MONTE CARLO removing exterior windshield trim, rear glass trim, and door trim

[paradigm]

How difficult is it to remove the window trims? The car had a cheap paint job at some point and they painted all of the window trim the same gloss black as the rest of the car, and I want to refinish it in satin black (I believe they were satin from the factory).

I understand the rear 1/4 glass window trim is attached to the glass, so I will mask and paint that on the car.

How about the trim on the t-top above the door window? I suppose I will take the t-top off and mask / paint the trim off the car. What about the windshield and rear glass trim; how does that come off? Special tool to pull clips out? Do any interior trim need to come off to access any of this exterior window trim?

Door window lower trims along the door?

 

[86 Salon]

There's a tool to remove the front and back window trim. It's a fairly inexpensive tool and makes the job easy as long as someone hasn't resealed the glass. All of the lower trim on the doors, fenders, and quarter panels come off with regular wrenches or screwdrivers. You remove the visible screws and/or nuts, push the trim up about 1/4" and then pull the top of the trim out to clear the top of the mounting clips and then slide the trim down and off of the body. The top trim on the door, the belt molding, you will probably need to remove the door glass to access the screws. T top molding, I don't know, but it probably just has screws. I don't know for sure on the MC, but on my Cutlass the lower molding on the 1/4 panel in front of the rear wheel you just remove 1 screw and slide the trim forward about an inch and then pull it away from the body. In any case, be prepared to replace most of the retainer clips because they will probably break from age.

 

[paradigm]

There's a tool to remove the front and back window trim. It's a fairly inexpensive tool and makes the job easy as long as someone hasn't resealed the glass. All of the lower trim on the doors, fenders, and quarter panels come off with regular wrenches or screwdrivers. You remove the visible screws and/or nuts, push the trim up about 1/4" and then pull the top of the trim out to clear the top of the mounting clips and then slide the trim down and off of the body. The top trim on the door, the belt molding, you will probably need to remove the door glass to access the screws. T top molding, I don't know, but it probably just has screws. I don't know for sure on the MC, but on my Cutlass the lower molding on the 1/4 panel in front of the rear wheel you just remove 1 screw and slide the trim forward about an inch and then pull it away from the body. In any case, be prepared to replace most of the retainer clips because they will probably break from age.

Thanks. Is this the tool? If I am going to break clips, and the paint that is on the car isn't the greatest, I may mask up around all the trim and paint it on the car. I will be doing that for the rear 1/4 windows.

https://www.amazon.com/GEARWRENCH-2038-Window-Molding-Remover/dp/B00HSCG4TE/?tag=gbody-20

 

[86 Salon]

Thanks. Is this the tool? If I am going to break clips, and the paint that is on the car isn't the greatest, I may mask up around all the trim and paint it on the car. I will be doing that for the rear 1/4 windows.

View attachment 250968

https://www.amazon.com/GEARWRENCH-2038-Window-Molding-Remover/dp/B00HSCG4TE/?tag=gbody-20

Yes. If they painted the trim on the car the same color as the car, it may be difficult to remove without damaging the paint.

 

[86 Salon]

Maybe you could use a scuff pad to remove the gloss from the trim. You'll need to scuff or sand it anyway before you paint it. Start with a fine pad and see what happens. It depends a lot on what type of paint was used.

 

[paradigm]

Maybe you could use a scuff pad to remove the gloss from the trim. You'll need to scuff or sand it anyway before you paint it. Start with a fine pad and see what happens. It depends a lot on what type of paint was used.

That's a good idea. Unfortunately parts of the trim seem to have chipping repaint. I have found that rustoleum primer + rustoleum satin + spraying technique has yielded me decent results in the past on smaller trim pieces.

 

[jcelk]

i would sand and paint the front and rear glass molding on the car there is a 90 percent chance the paint will chip