Window moldings

[JoesSHO]

Is it possible to replace all 4 window moldings the rubber ones that go around the sides and top of the doors- without removing the glass, and without ruining the new ones?

Mine have Taurus ****** under the rubber covering, but I have a rear surround from the boneyard, want to get the rest tomorrow, but don't want to destroy them while doing it, and would like to know if it is feasible for me to remove the other ones without pulling glass in the boneyard (oops- my hammer slipped!) and also install them on my car without removing the glass. I've never pulled glass before, and I'm worried about tearing off my tint, etc.

It would seem to me that it would be doable, I got the rear off a car that had the belt molding already off the car, but the rest I didn't mess with for fear of tearing them up. I just need some help on the best way to get them off/on

Good ones are hard to come by here in MI...

Thanx!

 

[SolidState]

I am pretty sure that the glass has to be removed to replace the mouldings, as they are a part of the windows tracks....

 

[Markus]

You don't have to remove the glass. I replaced all 4 of mine this past summer. I managed to find a wrecked 94 taurus in a junk yard with only 12,000 miles on it. For the small fee of $100 I stripped that car of all its good stuff - mint window moldings, steering column collapsable shaft, instrument panel lens, redundant radio controls, instrument light dimmer, wiper motor, brake pedal and parking brake pedal rubber covers, charcoal canister, rear window defogger switch, multi function switch (turn signals/wipers). Included in the same $100 I got a graphic equalizer from a Ford Probe and an electrochromatic rear view mirror from a Lincoln Continental. My SHO now feels like a new car inside and out.

My donor car did not have power windows so I had no problem lowering the glass. I have been told that if you remove the electric window motors on cars so equipped you can then move the glass up and down by hand. You can't buy these moldings from the dealer anymore so junkyards are your only choice.

Do a search on the forum here for a post by Jelloslug on how to remove the moldings. The only problem I had was putting the new moldings in. The first one I did I did not lubricate the molding with silicone before trying to slide it in and the results are OK but not great. The molding is a little distorted now. Once I knew that lubing the new moldings was a good thing, the other moldings went in quite easily. You have to be firm but gentle in removing and installing the moldings. The Ford (Helm) manual says replacing the molding is a 2 person job. I removed the moldings from the donor car myself and my wife helped me install the new moldings and she really was a great help. The front window moldings have a metal bracket protruding below the molding. You should wrap this in something soft while positioning the molding so that you don't damage the paint on the door.

You'll need to invest in some rubber cement to glue the small corner molding back on after the job is done (see Jelloslug's thread for details).

Before I put the new moldings in I thoroughly cleaned them and gave them a few coats of a rubber dye called "Forever Black". I followed the dye with several treatments of 303 aerospace protectant and they still have a nice satin finish after 3 months.

My SHO has black B pillars that had really faded. Rather than painting them I stuck self adhesive UV-resistant black vinyl on the pillars after removing the old moldings and before installing the new ones. The new moldings nicely hide the edge of the vinyl.

 

[JoesSHO]

Thanks, Markus- there is a nice specimen down in Kalamazoo here, and I was looking at it today, but didn't have any tools- manual windows, too. I'll look up the post by Jelloslug for help.

Thanks again!