Side panels on outside of doors

[Thunderscreech]

What's the procedure for removing the lower panels on the outside of the doors? It looks (on my 2003) like there's a line of adhesive on the top and a series some sort of square clips holding it on (peeled up a corner to see this).If I heat the adhesive and pull on this, will it pop out without damage? I want to paint mine, and it seems like it might be a little easier than masking.Thanks!

[ramenboy...]

yeah there's the adhesive and a row of clips. be careful. they break pretty easy.there's a little more than just painting them ,though. if they're the grey plastic, because of the surface, the paint might not stay... its a good look, though. the japanese toyota voltz were all two tonegood luck

[mmendez72]

I just put a post up myself on that topic. My friend has a VW with similar grey plastic and he used a certain kind of paint made for outside panels and no prepping needed. It looked pretty good.

[ramenboy...]

hmmm. pretty cool... the paint didn't chip off quick?maybe we can get the mods to combine this thread with the other...

[Thunderscreech]

This thread is not about paint, it is about how to remove those side panels! Is there a trick to avoiding accidental breakage of the clips?

[star_deceiver]

When it comes to GM and plastic clip breakage: Go to the dealer and buy several replacements before... you WILL break at least one no matter what part of the car it is...Many break by improper removal (which you learn to avoid doing after you break it), but some will break just by looking or yelling at them...

[A Psycho Martyr]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »some will break just by looking or yelling at them...OH, so true! And yes...you learn how to remove them after you break them

[jayman2009]

Yep most times the clips do brake as you ant get to them all even with the door panel off. and they are not cheap if i reamber right like $3-4 a clip depending where ya are

[Thunderscreech]

So, no tips on how to avoid breaking them, just assurances that I'll learn AFTER I bust 'em? You're killing me here, guys!Alright, I guess I'm going in blind.

[jayman2009]

One way to get some of them is pop the inner panle off then you can get some nedel nose plyers in there to plress down on the clips

[Thunderscreech]

Ah! Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give it a go!Next post: "How do I fix my busted internal panels?"

[A Psycho Martyr]

Quote, originally posted by jayman2009 »pop the inner panle off then you can get some nedel nose plyers in there to plress down on the clipsgood suggestion. Let us know how it works out

[Thunderscreech]

FINALLY fixed it. Drove around months without side panels because I just couldn't figure out how to get the clips out without breaking them. Finally, I said "screw it" and user a fork to pry them out. $10 later, I had them back in using replacement trim clips from a car store. Got my two-tone 75% done, painted with durable Rust-Oleum textured 'Dark Pewter', feels like sandpaper.

[A Psycho Martyr]

So you're just going around painting the all the trim?

[epcIII]

Looks nice!Also, kinda curious about the zip ties on the license plate frame?

[Thunderscreech]

Quote, originally posted by A Psycho Martyr »So you're just going around painting the all the trim?Correct, I painted it with a textured 'sandpaper' utility coat, both to give it a two-tone look I wanted and to give it a little light armor.The problem was, I foolishly removed the side-cladding to paint thinking it would be less work than masking+painting. True, the painting part was easy, but it was quite a task to get them back on!

[Thunderscreech]

Quote, originally posted by epcIII »Looks nice!Also, kinda curious about the zip ties on the license plate frame?Thanks! Regarding the zip-ties, my six year old did that a few weeks ago to 'help'. I've left them for his amusement.