"How To Remove Parts On Your Car -Safe & Easy Methods…
& Also The Best Way To Prevent Overspray Concerns!"
Overview:
Experienced auto painters and automotive enthusiasts can always detect if a vehicle has been repainted. Even you'll start to grow this sense as you go through the stages of paint prep and painting for yourself. It's pretty cool to be able to spot out bad bodywork, good paint jobs from great ones.
It may be your desire to perform an excellent and meticulous paint job that nobody has any idea that you've spray painted your own vehicle, unless it's an obvious and PIMPED OUT custom paint job of course.
When painting cars, if parts aren't properly masked up or completely removed, tiny amounts of paint overspray will manage to get on your window moldings, door handles, light assemblies and glass.
This will be a clear giveaway sign that your vehicle has been worked on and painted. That's if you leave them like that. You can absolutely clean everything up after you've painted your car to show a nicer, detailed paintjob.
Which all-good paint jobs must go through if you didn't remove all of the parts from the vehicle. A closer inspection of a paintjobs quality may also reveal some sand scratches that would indicate that some degree of bodywork has been performed.
Where and how to begin.
To make sure that no overspray gets on most of your auto parts and accessories including trim here's what you do. Start by detaching or peeling off, anything that gets in the way of painting the basic surface of the car. This will even include removing some larger pieces such as plastic bumpers that should be painted separately and reinstalled on the repainted body later.
(You can also paint bumpers on the car) it all depends on your END Goal. I've painted many cars without removing bumpers and other plastic parts. This allows for controlled and thorough body preparation and is the best way to prevent overspray concerns and paint build-up along the edges of trim.
Where to find help. For those auto parts and accessories that you aren't sure how to remove, ask a service manager from a local dealership, a professional auto body shop or an auto paint supply store.
I've personally broken many clips when removing parts. And frankly, it happens.
So don't be bent out of shape if you break a few clips and snaps during your removal process. You can get these small items at the local dealer very cheap. And if your really serious about this you can invest in those clip boxes from specialty automotive auto body stores.
You can get a variety of the most common clips and snaps all on one box! You'll have a bunch to work with and the next time if you break a few, no sweat! You can also get the information you need from a factory repair manual for the make and model of the vehicle you are working on. You should be able to obtain one of these for a late model vehicle from a dealership.
You need to be systematic in your approach when removing auto parts and accessories ...Well, try your best :)
You will find that most of the auto parts and accessories from a vehicle including door handles and mirrors are secured in place with screws, nuts or bolts. It won't take you long to see the benefits of removing auto parts and accessories. This stage is completed much faster than masking, however don't rush through it.
Have a sensible plan ready for removing and storing each item. Large boxes work well for this. It is simple to label the boxes for each section of the vehicle. Put screws, bolts and nuts back on the part it came from once you remove it so you'll know exactly where they are when it's time to put everything back onto the vehicle.
Once you get trim strips off, it's best to remove all the clips. Put them and any other fasteners or small parts groups, in zip-lock plastic bags or smaller marked cardboard boxes and store them in the same place as other items from your project. Some newer model vehicles use adhesives to hold the emblems, badges and trim in place.
It is a good idea to examine each item before you try to take it off so you can determine exactly how it is mounted. You don't want to have to buy new to replace broken pieces. If you want to replace them after painting, however, get new ones, with fresh adhesive, from the dealer.
Door Handles
You will find that some door handles can be removed by loosening a heavy duty screw found horizontally across from the handle on the edge of the door. Other door handles are secured by a couple of screws or nuts; you will need to access these from inside the inner door cavity.
To gain access to the handle support you'll need to take off the interior door panel. Interior door panels are usually secured either with screws or clips.
If you can't find any screws around the perimeter of the panel then it is likely it is held in place with plastic clips fastened securely into retainer mounts. You can easily pull them loose. Before you do, make sure you remove the arm rests and window and door handles first.
The Vapor Barrier
After you have removed the interior door panel, you will see a piece of plastic or similar material between the panel and the door skin. This is the vapor barrier. It is designed to prevent water from entering the vehicle after it has leaked past window trim moldings.
It is very important that you don't damage vapor barrier. It's very easy to simply roll them up to the top of the door and tape them away safe.
Headlights, Taillights, etc...
For light assemblies, these are generally secured with screws found on the back of the housing assembly. You can remove the rear light units from inside the trunk area or by pulling them out from the outside.
It's important to leave the headlights in if possible; this will prevent the current light beam setting from being disturbed. If you need to remove them however, remember not to touch either of the screws that have springs underneath them. These are the directional adjustment screws that adjust the headlights in all directions.
Just put all things back as they came off. I usualy put the screw or bold back in the part that it came from after removal. This way when it comes time to put your parts back in they will be on the part or on the main car.
Bumpers
You shouldn't have any problems removing the bumpers on older vehicles; they have support bolts which are easily located. Newer car bumpers aren't as easy. Take your time when removing a bumper from a vehicle and get help if you need it due to these parts often being quite heavy. You definitely don't want a bumper to fall on you while you are under the vehicle loosening the bolts so take the proper precautions.
Door Edges
If you will be painting the door edges then you are going to have to remove the weather stripping. You'll need to take a closer look at it first to see how it is secured into place. Sometimes you will find that it is held in place using adhesive, therefore an adhesive remover will have to be used. It may appear to be substantial enough to be pulled straight off however, it is better to be safe than sorry and opt for the adhesive remover.
Grilles
Grilles can be a little trickier to remove. Look for screws around the perimeter of the grille section. Entire grille assemblies are usually made up of a series of parts which can be removed as one unit so long as you remove the correct screws. Most grilles have parts that are held together with clips that you would have to remove also.
P.S. To learn more about auto body and paint and to llearn how to completely DOMINATE AUTO PAINTING check out our VIP MEMBERSHP CLUB. It has over 50 HOURS of step-by-step video tutorials that show you the ropes to PIMP any of your projects from start to finish. Big or small you can customize anything! VIP only private forum to interact with members from across the world and even chat with me personally!
Be cool!
Tony Bandalos
