40 to let the adhesive work loose. I squirted it and let it sit on the molding for 10 min.



I found a putty knife and used an old sock to cover the metal tip a cloth would work, but all my cloths are thick.



I worked the corner of the putty knife into the back of the molding.



Once you get the molding started you can continue scraping the molding off, or just slowly pull it off.



Here is a shot of it all off. I used goo gone to get the rest of the stuck on adhesive off and used my finger nail to scrape it off.



I used the old pieces to draw what I needed to cut the new molding to. If you don't have old pieces just measure accordingly and cut to fit. I cut extra on both ends that way I had room for adjustment.

Before and After shots:





You may be asking yourself why go through so much trouble, and why not leave them off? I have 0 door dings on my car, and I owe it to these strips of molding for keeping my 20 year old car door ding free. If I can keep 0 dings on my car in the future then it seems worth it to me. Hope this helps someone in the future. Also, sorry for the crappy camera I cant find my digital camera so I had to use my phone.

damn that looks way better painted, much kudos to you.

if you don't mind, copy and paste the writeup part of that and put it in the 'z31 guides' section.

WD-40... great stuff.

Also good for seasoning chicken.

PT

Good job. and there was a post a while back were someone said something about red interior, like how many people like red. It came out to be like 1 out of 100. And now you are one more. clean looking Z thou even for red interior. Good job....

Well, I didn't paint it I got a reel of what the owner before me had left over. Technically I used new molding.



LOL!! I'll take your word for it.



I guess I am a rare bird, but don't get me wrong I like the other interior colors. I like it because I like unique, and its not everyday you ride in a car with red interior. Also, thanks the owner before me kept it really clean so I am trying my best to keep it spotless and in good condition.