Successful Body Side Moldings Installation

Whew! It's done. After nerve-rackingly measuring and remeasuring, we finally braved removing the tape backing on the moldings and did the deed. We too used Boo's measurements along with Rokeby's instructions and they all came out great! I've attached a photo.

 

Nice job, Ailu.

ZC1

 

Ailu,

Well done. I'm glad I was able to help.

For the record. The rain that fell some 5 hrs. after I installed my moldings
does not appear to have affected the adhesion. The moldings are stuck tight,
this after a day parked in 100 deg F. direct sun.

 

I just got mine and the instructions that come with it are from the bottoms of the doors, 15" at the front and 15 3/4" at the rear. I guess this is the same as Rokeby's except his measurements are from the bottom of the car, is that correct?

I really want to get these on, but am very leery of the exact measurement. I wish there were a line in the side of the doors that these were going just above or just below.

How hard was it to tape this piece of wood to the car and make it stay in place. The wood seems like a good idea, but it seems to me, that would take a lot of effort to get the wood to stay where it needs to be.

 

QuiGonJohn,

Although I don't remember where the measurements start, I reread
my earlier postings and I said then that the measurements are from
the bottom of the door, so that's what I'm sticking with. These
measurements bring the moldings up closer to the the widest point
of the out-swelling of the door skin.

The batten is 3 in. wide so that it can supported at its ends and
remain straight with no sag in the middle. I taped them to the car
with sort of straps made of blue, low-tack masking tape.

The straps themselves were made of two pieces of tape each
maybe 5 in. long, connected adhesive side-to-adhesive side. This
way there was adhesive against the car, and as the strap turned
upwards as it came around the bottom of the batten, there was
adhesive to stick to the batten, and then above the batten, to the
tape against the door panel. When this second end was stuck to
the first end already adhered to the door panel, the strap formed a
loop with the batten supported securely in its lower end.

Fiddle with some pieces of tape and I'm sure you'll see what I'm
trying to describe. Once you have it in hand, you'll see how simple
it really is.

Hope this helps.

 

The door bottom slopes up from the very front to the very back door, measured from the garage floor, just checked.

Recently I applied the molding 15 1/4" from the bottom of the doors to the top of the molding. Problem solved for me

I used two strips of regular masking tape since the blue tape fell off. Must have put on wax before applying the molding, not sure now. One strip for the top limit and one for the bottom of the molding so I would only clean the area needed to be cleaned with alcohol and that prep paste.

Once I taped it, I remeasured to the top, 15 1/4" about every 4-5" and if it was off, I made a pencil mark on the tape. I also marked where to start them. Or, re attached the tape. By the way, the molding is stiff enough that it doesn't sag enough up or down its width. Also sighted down the tape lines between the two doors for noticeable dips. Once satisfied, cleaned, prepped and applied the moldings. It came out great, no dips in the middle or ends.

Just don't rush it.

 

Charles, so you did 15 1/4" from the bottom of the doors to the top of the molding, uniformly from front to back. Then the natural rise in the door height you mentioned, gave you a corresponding rise in the height of the molding, if measured from the ground. Do I have that right?

BTW, I was thinking of putting tape above and below the 1 1/4" where the molding is to go. That way I can be sure not to use that stuff in an area beyond the molding.

Do you have a pic of how it came out?

 

Yes, you have that right

No, not yet But, give me a nice day and will post some pictures here, so check back.

That little tube that comes with the molding for a prep or glue after the alcohol cleaning is a bit short on the amount so don't put much on in the beginning. I did one side at a time without rushing it.

I have seen a couple of Prius pictures with people doing an accent color molding. That can look nice too. I did mine before or I may have done that myself

 

Yes, they really should have given us 2 tubes, 1 on each side. My plan is to get both sides measured & taped first. Then clean both sides with the alcohol pads. Then use the tube on both sides. After that, then I'll place the moldings.

 

Post no longer needed

 

Let's try this post

 

Looks nice. I think I will follow your measurements, except I think I will lower it just a smidgeon, probably 15" to the top of the molding. Will make placing the top tape easier and I use a magnetic sign on the sides of my car for business. That should give the extra space I need to still be able to place the signs.

Guess you need to see if you can delete the post with the non-thumbnails, now that you got it working with thumbnails.

 

Yes, the measurement is not in concrete
Just don't rush it, set it up, sight down on it, and do it.
A couple of more suggestions I overlooked:
1. Start from the hinge side for the back door so you have an exact setback from it as stated in the directions. The passenger door, start from the door handle side.

2. Somewhat critical: before you start, the protective tape on the back is in 2 pieces and the two segment is just taped together. That tape will not pull off that short segment as you attach the molding and pulling off the protective tape, segment by segment; then, it is difficult to get that short segment off, so peal some of that short segment back and fold it down before you start so it can be grabbed and continued to pull it back. Once the molding is applied, it is hard or impossible to remove to adjust.
Hope this makes sense to you. If not, PM me.

