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Yanking the side moldings, what's underneath?

O

OoTLink

New CEG'er
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
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8
So after seeing some pics of nicely fixed up cars I'm beginning to wonder (and after looking at a few nice pics of our Mystique I wouldn't mind fixing the car up) - about what's underneath those side moldings!

Are they just glued on? Or are they bolted on? Dents underneath? Any paint issues that should be known? :\ Thank joo!

I'm thinking out that, maybe an auto dim mirror [mirrors with thin borders officially creep me out], and some various other small mods (perhaps even some nice wheels), would make the mercury a nice daily driver again :)

Yeah I got a tranny mount to change out, and the whole dang EGR valve maybe (I dunno, perhaps PCV is all that needs cleaning/replacement), just thinking ahead :) The car isn't really going to be worth a heck of a lot in trade in (it's worth more to me knowing it was my dad's last car) - and it's not really burning a hole in my pocket or anything keeping it here :) So yeah.

I'm just really thinking things out, perhaps clean up the rear end a little, put LED tails (tastefully? Perhaps even using the center reflector the pre 98 mystiques had as a brake light extension?) .. I dunno. Some front end tweaks would be nice too, perhaps a nifty grille replacement.

I really haven't seen that many pre98 mystique mods o_O It'd be nice.
 
Side moldings are glued on. Pull them and rub off the remaining glue. Do a search on the old site and you should get all the info you need.

Paint issue- the paint under the moldings has not been exposed like the rest of the car all its life. If the car has even slightly faded paint it will be very noticable.
 
if the clearcoat was every reprayed, or painted, then there will be a clearcoat line around the edge of the dings. (racing stripes when removed!)
 
Yeah, make sure you peel a little off each door and check. I had one door that was resprayed and this was the result:

DSC00298.jpg



I had to sand it with 1500 grit and have someone buff it out. You can still see faded paint on all the doors and that door in particular, you can somewhat see the ridge but a good wax blends it out nicely.
 
yup.. they are stuck on with double sided tape... try and investigate as good as you can before you attempt to pull them off... I did 3 doors and all was good - until I got to the last door which was the drivers side.

Either the door was repainted prior to me buying it or the Wisconsin weathers took a toll and affected the paint underneath the strip. As I pulled the strip off the car it removed a large strip of paint down to bare metal and/or primer. There also was a small rust spot as well.

PICT0736.JPG


PICT0737.JPG


My bodyshop had to refinish the entire door for me.. :(
 
I did mine a couple months back. I don't regret it, I love the look, but I have to refinish my left doors. Previous owner told me he repainted only the front left fender.. guess he did both left doors as well :(

After a good buffing, no trace left.
guards1.jpg


And the other side:
guards4.jpg


Just a little strip of clearcoat and somewhat lighter paint.

Your thumb will kill. Grab some heavy duty gloves and a hair dryer and go at it.
 
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