Roady Wagon Tail Gate Stainless Trim Damaged, and family fun....

Not sure how it could be shipped....it's a pretty long piece of trim, but I'm on the lookout for some new trim, and if you see a good one, please grab it.

Ok here's how it got damaged..... If you've seen my recent postings with all the kiddos in them, well thought I'd share what's up. One of my good friends that I've known since high school is in the middle of a bad seperation. She's moved away and is job hunting out of state, and her husband is out of work here, and their kids are here with him, so money is very tight and the mood there is not good at all.... They miss their Mom terribly, their Dad is in the dumps about the seperation and being out of work...and well, you get the idea.

I've been around her three kids their entire lives, they are GREAT KIDS, ages 12-14-16. I really love them like my own, and this is all really hard on them, so in an effort to help out and keep their mood up, we've somewhat taken them in. They're in school and living with their Dad in South Austin during the week, but I'm getting them on the weekends, making sure to feed them a lot, planning camping, hiking, biking and such stuff to stay occupied...so lately I've had 5 kids running around....and it may be this way for a long time to come.

Well the kids all love my wagon, and fight over who gets to sit in the 3rd row, they all love riding backwards. They also have developed a habit of climbing in and out through the rear window without opening the tail gate. Such fun...and this is the issue.

ANYWAY it seems the lower stainless trim on the tail gate is now shallowly dented in three places. I know it's from their shoes kicking it when getting in and out of the car standing on the bumper. I'm guessing it's thin stainless... I'm not yelling or making a big deal of it, they have enough issues in their lives, but have asked that they PLEASE open the tailgate before getting in, and not climb in and out over they gate...but again, kids are kids, and I've caught them still taking their "shortcut".

Anyway the gate trim dents are shallow, but they're there, from an angle you really see them, and most of you know me....it bothers me I'd like a non-dented trim panel to replace mine later on, so please be on the lookout for me!

I'm picking the kiddos up after work Friday and we're going to Dallas for the weekend. Laser Tag with my nephew Sat afternoon and then going to The Galaxy Drive-In in Ennis for a double-feature that night. Will post wagon pics from the drive-in next week I hope. Should be fun!

Life is never boring gang. You never know what's going to happen next.

-Mike

It,s only a car,.and it,s nice you are foster fathering these kids,.i,m sure the wagon will be imprinted on them,..

Nick
oh,.put some airbags in that thing for sure now,.

phantom 309 wrote:

It,s only a car,.and it,s nice you are foster fathering these kids,.i,m sure the wagon will be imprinted on them,..

Nick
oh,.put some airbags in that thing for sure now,.

I know it's just a car...and I'm using it for what it was designed for. Not griping, just trying to fix the issues as they come up, and trying not to get worked up over some scratches and wear inside and out.

So few kids have even seen a wagon today I like that these kiddos will have the same riding-backwards memories that I do!




And with my new variable-rate springs in the back it doesn't need airbags! Loaded up it still sits fine! But you can kind of see the dents in the trim in the pic above and below.



Such fun,

-Mike

Might want to wait on replacing that lower trim until things get back to normal around your
house.You're a good man for helping these kids thru their tramatic times.Wagon sits great by
the way!

81X11 wrote:

The kid in the third seat seat looks just like you,..cept without glasses,.

Nick

phantom 309 wrote:

81X11 wrote:

The kid in the third seat seat looks just like you,..cept without glasses,.

Nick

Hahahaha

Flasheroo wrote:

Might want to wait on replacing that lower trim until things get back to normal around your
house.You're a good man for helping these kids thru their tramatic times.Wagon sits great by
the way!

I just want a good one in the garage for later on. For now I'll live with it.

Thought about getting one of those glue-on dent puller things, saw one at Pep Boys. Don't know if those work but thought it might be worth a shot to get the dents out, or at least make them less noticable. Anyone ever use one of those? Is it a waste of money??

