fixing black bumper strip on stainless trim BRMW?

Hey all, getting my new wagon cleaned up. Several of the black rubber strips on my stainless are falling off. I have read many suggesting using windshield adhesive to reattach. I am wondering if anyone has had luck straightening these back up. A couple of mine were hanging on the end and now have a significant bend. I am afraid if I don't have them good and straight, the adhesive is less likely to hold them in place. Ideas for straightening a bent/curved piece? ideas besides 3m tape or windshield adhesive for reattaching? Thanks

Large baking sheet. Place in warm oven. This helps make them pliable so you can stretch them back to proper length and shape.

3m foam tape is the best method.

thanks Lance, So they are pliable enough to bend into circle to fit in oven and don't try to maintain that curve (from putting into a circle shape) once you remove them? Any suggestions on what is best to clean off the adhesive left on the backs of them and on the stainless? Will pretty much any adhesive remover work?

Yes they are slightly pliable and you can coil them.  Coil them and put the oven on WARM or lowest temp you have.  

To remove adhesive, I lay them in the sun sticky side up and pour "Goof Off" and work the adhesive off with my thumbs (it hurts after a while).  Same with the stainless that is left on the wagon.

Now that I think about it, I have never tried warming them first and then removing the adhesive; it may work better!

Let us know how you come out.

i use a razor blade to remove the original adhesive or the crappy two sided tape everybody uses,.
i don't care if i gouge it up a bit with the blade,

i make sure the pvc strip is also roughed up with some 40grit,.( or a dremel)
I personally also rough up the stainless trim some what in the center 1/2" or so,.
don't do this if you are thinking of doing a black strip delete and polish later,.

Wipe everything down 2-3 times with thinners, or rubbing alcohol (watch the paintjob eh?)
I put the strip in hot water first, ( wife gets aggravated when i use the bath tub for this)
i put 4-5 masking tape strips down on the table at 90 deg to the strip (sticky side up of course),
lay the strip on them, put a bead of urethane down the center on the car side,
then i use the strips to hold it in place,.

on cool days (lord knows we have a enough of them around here)
i use my heat gun to heat up the stainless pretty hot first,
helps if you have an assistant for the really long strips,(stretch them abit, it makes them straighter and they'll contract back , but don't stretch them 3 ft longer than stock,..lol)

The heat gun is the trick, it'll keeps things really pliable till you have them stretched and straight,.

my personal experience,
yellow trim adhesive sucks,.
Two sided tape always fails after repeated heat cycles of extreme cold and hot days,.
black silicone will work for the summer,.
Marine goop works great but a pain to remove the excess after its dried,.
windshield urethane adhesive is just about permanent, and being black, it hides well,.
YRMV

Thanks so Much guys. I will let you know how it goes. I have been using a razor on the back sides and have been able to do it without gouging them so far.

Theres a video some place of Fred putting this on at a WagonFest,I think...He made it look really easy. Im guessing hes done it a few times.

The easiest way to go is to get a roll of replacement black rubber stripping. There is enough in the package to do a whole wagon, with some left over. Take a piece of yours to any body shop supply store, and they can order it for you. It is a little thinner than the oem stuff, but not enough to really matter. The best part is that it already has a double side adhesive tape attached, so no need to mess with stretching, swearing, pleading, etc. with the old stuff. I think I paid $50 or so for the box (it comes on one big roll) and 2 plus years later it all is still holding on just fine. My wagon came with trim that was less than perfect, and as I found better trim and replaced it, I put on the new black strips. It cuts easily with a razor knife or heavy scissors (I think I have also used small garden pruning shears).

Mark 96 Roady,

Do you have a product name for the black rubber stripping so I can tell the parts manager at the body shop? I found a product by Pacer Products 25-515 but is only 13' long for $30+. Would need two of these.

Chris

Protecto trim products are what is listed on the box. I'm not at home right now, so I can't give you any more information than that. I got mine at a mid sized local body supply shop. It was not in stock, but they had no problem ordering it for me. I think it took about a week to come in. Like I said before, it works great, and is so much easier than trying to get the old stuff to stick.

My old stuff was in pretty good shape. It definitely involved some prep time cleaning things up. I used the urethane. That stuff aint cheap. But it went on great. I used some painters tape to hold it up overnight and pulled off all the tape in the morning. Looks good. If I had a bunch of pieces missing, I would consider ordering a replacement. Will keep that in mind should I get another wagon. thanks for all the tips.