Jeepster said:
Thanks for the info.
Some years back (long before I acquired the car) my BJ8 received a not so good paint job that painted over the whole car including the wing beading. Thus no nice chrome strip down the wings. I hoped I would be able to replace the beading without too much hassle but as it cannot be done without loosening the bolts, I may wait until I get around to the respray.
Here's the problem you're going to run into. When trying to remove it, the paint most likely will crack and chip at both sides of the stainless steel bead, being the bead was painted when on the car.
Even if it does not crack/chip, you will have a hard paint edge where the paint stops at the bead, rather than the paint rapping around the edge of the wing and the shroud like it should. That edge will now let the elements get under it, and things like a wash mitt or drying towel may catch and pull the paint off some.
The best thing to do is to remove it when you're going to repaint the car. It's important to have the paint wrap around all edges.
Don't try and sand the paint off the bead with the bead on the car. No matter how carefully you try to protect the paint by adding some sort of tape, you will not be able to get to the paint at the edge where it meets the wing and shroud. Plus you may sand thru the tape.
If you really want to try and remove the bead, put the car in the sun and let the paint warm up. You can even use a heat gun to warm up small areas of the paint. (I sometimes use a heat gun to warm up the metal if I choose to glue-pull dents out. PDR...Paintless Dent Removal is my business)
To use the heat gun, move it back and forth, distance of about six inches from the metal, for about 10 seconds. Then feel the area to see how warm it gets. Keep repeating untill the area feels hot, like when a black car sits in the sun. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has touched a black car on a really really hot day to find yourself say, wow, that's hot!
Once the paint has warmed up, use a new razor blade and run it along the bead to cut the now soft paint. Remember, you only want to soften the paint, so don't rush the heat gun by holding it too close to the paint or you chance doing damage by seeing the paint start to bubble. Just take your time, move it back and forth, always checking the rising temperature with your fingers.
My recommendation is to wait till you want to repaint the car, then use the heat gun to soften the paint so as to minimize the damage that removing the bead will cause to the edge of the paint.
1. Make sure the paint is warm/hot, then use a new razor blade to cut along the bead.
2. Find all the tabs and bend then straight.
3. Loosen all the screws that attach the wing to the shroud.
4. Now you should be able to pull the bead straight up. Have a helper, for the bead is long and a helper can help keep the bead away from the car as it's pulled out.
If the stainless bead is in good shape, not dents, you can save it by using 0000 stainless steel pads to remove the paint. Those pads will also return the luster .
Maybe some of what I brought up may help you.
Cheers!