ALSO Jonathan popped one of the rear 1/4 windows open and it broke off the dang mount again. I used rear-view mirror adheasive last time, and that obviously doesn't work. Am considering super glue, 3M mounting tape, or gorilla snot. Any advice on this "fix" is welcome.

-Mike

Heck, everything has been said here already, EXCEPT for the fact that you have kids in and out of the back end of that thing daily, WHY do you NOT have a few extra sets of rear flap windows?? They have to be dirt cheap in the boneyards.

jimbeau wrote:

Heck, everything has been said here already, EXCEPT for the fact that you have kids in and out of the back end of that thing daily, WHY do you NOT have a few extra sets of rear flap windows?? They have to be dirt cheap in the boneyards.

How do you remove them without damaging the mounts? Anyone done it? If it's cake I'll for sure grab some next time I hit the yards.

might wanna try the dry ice trick if they are shallow dents....

Sprocket wrote:

might wanna try the dry ice trick if they are shallow dents....

Yes the dry ice does work on the stainless trim,I've done it with great success. Pick a nice hot day and apply the dry ice directly on the hot/warm stainless trim, slowly move it around the dent, the metal will go back to it's original shape, it will make some odd sounds. You may have to let it warm up again and repeat this process a few times before the dent fully disappears be patient. wear a glove to handle the dry ice.

You know that is also the one piece of trim I need also. Thing is I also need the clips also. There is even a little bit of concrete embedded in mine.

Ancient_1 wrote:

... There is even a little bit of concrete embedded in mine.

What in the world did you back in to?

It wasn't me, it was the previous owner. Whatever it was they hit it pretty hard since it also put two foot long tears in the bumper cover also.

buickestate wrote:

Sprocket wrote:

might wanna try the dry ice trick if they are shallow dents....

Yes the dry ice does work on the stainless trim,I've done it with great success. Pick a nice hot day and apply the dry ice directly on the hot/warm stainless trim, slowly move it around the dent, the metal will go back to it's original shape, it will make some odd sounds. You may have to let it warm up again and repeat this process a few times before the dent fully disappears be patient. wear a glove to handle the dry ice.

Will give that a shot.

81X11 wrote:

jimbeau wrote:

Heck, everything has been said here already, EXCEPT for the fact that you have kids in and out of the back end of that thing daily, WHY do you NOT have a few extra sets of rear flap windows?? They have to be dirt cheap in the boneyards.

How do you remove them without damaging the mounts? Anyone done it? If it's cake I'll for sure grab some next time I hit the yards.

Your suppose to pop the roll pins out of the hinges and push the hinge pins out to remove them. At the yard I usually put a large screw drive through the hinge and pry it apart then pop the hinge pins. Never do the screw driver trick on your own car, it cracks the hinges.

I think I have a couple of tailgate trim pieces in good condition. I can ship them in custom boxes. $45 each. I have one complete set of trim minus the front fender pieces. I even have some clips.

I also have a glue on dent puller.

Talk about bringing back an OLD thread, but I finally found some good rear tailgate stainless trim, and had it polished. When doing my rebuild from the deer-damage I want to replace this piece too. That said, HOW do I get it off??? It seems glued on!

I just did a search and am not finding a good answer!

-Mike

It's been a few years Mike, but here goes. I believe there might be a screw on either end of the chrome. You would then lift up the chrome from the bottom, so that the top would come off of the clips.

Tom

silverfox103 wrote:

It's been a few years Mike, but here goes.  I believe there might be a screw on either end of the chrome.  You would then lift up the chrome from the bottom, so that the top would come off of the clips.

Tom

Correct, one screw. I removed it...trim does not move at all... Grrrr.. Will try again tonight.

-Mike

Remember..there is a screw on the drivers side AND one of those push clips (like you have on the front spear) on the pass side. Start on the drivers side after the screw is out...and gently pull up on the trim piece and then pull the top out to pop it off the clip. Work your way to the pass side until you can get a helper to push the pin out as you reach the end.  Hope that makes sense?

