Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Anyone ever put the side moldings BACK ON?

ok so after looking at alot of other cars on this forum I decided that I was gonna bite the bullet and pull off my moldings to make the car look alot cleaner.. Part of me was always afraid that I was going to find something scary under there as I am now the cars' 3rd owner and the last owner beat the snot outta that car before he spun a bearing and called it quits.

I sorta pulled them up in a few places to see how they were and it all looked decent so I decided to go for it today after work...

All went well and then I encountered this.. and the kicker is that this was the very last molding that I pulled off





I'm thinking that perhaps the door was repainted as the paint came off in large thick chunks and there was a bit of rust present as well.

on a side note the rest looked pretty darn sexy once I cleaned the rest of the grime/tape and goo off..




I figure that I could apply some adhesive promoter, new 3M tape and re-apply the moldings - and lastly cover the missing paint areas with touch up paint I'm hoping that would leave only me knowing what happened - but I'm not sure I want to put them back on or feel that they will once again lay flat..

Can I possibly just get away with getting 1 door refinished and hoping that it all matches? This car is just my daily beater so I'd rather not spend a ton of money but I do really enjoy driving the car and all the looks it gets.

Argh.. poopy day

svt daily beater, uhmm okay . It does look good, I would repaint the door. They are just gonna shoot color over the small area they have to work on and clear the rest of the door. If the shop is any good they should match no prob.

Check with your buddies and see who they use. Everybody has an opinion about shops they've used. I've been using the same dealership for the past 20 years (4 kids plus myself) and they do great work. I've had other places do stuff for me and it looked like crap. I just did some checking and came up with the good guys. Refinish the door.

I dont think they will want to repaint the entire thing, but they may want to blend from the front wheel back down that entire side.

if your putting the moldings back on you should really order new ones. they will not go back on straight once they have been removed. they are not all that expensive. i replaced the same one you are having a problem with on my car and i think it cost me about $40.

The problem with the 99+ molding is they are a different design. On my 98.5 the molding is rounded, sort of follows the look of the car. The later molding is flat and has sharper lines. Doesn't match the car right at all, IMHO.

I would think that after all the work you've had done to your Cougar, you should certainly know who to go to for bodywork and paint. I'd think they'd also give you some help pricewise for all the work you've given them. (Mine does.)

always the driver side...