 

Well I finally put on my molding and I am happy with how it came out. Here are some pics. Also a pic showing the Hatchback Closing Handle I mounted to the license plate and the rear bumper protector.

How I wound up doing the molding was as follows. First off, I measured and found the top line of the natural trim line that is a part of the door rises ½" from front to rear, as measured from the bottom of the doors. So I decided to make my molding match that so it would be parallel to that trim line. I chose 14 ½" at the front and 15" at the rear (for the top of the molding). I marked these off and then was able to use the blue painters tape to put a nice straight line between the 2 marks. I found a yellow highlighter worked great for placing the marks, you could easily see it, yet it wiped off the car easily. I then measured at the same front and rear points, but 1 ¼" lower, for the bottom of the molding and taped it as well. I then masked off both spaces where the doors meet, (1/8" on the front door and ¼" on the rear door). Then holding each piece of molding in place, we masked of the bullet ends of the molding. This left us with an open painted surface, exactly where the molding would go. This was to make it easier to prep the location with the alcohol pad as well as the tube of adhesive activator. Once both sides had been wiped with the alcohol pads, I used the tube on both sides, then we peeled the strip off the adhesive of each piece, lined it up with the top portion of the tape and slowly rotated it down into place, then repeated the process for all 4 pieces of molding. All this went quite well and I was fortunate to have someone helping me who made it go much easier. The only down side I really came across concerns the tube of adhesive activator. After crushing it some leaked out, I was not expecting this or ready for it. This made it real sparse prepping the last portion of space, but I was able to apply it to all the necessary surface.

 

Looks great No two tone job here, I se, blends in like all the others A red stripe would have look awesome
Did you by chance wipe the bumper off with alcohol where the glue pads go? Some in the past had problems with the protector coming off too easily. I did and it holds very well.

 

On my bumper protector? No I did not alcohol wipe first, (I did this a couple weeks before the molding, so I hadn't learned as much yet). But I did wipe the area clean and I added some of my own 3M double-sided tape, (that is meant for auto applications), in areas that did not have the tape already on it. Down the center left to right and along the left and right edges. Seems to be holding quite well so far.

 

John,

I think that was a good idea of yours to put extra 3M auto tape on.

I did the alcohol wipe first, and as I've posted elsewhere, my bumper protector still ended up popping and bowing slightly at the center of the ends.

It doesn't look bad (it's hardly noticeable ... I'm probably the only one who's noticed it), but when the weather warms up I'll have to see what I can do to make the ends lie completely flat again.

 

Hello all:

Just a newbie here that's been lurking.

I'm going to have body side moldings installed by an independent installer who also does a lot of work for my local Toyota dealership and comes highly recommended by them. He's also purchasing the material. The photo that he emailed me looks to be the same as those posted in these threads.

A few of questions that I have not seen asked yet:

• What is the finish like on the moldings? I know that they are color matched and clear coated. But do they have the same depth of shine as the body itself? There are some excellent photos on this thread, but sometimes things look different to the naked eye.
• When they eventually get dinged, what does the underlying material look like? I remember that years ago Ford used plastic bumper covers that were bright yellow underneath. When the bumper would get scratched, the yellow would show through and look horrible.
• Are they soft enough that a moderate door slam will not leave a permanent dent in them?
• For those of you that have had them on for a year or longer: how do they hold up relative to the rest of the car paint? Do they fade over time or change in appearance in any way, relative to the car paint?

Thanks so much for your feedback. I'm finding a lot of good informaton on these forums!

Best wishes,

Frank

 

I have a set that remains uninstalled. Now second guessing myself. My car is white & I got black molding. ?? Now I'm thinking I should have gotten chrome or white. Any input/opinions on how the black will look?

Again, I will suggest when parking, park out a ways & away from other vehicles if you can. Always park into the wind. Avoid large vehicles & particularly vans, suv, etc. They haul kiddies & this isn't good. A stiff wind will almost guarantee a door being "ripped" out of some kids hand & into your car.

Anyone installed the door edging?

 

The finish on mine looks good. I have not inspected them with a magnifying glass, of course, and the curved surface makes it hard to do a perfect comparison, but I see no difference in finish between the mouldings and the factory paint.

I have one noticeable ding on the mouldings, leaving a grayish discoloration. It is hard to tell if that's the color of the underlying material or paint residue from the offending door; I suspect the latter. After three years on the forums and numerous threads from moulding users, I've seen no reports of significant dings uncovering some obnoxious or highly visible color like yellow.

Hard to say. My one noticeable ding is more scratch-like, with little or no deformity. I have no idea how hard of a whack it took at the time. It also could be I've had lots of hits that would have at least scratched the door but left no visible damage to the mouldings.

After nearly three years, there is no noticable difference at all. I still am quite pleased with their appearance.