Thanks a TON!! Just what I needed!

Love this Group. Lifesavers All!

-Mike

Great info Tom and Chris. I need to remove/replace the curved trim that goes under the rear lights on a RMW...what's the correct way to remove those? Anyone have a decent spare set they wish to sell?

I have a set. they were screwed on under the rubber. There really is no "correct" way to remove them. The clips are so brittle, that when you push the tabs in, they will break. There are 4 pins with tabs on each side. You have to take the tail light off to get to them.

Thanks for the reply Fred. I will send you a PM re the set you have. If anyone happens to have pictures of the removal of the curved section under the lights please post...as you can all appreciate finding clips for these beasts is becoming difficult...as such correct removal of the various trim items goes along way.

John

Fred is correct, you can't help but break those clips. I use the screwdriver type, forked tool to remove, but the clips still will break. To fix the clips, I snap off the tree thingie, that will be broke. They are very brittle. Then drill a hole (if necessary) and then put a door panel type tree into the hole. That way it will be secured to the original holes in the bumper cover.


Tom

silverfox103 wrote:

John

Fred is correct, you can't help but break those clips.  I use the screwdriver type, forked tool to remove, but the clips still will break.  To fix the clips, I snap off the tree thingie, that will be broke.  They are very brittle.  Then drill a hole (if necessary) and then put a door panel type tree into the hole.  That way it will be secured to the original holes in the bumper cover.


Tom

That is a FANTASTIC idea! I too broke those clips while removing the rear bumper. Now I know how to re-install them this weekend. Awesome!!

-Mike

The ones on my RMW have been there probably 10 years like that.

Tom

NOTE TO MODS, this thread should really be moved to the BODY section, ha! Thanks in Advance if you can!

Just an update, as part of my Deer-Strike repairs, in the Photos and Videos section, I was finally able to remove the rear trim and install my new trim piece. Thanks ALL for the tips and advice!

New-to-me trim above (just got it back from being polished here), missing the black rub-strip, and old dented trim below (dent is about 10-inches front the right side under the black rusb-strip.


Removed the black rubstrip CAREFULLY with a heat gun from the backside with my son pulling the strip off from the front, and re-attached to the new trim with grey 3M mounting tape:

To remove the old trim, Had to CAREFULLY pry off this plastic trim. Has a screw on the driver's side and this plastic stud on the passenger side. Why GM Why??


Driver's side unscrews. Simple!


Once I got the driver's side unscrewed, I CAREFULLY lifted upwards on the trim as advised, and moving from left-to-right was able to pop the trim off the plastic clips, and then I used a window-crank removal tool to pry the stud/clip off the passenger side. SO HAPPY it didn't break! I removed both the clips attached to the trim itself and installed them on my new trim.

Was disgusted to find 20-years worth of dirt hiding under there! I keep my car clean ALWAYS, all this is from pre-2008!! GROSS!


What a mess! At least the clips didn't break when removing!


Cleaned and waxed area behind the trim.


New non-dented and polished replacement trim installed. Re-used black rub strip from original trim, and as most of you know these trim pieces shrink, so as I'd done in the past I cut out some black vinyl stickers to complete the black line. Looks GOOD!


Repainted rear bumper cover re-installed too. Looks good from the back again! I took Tom's advice and used push-clips to re-attach the corner trim to the bumpers. Drilled out where the old ones male studs were and pushed in new clips from the backside, and then re-installed the clips to the trim. Should have got pics, sorry! That said, I found the doorpanel Christmas Tree clips to really be too short, so used spare black push-clips that originally were used to hold the fiberglass a/c condenser trim pieces on up front. If I find a spare clip, I'll post a pic, but you can get them at NAPA.


Oh and off-topic, but you might like this tip while you are working back here. This was my idea for the upper rear bumper step-pad area...bedliner paint! Hopefully that will hold up to all the kids that want to ride in the tailgunner seat! Easy to do this!




Thanks Again All for the tips and help!

-Mike