I am repainting my '93 accord. I removed the interior door panels and it looks like the big rubber molding that runs the whole length of the car are held there with 3 clips. But they are very hard to reach and I am afraid that if I just pull from the outside the clips will break. So two questions:

- Are these clips removeable? In that case I wont care about breaking them and I'll just buy new clips.

- If not, what is the easiest way to remove those darn things?

Thank you for any help.

Bo

 

They will break fairly easy when trying to take them out, so be careful..get ready to buy them from your local body shop parts guys...
WheelBrokerAng

 

Thank you WheelBroker

Now can you just replace the clips wihout having to buy a whole new molding? Are are they all in one piece and if the clips break you have to buy the whole thing?

Thank you

Bo

 

OK, I had to do it today because the car is getting painted tomorrow so I went ahead and took them off. So I'll answer my own question in case someone else needs the info.

The clips are indeed removeable and therefore one should be able to buy them separately if the original ones brake (which they will...). The molding on the front doors have a screws at their rear end which can be easily removed in the door jamb whithout having to remove anything else. Be sure to remove that one and not break it.

Each molding has clips that slip on at each end. That means that if you can remove the middle and front one, you can usually slide the whole piece backwards to get it off.

There is one catch, however, they are also held against the body with adhesive tape. So you will need to pry the whole thing with a wide scissor and by using a piece of wood against which to lean so you don't damage the sheet metal.

Bo