Body Side Moulding

My pleasure! I'll take you up on the beer... if I'm ever there. My only plans to be anywhere closer to you than the East Coast is a trip to San Diego next month. How 'bout this: You can drive there to meet me. Your Prius gets great mileage!

 

Welcome to San Diego...early.

Toss up whether the weather in August will be better or worse than Virginia.

 

The help has been priceless. Took me 45 minutes from start to finish. It was never about the money, but instead about taking my time and doing it right. The price wasn't too bad either.

$6.00 2" Blue Painters tape.
$2.19 Large rectangular magnets
$3.00 Beer for JimboK (which I might be forced to drink on his behalf).

Doing a nice job, priceless.

Thanks again.

 

Looks great...now if you can only get JimboK drunk enough to pull those pesky weeds on your driveway!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ Jul 14 2006, 12:47 AM) [snapback]286083[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, it occured to me that my lack of roundup skills were going to be exposed..... But so be it...

 

Looks awesome! Glad I could help.

But $3 for beer for me?? I can drink that much in one sip! Oh, well, go ahead and drink it for me.

The weeds look awesome too, BTW. That is, as long as you and mssmith95 think I might pull them for you!

Jim

 

I like the flat mouldings on your Prius. I do not see that type listed in PriusChat accessories. Do you have a link to that style? Thanks.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dr Ed @ Jul 16 2006, 10:46 AM) [snapback]287181[/snapback]</div>

Metro mouldings

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ Jul 16 2006, 08:07 PM) [snapback]287303[/snapback]</div>

Yes, that's where I got them. 122.50 once shipped. Came in about a week. Haven't had to call them for any help because of this thread! 45 minute job at most (I'm a slow worker). Now I park my car much more freely in tight stalls. Peace of mind really.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jul 12 2006, 07:44 AM) [snapback]284879[/snapback]</div>

I am considering putting on door edge protectors as well as the side body moulding. Should I assume that I would not put the moulding on as close to the edge as you did, if I actually put on the edge protectors? Thanks for your response. Great job, BTW.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ajs @ Jul 18 2006, 10:47 AM) [snapback]288125[/snapback]</div>

I would simply put your door edge protectors on first, and see how much room you have after that for the molding. you can always tape the molding in the desired position, and then try to open and close the door to see if you have enough room.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sl7vk @ Jul 18 2006, 11:01 AM) [snapback]288136[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for your advise. I'm considering putting on silver metallic pinstriping.. Ordered it from a friend in body shop industry. We will take a look at it to see if it looks good, or too busy...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ajs @ Jul 18 2006, 11:11 AM) [snapback]288145[/snapback]</div>

I like the idea. I think the molding is a good start to give your vehicle some nice sight lines. My next move is getting a clearbra on the front of this thing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ajs @ Jul 18 2006, 10:47 AM) [snapback]288125[/snapback]</div>

That would make sense, but I can't answer with certainty. I'm not familiar with how the door edge protectors mount.

Jim

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jul 11 2006, 06:37 PM) [snapback]284651[/snapback]</div>

