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Fender Beads still in wrapper

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Rob Glasgow

Rob Glasgow

Jedi Knight
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During my 3 year restoration, I have screwed up a few times. Usually installing something in the wrong order and having to undo and redo it the right way. Most of the time it was not to much trouble and I could just chalk it up to this being my first time.
But now I'm faced with a bigger screw up. I installed the stainless steel fender beading with the black plastic covering still in place. My thought was that the plastic would protect the beading during the installation and subsequent fiddling of the rest of the components. That part worked well. The beading was well protected as I finished the rest of the body installation. However, when I attempted to peel off the black plastic covering, it came of in small pieces and I couldn't remove the portions under the edge next to the body. My heart sank. Do I really have to to loosen the fenders and remove the beading to peel the plastic? I've put off that step until I asked the Forum if you
have any suggestions. I really don't want to take that many steps backwards but I also don't like the look of black beading. Any ideas?
 
I think you will have to loosen the wings. When I collected my beading from AH Spares the first thing the chap said was make sure you remove the plastic before installation. I did that, and then put masking tape on the wings and shrouds to protect them during the fitting. Now I have some small bits of tape trapped in the beading and it is surprisingly difficult to remove the last few pieces.!!!
 
Did the same thing aboit 5 years ago when I did the GMB car. But only with one fender thankfully. Glad you brought that subject up, hopefully will be doing that project again a couple of months with the blue car I am working on now.
Marv
 
Do I really have to to loosen the fenders and remove the beading to peel the plastic off

:mad-new: YEP---------:playful:
 
Before removing the fenders, you might try loosening the mounting bolts a little, bending the bead attachment tabs straight, and then raising the beads a little. I'm assuming that you did not paint the car with the beads on?? If you painted the car with the beads on, you likely have paint bonded between the beads and the body. If so, you need to be very careful not to damage or tear the paint when removing the beads, whether you do so with the fenders on or off the car. Cutting that bond with a very sharp blade may be required, and even then the result may not be good.

After hearing about the problems some had installing the beads after painting (including scratching of the paint and panel alignment issues, I installed the beads (with the black coverings left in place) on the BJ7 before painting it this past summer. I may have left out some of the panel fasteners, but had enough of them installed to ensure good panel alignment. I left the beads raised a little - anywhere from 1/16" to 1/8". All panel edges should be well primed, and inner panel surfaces and edges should be sprayed body color before assembly. Leaving the beads raised also allowed the paint and clear coat to cover the curved surface at the top of the panel joints.

The black tape came off quite easily with the beads raised. A sharp razor blade helped loosen it where required. The bead then went down into place quite easily - firmly pushing down with one hand on top of the bead with the other hand under the fenders to bend the tabs into place. In a few areas, gentle use of a small rubber mallet on the bead helped. Any missing panel fasteners also were added at that point.

When the BN4 is ready for paint (hopefully soon), I plan to again follow the same method.
 
You may be able to soften the adhesive on the plastic protective film using a hair dryer (low heat setting), which may allow you to peel it away more easily. Another possibility is to dab the material with Bestine rubber cement thinner as you are peeling it away, which should not harm the paint (try it first on an inconspicuous spot) and help loosen the adhesive backing. We use Bestine to remove decals and such on models painted with a variety of paints, including lacquer, with no ill effects.
 
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