I have body side moldings on my car and i want to get rid of them.

So, I called Passport today and the reffered my to NT Autobody; the guy at NT Autobody quoted me 30-40 bucks to take them off...

Do any of you guys know any place cheaper? I was also contemplating doing it on my own, but am nervous I would mess up or tear the paint...

Any help would appreciated... Thanks.

 

It's not hard by any means...but considering the amount of time it takes to take it all off, and clean up all the sticky residue stuff...for $30 bucks? that's dam cheap... I'd rather throw 30-40 bucks towards a professional and have them do it, and spend my time doing something else...

but if you want to do it yourself...just get a heatgun, and some goo-gone....start from one end and warm up the molding (don't get the heat gun too close to the paint) and just slowly pull it off. You can slide some dental floss behind the molding to help cut the 3m tape they use to stick the molding on... once you get the molding off, it's just a matter of soaking the 3m tape with goo gone, heating it up, peeling it off....rubbing it off...sweating it off, hahah...

 

and you'll have a white line where the molding was for a few months. even then i think you'll still be able to see it at certain angles.

 

Yeah, i dont have access to a heat gun, LOL. let alone an electrical outlet in my parking garage @ my apartment... hehe...

Guys know of anyplace cheaper or is 30-40 bucks reasonable?

 

Is this if I don't remove all the tape correctly? Or is this no matter what due to paint fade?

 

paint fade.

 

yes 30-40 bucks is reasonable, cosidering it took me an hour to do it myself, and shop prices are usually $65 bucks/ hr. I've never noticed a white line from any angle? My car had 18k miles on it when i took my molding off.

 

maybe not a white line... but you can still see where the molding was because the paint there wasn't exposed to the weather... I know its true for debadging and also the bodyshop told my friend the same thing when he wanted to remove his side moldings.

 

Yeah, my car has 21K miles and I think has been garaged most of its life...

I purchased it used a month and a half ago... hmmm, decisions, lol. I also have DG as you... worst case... i see a line and I put them back on, LOL. Best case... no line and my car looks meaner...

 

Did he still end up removing them?

 

nope he still has them.

 

cool... appreciate the info man. thanks.

 

I'd let them do it for $30-40 and have them take responsibility of it turning out fine. That's a really good price for anything you don't want to take the time or risk to do.

~Khoa

 

ya the only thing that MIGHT be noticeable is where the molding was due to lack of weathering/sun as lek mentioned. HOWEVER, if you wax the area reallly well and polish it then it should be fine after a few weeks. eventually it'll blend in with the rest of your paint. I dont think you'll have any scars permanently unless you mess up and jack up your paint while removing them. I debadged my car and there was some sticky stuff left, but after a few washes waxes (2 sessions and it was all gone) it all went away.

 

Yah I'd think removing BSM is like debading your car. Just claybar/wax after its done and repeat and you should be fine.