csb5150

Once my 928S is up and running again, I will probably have it repainted.

To those that have done the repainting, I am interested in how you dealt with the infamous "rub strips." A couple of mine have a bit of wear (a couple of cuts into the rubber) but no huge damage. When having car painted CORRECTLY, are the strips removed or taped or is the whole side sprayed. I am not looking for Concours but am not in the market for "I'll paint any car for $99.95" treatment. (No offense to Earl Schibe).

Can side moldings be filled or do they need to be replaced? If they need to be replaced, is it generally more expensive to replace the moldings or simply remove all around?

I have been toying with removal of the side moldings as the look is a bit cleaner. Of course, those chips would have been in the side of the car without them. Thoughts and pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Craig

Chris

You need to remove all the trim and rubber to have the car painted correctly and you will be surprised how much of it there is. IMO remove the rub strips, welding or filling the holes is up to you or the body shop.

Chris

heinrich

Chris how did you deal with the door sill trim? Seems to me if you remove that to repaint, you WILL break the paint upon reinstallation?

User 4221

Since the doors are aluminum, you will need to find a body shop that can weld Alu.
You will probably destroy the old ones when removing them since they are glued to the body. They will wrinkle

Otherwise, buy new ones and have them painted. Re-using the old ones will be more work and look shabby.

500

I expect that the side moldings are attached in the same way as on the 944. You really do need to have them removed to get a good paint job. I removed mine with a putty scraper (slow and careful). Removing the adhesive subsequently was very time consuming (I used a 3M product - DO NOT try to sand it away, as you may grind some of the residue into the old paint and have a substandard surface for prepping on). At the end of the day, I probably will not re-attach mine. However, if I did, I would consider using the old ones, just repained of course and with the old adhesive removed from the backside. The challenging part would be re-applying adhesive on the back side in the right amount/location. New ones come with the adhesive pre-applied and you just need to pull the tape off and go.

Chris

How do you think it will break? It is painted with the same flex agent as the bumpers.

That was one part I did not take of or put back on, but I know it was painted of the car.

Chris

Guest 928tt

I had painted my 84 928 I took the car all apart. It just make the job a lot better . I painted mine with the doors open and the hatch open so that there is no tape lines. I am a prof auto painter.

moon928

I am debating if I should remove the rub strips on my car too. Many of you know I had issues with my repaint after my car was backed into a year ago. The paint on the front of the car was not blended into the doors as well as it could have and the bumpers paint didn’t hold up very well to rock chips either. After a year of fighting with the body shop and my insurance company I finally am having my car fixed to my liking.

In order to do the job correctly they are going to be removing and replacing (new) upper rub strips and the rocker panel moldings at the, which leaves me with the decision of putting them back on or paying for the body shop to close up the holes forever.

On one hand -I would really like to keep my car the way it looked when I bought it, but I also like the way the car looks without them too.

My car is brilliant silber, most of the cars I have seen with out the rub strips are black or dark colors does anyone have a picture of a Silver s4 without the moldings? Also I have noticed some owners have removed the door rub strips but kept the moldings on the rockers. I guess what I am asking is what would look the best without reinventing the look of my car too much.

Here is a recent photo-

heinrich

You have the opportunity now. Do it.

heinrich

It will break because the way the upper strips instal onto the door, they have a 1/10th mm gutter to fit over a ridge in the top of the door, which IMHO I cannot see not breaking the paint.