Hello,

I am painting a 1971 Chevelle and want to remove all the trim including drip rail, vinyl top moulding, hood, fender, windshield, etc. I started with the drip rail and soon realized I would bend it before I got it off. Is there some solvent to help or method that would allow me to reuse the trim?

Geary Albright

The best way to go about taking any kind of trim off is to do it slowly. You don't want to kink it because it is really expensive. The drip rails pull straight off but sometimes a screwdriver or putty knife doesn't hurt, just don't damage the trim.

I used a bottle opener to remove the drip rail.. Now don't laugh at me but it works.. I took one of this bendy pieces of metal that you get with a stereo and bent it so I could remove window chrome.. It looked like a V on a stick Kinda Like this /\----- what I did was lift the inside edge of the chrome stuck the makeshift tool under the moulding, and ran it until I stopped over a clip and then Pulled the tool with the top of the clip just engaged and pulled straight back while lifting the trim.. Came right off http://www.chevelles.com/forum/wink.gif I used those red razorknife (cheap plastic ones) to cut the window seals in order to remove the window.. Now before anyone says anything I looked and tried to get the correct tools to do the job.. But no parts store in a 30 mile radius had them in my area.. I saved 30-40 bucks too boot http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

The bottle opener for the drip rail molding works great. Make sure you wrap a few layers of electricians tape around the end of it so you don't damage the face of the trim, and work SLOWLY from one end to the other.