The Paint Job - Part 2

Well I now have some trim that matches my car.  Now it's time to remove some more trim for painting.

First...the front handles. Now is a good opportunity to tighten the screws on the handles, as mine were a bit loose.  Covering the holes with tape again just in case it rains.  Be sure to keep track of which sides that parts came from as they are very similar in shape.

There was a freaking ECOSYSTEM in the rear handle/tail light trim.  Luckily, the tail lights are attached to the trim by two screws and a plug allows the tail light to be detached.  The reflectors above the tail lights were attached by double sided tape and came off cleanly with a little persuasion with a flat bladed screw driver.

A warning about the wheel arches -- there are two small screws attaching them to the lower trim from underneath.  I didn't realize this, removed the visible screws in the side, and the wheel arch flopped off the wall and nearly snapped he trim off.  Take out the bottom screws first!

Now that the front and rear handles and the wheel arch is off, the lower keder rails can be removed.  There are many, many small screws to remove and you may need some tweezers to get them out of the rail once unscrewed.

The keder rails sit on top of the plastic trim with a thick layer of butyl tape in between.  The trim itself it attached to the body by only four screws, most likely just to hold it in place until the rail sandwiches it on.  The net result is the keder rails stick to the trim due to the butyl tape, but the trim is not connected very securely to the body. That makes it VERY easy to break the trim if you pry the rails off too hard.  Be very patient and work it off slowly with a putty knife.  If you encounter any unusual resistance, you probably missed a screw hiding under some dirt.  I missed a total of four.

Once you get the keder rail off, you are left with a few more screws and then the trim comes off.  You are also left with an absolute mess of butyl tape to clean off.