Trim removal and polish....... From other site................

A few tools are needed. It comes down to technique mostly, but the right tools help a lot



Each piece of molding is different. I started with the front. The wheel opening trim comes off with a couple of screws in the wheel well. Then it has a tab that goes into the front spear. See the bottom right of this picture.





The spear itself is held on with posts that insert into a bushing in the fender.



Some of my bushings pulled out of the fender. These also break easily, so work slowly.



Use the putty knife and panel tool to pry these off. I used the putty knife to keep from denting the car.





some of the door trim and the tailgate trim is held at one or both ends with these acorn nuts.



Remove them slowly with a socket. And this is what you will have left.



Some ends are held with a phillips head screw. Pretty straight forward.



On the doors, rear quarters and tailgate you will find these little white clips. They do most of the attaching work. They are easy to separate from the trim. Start on the rear quarters.



These are held on with just the white clips.

Open the rear door and begin by carefully sliding the trim forward and aft to loosen it up and clean some of the junk out.



Put a little outward pressure on the trim piece and carefully touch each upper corner of the clip. The top will pop free.





Then keep the top at the same angle, push down (gently) and pull out on the bottom. It should then be free of the clip. Repeat at next clip.

The tailgate has the Phillips head screws on both ends and just white clips in the middle. Remove the screws and then treat it like the rear quarters. Once you get the feel for the white clips, most of the car will go quickly. If you damage the inserts that go into the front fender you can use drywall push in anchors to replace them (Thanks for the tip Tom). I had to use trim adhesive to re attach one front spear, but it seem to be working well.

If your trim still has the clear over the wood grain it will strip hard. Try to remove as much as you can. Next I used "Aircraft Stripper" from Autozone and got wood grain off the trim. Floats off pretty easy when you use the stripper. I then buffed each piece on my buffing wheel. If you had the time you could sand first with very fine paper and might get better results than I did.

It all popped back on pretty easy. I cleaned sanded and sprayed the end caps with a flat light gray paint to set off the trim.

GOOD LUCK and PM me if you have any questions.

wow.. amazing thread!.. im painting my agon hopefully this summer.. BIG help this is!

I can PM you with any question? Becasue I'm trying to figure out one of my best friends and she's a woman.

Just say the word or PM me and I will give you my phone number.........

Tim

I thought this trim was all stainless...... Turns out I was wrong. It is aluminum......

Tim

Tim,

On the drivers side rear door, there is that black washer thing on the inside holding the acorn nut on. How the heck do i get that off? It won't come off for anything.

Also, the small piece next to the rearview mirror, I broke both of the acorn nuts (yeah... I know) know of any suitable replacements?

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

I thought this trim was all stainless...... Turns out I was wrong. It is aluminum......

Tim

Does it need to be top coated because its aluminum?

Cadet57 wrote:

Tim,

On the drivers side rear door, there is that black washer thing on the inside holding the acorn nut on. How the heck do i get that off? It won't come off for anything.

Also, the small piece next to the rearview mirror, I broke both of the acorn nuts (yeah... I know) know of any suitable replacements?

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

I thought this trim was all stainless...... Turns out I was wrong. It is aluminum......

Tim

Does it need to be top coated because its aluminum?

I have never seen a washer, but it might be the bottom of the acorn nut broken off. try to bend it up and turn it up the post. Be careful not to break those posts. Not the rarest piece but you will have headaches replacing.

If it is just the acorn nuts that broke and not the plastic post, I think you can go to the hardware store and match up something. If you can use a little trim adhesive. I used some on my front spear it you would never know.

Tim

Thanks again Tim for this great thread. If I hadn't followed this on the other site I probably would have had a screwed up mess!

Jon

Tim; Thanks for the info. I sent you a PM with questions Thanks again for the pics!

Tim;
Did you repaint your brushed alum. mldgs ,or left them as is,with a clear coat? Thanks

Just polished............

Tim;

Wow, what a beautiful wagon man! That moulding is really lookin' good! Sorry for another question. After you buffed the mouldings yourself, what if any clearcoat brand did you use?

I see where Eastwood.com has a 18oz spray for about $13. I liked your trick using the putty knife to shield panel remover tool(found mine at Pep Boys(Dorman $6.50).
I discovered through my Local Chevy Part Counter, my broken gray clip on passenger front spear moulding only came with mldg.( not seperately.) Too bad mldg is discontinued. You can get the white plastic, rectangle snap over clips from Chevy(cheaper by NAPA by the bag)plus the small round, hole inserts are still GM avail. Also a 1850 W hair dryer wouldn't remove pesky woodgrain decals either, just the messy remover.
I'm kinda hesitant to buff myself, as one slip on wheel, and a very thin mldg. is ruined. Again thanks for your detailed photo info! And yes, the drywall insert would work. But I need a fender T bolt for the front spear clip I broke.

saltfevr wrote:

Tim;

Wow, what a beautiful wagon man! That moulding is really lookin' good! Sorry for another question. After you buffed the mouldings yourself, what if any clearcoat brand did you use?

I see where Eastwood.com has a 18oz spray for about $13. I liked your trick using the putty knife to shield panel remover tool(found mine at Pep Boys(Dorman $6.50).
I discovered through my Local Chevy Part Counter, my broken gray clip on passenger front spear moulding only came with mldg.( not seperately.) Too bad mldg is discontinued. You can get the white plastic, rectangle snap over clips from Chevy(cheaper by NAPA by the bag)plus the small round, hole inserts are still GM avail. Also a 1850 W hair dryer wouldn't remove pesky woodgrain decals either, just the messy remover.
I'm kinda hesitant to buff myself, as one slip on wheel, and a very thin mldg. is ruined. Again thanks for your detailed photo info! And yes, the drywall insert would work. But I need a fender T bolt for the front spear clip I broke.

I appreciate the comments on the old girl....... I did not clear coat. They are aluminum so pretty easy to polish up anytime with some Mothers Mag Polish. I had to use the Aircraft stripper and a buffing wheel. Need to replace one piece that a wrinkled with the buffer. The drywall insert is Tom's (Silverfox103) idea not mine. The corner clips are VERY tough to remove without breaking. If you can get to the back and push them out without denting the fender it works well. 3M trim adhesive does wonders to replace the "T" clip in the corner. I thought about drilling out one with no "stud" in it and replacing with something else. A little epoxy would do the trick.

I have TONS of trim if you should bend a piece. PM me if you have issues and I will get a price to you.

Tim

Tim;

Thanks for the quick reply and trim offer! Also ,I appreciate the Mothers Polish tip! Have a Safe & Happy 4th.

saltfevr wrote:

Tim;

Thanks for the quick reply and trim offer! Also ,I appreciate the Mothers Polish tip! Have a Safe & Happy 4th.

I'll second the Mothers suggestion. Get it on there, but not too thick, and rub it in left to right until a nice black paste forms. Then buff it out with a clean cloth. It shines up VERY nice.

Tim:

I sent you a PM. Mon. July 5.
Thanks

Hey Tim, any way to reload these pictures in this thread? I'm new here, just picked up a '92 RMW and I am thinking of doing the same thing you describe in this thread.

Thanks,
Steve

I will try! Thanks allot Photobucket!!

Thank you for this very helpful thread as I replace the woodgrain vinyl on my 1996 RMW.

When removing the trim, the clip at the front of the spear broke. It just would not budge, even with the cornering light out. I need to find one -- does anyone have one for sale? @bigblackbeasst ? Anyone else? Or, does anyone know the part number?