Removing Caprice molding/trim what do you do under the tail lights?

Took a piece of trim off under the tail lights and there are screws showing, this isnt metal either so what do you guys do here when getting the smooth effect on your WB4's?

Here's how my 2 were done.

The body shop just filled over the screw heads.

Deadmanonduty wrote:

Here's how my 2 were done.

Looks great!

I wasnt planning on doing any painting...but with a white wagon its easy to match the color!

Did you take all the trim off yourself? The double-side sticky tape residue is hard to remove
and time consuming.

Anyone know a quick/ easy way to get it completely off the paintwork?

Nope, the guy I bought it from had removed it because it was faded (grey wagon), and there was alot of sticky residue left behind and it actually lifted the paint in a few very small areas! I took a half day with goo-gone, goof-off, mineral spirits, etc cleaning sticky residue because the previous owner had planned to "Flame" it. He took and made his flame designs out of masking tape, but left the masking tape on there for like 5 years! I had tape, residue, glue, everywhere. It was literally a half day project. Finally a clay bar seemed to work real good on the real hard stuff. It was a major headache.

The whole car had "overspray" on it, so I spent most of a day clay baring the WHOLE car, and then polishing it, and then finally waxing it. They even had overspray on all the windows (inside and outside) It was not fun, but worth it! I might have a set of these corners that you need.......I'll look, but I think I'm thinking of the ones I installed and had sprayed to match the car. These turned out better than I thought, the body shop used some urethane adhesive to hold them tight, because the screws made them buckle and look bulged. They look great now. Hope the pics helped!

Yes it helped, thanks!

I took a half day with goo-gone, goof-off, mineral spirits, etc cleaning sticky residue

THIS is what Im dreading I wish there was a way to "whisk" it away, LoL

But Ive waited long enough to get that trim off, the vehicle's lines look so much better without that junk. I used some fishline to separate the trim from body but it leaves a whole lot of the sticky junk behind.

If more sticky tape stuck to the trim and not the wagon it would really help. I may take some pictures and post here later.

If anyone else would have some good ideas on how to make this easier pls post!

My best results were aerosol adhesive remover and WAIT, it softens the adhesive, and then you can wipe it right off. Its best to spray it and make sure it doesn't hurt the paint, and then start soaking the adhesive in the spray and give it time to work. Then it often just wipes right off in 2 steps.
You just have to start working on it. Its gonna take a bunch of time and messing around. Don't get in a rush, you will only screw things up.
Good luck!

A heat gun really helps too,. heat the glue residue hot enough to need gloves to handle it,. and use nylon fishing line in behind the molding and "saw" thru the adhesive and you won't tera any paint off,. i used urethane repair epoxy stuff and spread it under the tail lights and sanded it down and made it smooth then painted it,.
As for your comment about "white being easy to match",. good luck.

Nick

phantom 309 wrote:

A heat gun really helps too,. heat the glue residue hot enough to need gloves to handle it,. and use nylon fishing line in behind the molding and "saw" thru the adhesive and you won't tera any paint off,. i used urethane repair epoxy stuff and spread it under the tail lights and sanded it down and made it smooth then painted it,.
As for your comment about "white being easy to match",. good luck.

Nick

Nice Pics - so you guys also removed the Caprice badges from the tail gate - is that glued on too?

I have a heat gun and it gets pretty hot I use it for heat shrink tubing - no risk to the paintwork I suppose it gets hotter than that in the summertime!

I bought some stuff called Tarminator (Stoner) today at the NAPA, if it removes tar it should break down that sticky glue.

That was less than $6 a can - 3M adhesive/ decal remover was $41 a can!!

Thanks for the advice guys I will take my time and post some before and after pics.

Pleasure Trip wrote:

I bought some stuff called Tarminator (Stoner) today at the NAPA, if it removes tar it should break down that sticky glue.

That was less than $6 a can - 3M adhesive/ decal remover was $41 a can!!

And yet, gasoline is only $3.46 a gallon and works wonders......

Krzdimond wrote:

Pleasure Trip wrote:

I bought some stuff called Tarminator (Stoner) today at the NAPA, if it removes tar it should break down that sticky glue.

That was less than $6 a can - 3M adhesive/ decal remover was $41 a can!!

And yet, gasoline is only $3.46 a gallon and works wonders......

And if you smoke while you work after the fire is out and the smoke clears they will be "wondering" where you are!

Deadmanonduty wrote:

Nope, the guy I bought it from had removed it because it was faded (grey wagon), and there was alot of sticky residue left behind and it actually lifted the paint in a few very small areas! I took a half day with goo-gone, goof-off, mineral spirits, etc cleaning sticky residue because the previous owner had planned to "Flame" it. He took and made his flame designs out of masking tape, but left the masking tape on there for like 5 years! I had tape, residue, glue, everywhere. It was literally a half day project. Finally a clay bar seemed to work real good on the real hard stuff. It was a major headache.

The whole car had "overspray" on it, so I spent most of a day clay baring the WHOLE car, and then polishing it, and then finally waxing it. They even had overspray on all the windows (inside and outside) It was not fun, but worth it! I might have a set of these corners that you need.......I'll look, but I think I'm thinking of the ones I installed and had sprayed to match the car. These turned out better than I thought, the body shop used some urethane adhesive to hold them tight, because the screws made them buckle and look bulged. They look great now. Hope the pics helped!

Is the green wagon in your pics the same as the Gray wagon? Did you paint the tailpipe ends black? I like that.

No, those are 2 different cars

The green one I sold this Spring for $10K! It went to a good home, but I was sad seeing it go.

The Gray one I bought from a guy on impalassforum.com It was totally apart and interior was gutted. I put it all back together, and finished it. The tailpipes are stock location stock diameter pipes and I painted them with POR-15 hoping they would not rust, as they are the only part of the exhaust thats NOT stainless steel. The POR is staying on so far. I was afraid the heat would burn it off, but it didn't! I like the "Sleeper" look!

Happy New Year!  Time to resurrect a 6-yr old post.  

What holds the rear corner trim in place on a 1996 Caprice wagon?  Is it the same double-stick tape that is used on the vinyl beltline pieces?  I'm in the process of removing/replacing the trim, and I want to remove the corner pieces without damage.

Two sided tape.