Today I needed to strip the vinyl roof and although much of the pre-work was done when my buddy Chase from Showtime Glass removed the front and rear glass, I still needed to remove the window opening/drip rail trim, which is made up of three separate pieces, plus the rubber seal.
After removing the rubber seal that inserts into the window opening area, you'll find flat headed screws all long the molding. Remove these, then slowly pry the wide channel-moulding down and out, be careful not to pry to much on any one spot which will bend it easily.
Here a shot showing the tools I used - a pair of channel lock pliers with the jaws well-taped to avoid marring the trim and a putty knife (or two). You'll also use a razor knife and a small pry bar, preferably plastic to avoid marring the chrome. The key to this operation is to SLOWLY work the drip rail moulding off a little at a time, working back and forth along the rail until it loosens, then putting the putty knives in between the moulding and body to hold it apart.
Once the outer drip moulding is off, you can gently pry up the the piece that keep the vinyl tight into the drip edge. It'll pop out, allowing access to the vinyl roof material.
Once all these trim pieces are off, it's just a matter of pulling the vinyl back over itself and maybe using a putty knife to release any well-stuck parts, and maybe cutting around the tight corners with a razor.
As they say: "Wala"!
(M wife hates when I write it like that, instead of "Viola".....)
Don't forget to check out the website at www.E-tekRestorations.com! Special thanks to www.RustBullet.com and www.CarCraft.com!