Also got mine from metrotpn.com
Jim, great advise...I am going to describe in detail what I did which is very close to what you did with a few extra twists that seemed to make it even easier..Perhaps others can look at both techniques and at least have some options as to how to do it. I also installed chrome door edge guards (I liked the contrast between the magnetic gray paint and chrome), so I had to give the moulding a little bit more room to be able to open the door without hitting the edge. Here goes...First, the instructions have you putting the masking tape (I prefer painters tape either blue or purple, just like Jim) above the area to be used. I agree with Jim, it should be put BELOW the application area. The painters tape and rectangular magnets work beautifully...I used 4 of them...First measure 12 1/2 inches from the bottom of the back section of the rear door upward and put a small piece of painters tape, then measure 11 3/4 from the bottom of the front part of the front door and put another small piece of painters tape.Next use the top edges of those pieces of tape as your line (once double checking the measurements of course). Put painters tape across both doors to get an nice straight, but slightly descending incline (back to front) across both doors..just as Jim suggested eyeball the line front to back and back to front to be sure it looks good to your eye. It is very easy to make corrections if off a little....Next place the magnets on both ends of each door on the painters tape precisely even with the top edge of the tape. Place the moulding (with backing still on at this point) on the magnets and use small pieces of painters tape to hold them up on the magnets. Then, re eyeball the moulding to be sure you like the look.. Next, cut the tape in between the two doors so you can open the rear door. With my chrome door edge protectors I needed 1/2" space to be able to open the rear door without hitting the front door...giving me approx 1/4" gap to play with which I thought was enough. If you don't have the door edge protectors you will be able to have 1/4" space instead of 1/2". (Just be sure you can open the door without it hitting the other door) ..With the door edge protectors you won't get the same precise look as on Jim's pictures, but it still is very satisfactory.. Feel free to enjoy customizing YOUR car the way you like it...Then place the mouldings upside down on a towel on the garage floor. Take the alcohol swab and gently wipe the area to be used and then wipe the excess alcohol with a soft white towel. You are now ready to finish the job......I found that my mouldings had two different pieces of tape backing.. Here is where I did it a little bit differently. Instead of trying to take the tape off while pressing the moulding onto the car, I took the tape off of the moulding and I laid it back down finish side down on a towel on the garage floor right beneath my work area. Next I snapped one of the little glue bottles and applied the glue to the whole length OF ONE DOOR in the area the moulding would be placed. It took two long strokes to cover the area that the moulding would be set on..(REMEMBER ONE GLUE BOTTLE IS FOR TWO MOULDINGS...I REPEAT, DO ONE MOULDING AT A TIME) Next I took the moulding and gentle laid it on the magnetics at an angle facing away from the car as it rested on the magnets (you need to have good strong magnets so they don't fall down). At this juncture the moulding adhesive is NOT touching the car yet. It took a second or two to make sure it was lined up perfectly and then I pressed it onto the vehicle, using the magnets as my guide.(this is why I will say again, you need strong magnets so they don't move). I wiped the moulding down with the soft white cloth while pressing as per instructions, and then QUICKLY applied the glue to the second door and did the same thing again...After I admired my work for a few minutes I repeated the same process on the other side of the car.. This worked perfectly and took approximately 75 minutes given that I had a number of interruptions from my children...Feel free to choose which technique you use...The magnets really worked well. To my eye it looks professionally installed. I am in the middle of more mods...Once I get them done I'll get some pictures for you...Hope this helps. Dr. Al PS.. This is just another indicator of why this forum is SO great....Had I not seen Jim's post I would have never thought I could do this job by myself... The only thing I would have liked is instead of 2 tubes of adhesive the company would send 4. As Jim said, the glue drives VERY quickly. Perhaps when you order you can request two extra tubes...Even if you had to pay an extra $5 it would be worth it....Thanks Jim...your efforts are appreciated.

 

Mouldings placed today, bought from metro.

It is straightforward -- Paying for a detail shop to put them on is overkill. I did make two small mistakes though, for the obsessive:

1. The tape on the back of the moulding is actually in two pieces; a small extension covering the arrow-head is separate, and should be partially peeled back before sticking the moulding on starting from the other side. The first part I put on has that piece of tape remaining. Luckily I started on a back door, where wind will not try to whip it up. Best to peel back a cm or so of tape on the back of the moulding before putting the glue on the car; it can be un-nerving trying to start the peel if you do have long fingernails, knowing that the glue dries quickly.

2. The only place to be extra-careful in placement is where the two mouldings on one side of the car come close to each other. I was off by about 0.5 mm on one side, and I can see it if I look closely.

BTW, the masking tape approach works fine. I first took a small 1 inch length of tape, and placed it's upper edge at the instructed height at each end of the car. So long as the tape measure is held reasonably straight vertically up, the line on tape measure provides a nice horizonal line to place the 1 inch tape by. Then with my son's help, we pulled a piece of tape taut, and stuck the lower border flush with upper border of the 1 inch piece.

 

I think I'd read on this forum way back when that you can skip the Pro-Bond on a brand-new car. I did just that when I put these on my 2005; just removed the tape and stuck them on. 20k miles later, they're solid as rocks.

rpm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sl7vk @ Jul 18 2006, 09:29 AM) [snapback]288154[/snapback]</div>

Add another happy customer to the list. Project was quick and easy. Just follow the directions and it goes well. I highly recommend the clear bra. I have this on my other cars and it has been well worth it. The full set of locations includes the top of the rear bumper where you're likely to ding it up as stuff goes in and out of the back of the car. Nice protection there.

On the molding installations, I had my wife hold the pointy end of each molding in place as I applied it starting from the blunt end that is at the seam of the doors. I did the way the instructions state to peel back the tape covering a little at a time. With her holding the pointy end in the proper location, the molding sat on the door just right. As I peeled the backing tape off, I lightly stuck the molding on and kept peeling till I got to the end. Slick and easy.

Joel

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jul 18 2006, 03:21 PM) [snapback]288267[/snapback]</div>

Jim, thanks again for your advise on the body side moulding..As you can see by my post I tweaked your directions just a bit..Bottom line, one month later...they look excellent. Eventually I will be getting some pictures on the forum..Just waiting for my wet okole's to come in..Then my mods will be done and I'll take some photos...

 

Glad to hear it! And thanks for the update.

Jim