In my never ending quest to make my car wonderful, a few projects have now somewhat backfired. This past week due to the vehicles previous owner hitting everything in sight (no really, mainly stone chips), I decided to get my front bumper repainted. The place as to where I have always gone did a great job. The only thing is that the front red tint seems to be off, it seems to have a pinker hue. I do not know if it would ever 'tone down'. I plan on driving back to the business as soon as the Dallas weather clears up.......To get to my reason for this post, I also decided to purchase after market painted side moldings to match the red color (which they do perfectly). I had those placed on this past Friday. Needless to say, after asking the forum previously, I agree with those who HATE THEM. While they are a great necessity, they just seem to ruin the beautiful sleek lines of the XK. QUESTION? First, it is cold outside, so the car is in my garage somewhat cold as well. The body side moldings are solid and not flexable. I want to get them off asap. What would you guys do? Use a hair dryer as a warm removal, or how about wd-40 as the cold method? NO MATTER WHAT, I do not want to scratch the paint or DAMAGE the clearcoat with chemicals (i.e. WD40). Professional guys/gals, your thoughts please?

 

Hey there, first heat them up with a hair dryer or similar to loosen the adhesive and carefully start to peel back ( fishing line or dental floss can be used here ) ...once finished its all about clean up and perhaps some polishing / buffing to get a good match to the surrounding areas.

Please see this link from the detailing section that should help.....

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=37102

 

Tim
Sometimes the paint with flex agent is very hard to match and the red probably is one of the worst. The heat gun will help soften the two sided tape, also a body shop supply company will have a plastic molding tool which will not scratch your paint. A good product that sign supply shops carry is a adhesive remover made specifically not to hurt your paint finish, also rubbing alcohol works but it takes a little more elbow grease. Be patience and go slowly and you won't destroy the molding, if bent to much it will crack the finish on the molding. I agree the cars look better without them, but that's my opinion.
Good Luck
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone

 

your paint/body shop should have matched it and known better before giving it back to you. I bet taking it down in the 'daylight' will make them admit their own error and offer to redo the spray.

 

I'm confused... Is this the same car that you're taking back to the dealer because the warranty is invalid?

 

Rev, I think the dealer remedied it by giving him another warranty, fix everything that is damaged or inoperational...and the OP is going to keep the car.

 

Awesome! I'm glad you're keeping the car, Tim!

 

Tim

Take you car back to the shop mid morning of early afternoon when you have good daylight and show the person that painted your car.A good painter should be able to blend the paint to more closely match your car.Just keep in mind if you want a perfect match you need to respray the entire car.Guys,don't jump down my throat about a good body shop should match the paint,I just said IF you want a perfect match.
I have my bumpers resprayed every couple of years and the process for the bumpers is a bit different due to the prep and paint used on them. I was lucky and found a guy who does magic in the spray booth.
As far a the trim,when you go back to your body shop ask them what they would charge to remove the trim.It is less risky because they take trim off all the time. But if you do choose to do it youself get 3M adhesive remover to help you with the job.Take your time and remember if you slip you may get your wish and have a perfect match when you take your car in for a total respray.

 

I agree it is going to be a judgement call. When a body panel is damaged a good body shop makes an effort to blend the paint with adjacent panels to fool the eye into missing the slight color imperfections that might be there. This is less often done with a bumper, because it is typcally in a different plane and lighting and shadows help mask the differences.

A good shop will respray it and get it closer for you. But absolute perfection may be elusive without a full repaint.

BTW, congrats. on your decison to keep the car...in the long run, I am betting you will be glad you did.

 

Yes, due to the fact that everything is/was straightened out with my warranty, I have an additional 3 years of a piece of mind 'wrap' warranty.

As soon as this Texas cold spell is over, and when we get a sunny day, I will be taking it back to show the Body Shop that did the work the coloration difference.

I was able to use a hair dryer this morning to remove the door moldings. They were placed on the car last Friday, and even though is has been cold, I wanted to get them off asap. Luckily, I did not have to use any additional chemicals. Maybe because of the coldness the tape decided to stick to the molding instead of the car.
Thank goodness!

I am getting there by babysteps!

 

are you talking about these side moldings?



i want to remove them, but a pro car builder told me the color will be way darker underneath them

 

CAxk8
These are the moldings they're talking about. lt will depend if your paint is extremely faded or if the cars been repainted and if the moldings were removed when repainted. You could remove the small one and see if there is a difference. Be sure to check both sides.
Doug
2001 XKR Silverstone