I have those ugly bars on my door that are supposed to protect against dings and Id like to take them off but Im not real sure how they are held on and how the 26 year old paint will look under them. The rest of the paint is fine and I dont want an ugly place. Suggestions?

 

Take them off just before you get the car painted.

 

+1 these cars look sooo much better without them, but the rest of the paint will def be faded and ull prolly have to deal with cleaning glue and what not off the door prolly mess up the paint

 

to take them off, get some fishing line, string, or anything like this and just slide it back and forth behind the bar to break the adhesive glue holding it on.
however the paint under there will probably look much better then the rest of the paint.

 

I was more worried about the paint under the bars. My paint isnt faded at all and if it is its faded very very little and still has a incredible shine for being 26 years old. Im the second owner and the owner before me was a freak about it. It always lived in a garage and it was never a daily driver and he was meticulous with maintaing the whole car so other than the few spider cracks on the front bumper its paint is beautiful. I used to work in a body shop so Im good at getting stuff like that and the glue off I just wanted to make sure they werent held on with a screw anywhere.

 

Take one of the smaller pieces off on either end of the door to start...

If it looks hideous simply re-apply.

 

Yeah I guess I can always put them back on lol!

 

Pulling the moldings off is real easy-getting the foam tape off of the paint is really hard. I pulled some of the paint off my door getting mine off. The only good way to get the tape off is to use an eraser wheel on a buffer/grinder.

 

I figured thatd be the way to do it and I think I have access to one and Ive used one before so that shouldnt be an issue.

 

take them off and sell them to me!

 

Why would you want 'em? lol

 

Depends on what kind you have. On my '82 the door strips are riveted on. You would have to pull the rubber molding off the metal strip and then drill the rivets out. Not sure when they started using the adhesive backing.

 

Someone asked why my car didn't have them. I checked the RPO codes and they were not included on my car from the factory...

I have removed them from other cars in the past with no issues...

 

The adhesive is a pain to remove

After the fishing line takes the strip off, use a hair dryer or leave the car in the sun for a while

It will rub off slowly, use your thumbnail on the difficult areas
A coarse threaded rag will help

If you STILL have problem areas, Gum & Tar remover works well without damaging the paint

 

The smoother looking stick on ones didn't come around untill 86 or 87. Before that like 1982TA said, they were riveted on. On my buddies old 85 TA they had one rivet on each fender piece and three on the door itself. Was a pain in the *** to take off.

Why people will respond with "fact" if they've never worked on the car in question is beyond me...

 

I would not really recommend taking them off. Sure it may look good, but what happens when two days after you took it off, you dent the door because it didn't have the bumper there? You can be as careful as can be, but sooner or later, someone will open a door into yours or you will open the door into something.

They saved my door and paint many times already. Just something to think about

 

Ive thought about some one denting it with them off but it doesnt get driven that much and im super careful about where I park and opening the door. Apparently the '82 had rivets though so they will probably stay on until the car goes to paint someday. Its still super beautiful now but in the next few years the spider cracks in the bumpers will show up and need attention and Ill paint it. Theyll come off then probably.

 

The rivets shouldn't be much of a problem to fix, just put some body filler in and sand it smooth. You could do it and have a body shop paint that area to match the car, but that will take some money and possibly not look amazing.

Crap happens even when you are being careful. I was thinking about how ridiculous the previous owner of my car was to drive over a curb with it. I got in and pulled out of my parking spot. On my way out I drove over the curb next to it that I had forgotten about .

 

I might take mine off if a better deal on a T/A or Z28 doesn't come up, the drivers side has already started to come off anyway...

 

Im not screwing with body filler and paint until I have to like I said other than a couple spider cracks that pretty much only I can see is real nice. If they werent riveted on id yank them off but o well in the next few years Ill cross that bridge.

 

My car doesn't have RPO's for the moldings either. I've been trying to figure out the part number for mine since I know they made several different kinds, even in '82. I've been told that they were a dealer installed option. 90% of all early Thirdgen's I've seen have the same riveted on type, as well as other GM cars. My dad has an '84 cutlass with the same style, with just minimal differences. Aftermarket ones are always the stick on type. I always wondered how they would stop dings...seems dings on my door are always above or below the molding

 

You can remove them & put on the newer moldings that are self adhesive to cover the rivet holes. That way your doors are still safe.

 

My 83 had the thin black strip and there were no rivets. I peeled it off and it took paint off with it...

 

glad i read the whole thread, i was going to post that.
even if you dont do it now, when you paint the car, i think it would be a great appearance mod to replace them with the 90-92 style bumpers.
i know they made my car for me.
the older metal/rubber versions only look good if they are on a mint condition factory car, IMO.