I am in the process of restoring a 1991 Z-28 convertible and my door moldings are a bit weathered. They are red and they seem to be red throughout and not painted? Is there a way to restore them? I was curious if they could be buffed out or will I have to paint to match? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

I've heard of people painting them, but I don't know how well that holds up. In my opinion, they should be removed prior to repaint so that new tape can be applied to the back after paint. This will give the repaint a more professional look. Be careful removing them. I heard there is metal inside them that helps them maintain their shape. If you bend the internal metal, it distorts the molding.

Hopefully someone that's done this will respond with more accurate info as mine is all speculation and hearsay.

 

Thank you, yes I will be taking them off just curious if buffing would help. I know they are impossible to find new,

 

They will shrink eventually after being painted and this will cause the clear to come off like the shell of a bug. A single stage paint may do better for this. All
vinyl products shrink....not that Camaro airbags shrink and curl at the corners.

 

 

I sanded and polished mine. It takes time but they come out pretty nice. I posted pictures on here someplace.

 

I will see if I find the pics. Thanks

 

I have painted them many times, with zero durability issues. It's all in the prep and the quality of the paint.

And yes, they have a metal strip in them. To remove, pull them out from the body, but only enough to cut the tape with a SHARP razor blade. If you pull outward too far, they will curl. If you pull upward or downward at all, they will bend. Getting them straight again is a royal pain in the butt.

 

 

I forgot to mention, removing them in warmer weather helps a bunch too. And when they are removed, lay them somewhere where they can lay flat. Sitting on an irregular surface, they can easily start to deform after a while, making them harder to re-install.

 

[QUOTE= All vinyl products shrink....not that Camaro airbags shrink and curl at the corners. [/QUOTE]

I hope mad is ok with my sidetrack I'm about to do. What is the recommended fix for the air bag thing? I'm hoping it's not to just replace the air bag.

 

I wetsanded and buffed mine as well, they had turned brownish-pink over time (my car is white). Took FOREVER and a TON of masking tape to make sure I didn't go through the surrounding paint on the door. It's been 3 years though and they still look great!

 

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...t-molding.html

 

 

Hi, I took my airbag off and trimmed off the plastic sticking out and also most of the plastic behind where you press for the horn. Then you don't have to press so hard to honk the horn which probably makes the fragile horn buttons last longer. Once the excess hard plastic is removed the edges of the bag on both sides can kind of be bent back to where they should be and seem to be happy to stay there. Hope it works out for you
Henry