Im in the process in replacing the vinyl top in my '70 Malibu, but i am having problems with the rail moldings on the side of the car. the window moldings came off w/no problem with the tool i bought, but the others will just not cooperate. i already bended the driver side pillar molding in the process but at least it came off. i dont want to do that to the rest of them, does any one know of a safe and easy way to remove these pieces?

im in the same boat as you, i was trying to take them off today. i was able to slide the V shaped clip off but the long top and windshield ones are very difficult...

If you were able to remove the L-shaped molding (after loosening it from inside the trunk), try sliding off the molding above the trunk, rather than pulling/levering it off.

The moldings under the rear side windows are not only mounted with the plastic clips, but also with a bolt under the small arrow shape on the very front end of the molding, i don't recall how to get there, I think that you will probably have to remove the rear "door" panels, but definitely try reaching there through the trunk first!

It kinda gets hard on the drip rail, I took a old long and large flat screwdriver (no sharp edgeds!), started on the very bottom at the rear window and gently (!) levered off the molding just a bit, so I could slide in with the screwdriver. Then working my way up under the molding so it gets loose. Do this very carefully! Don't overdo it, otherwise you will have a bumpy molding afterwards. When you have made it to the top (around the corner over the rear side window) you might be able to slide the rest off. Do the same on the windshield a-pillar moldings.

Good luck! graemlins/beers.gif

Olli

BTW, be sure to use a good adhesive unless you want to do it again next fall. graemlins/clonk.gif

Thanks for the tips, will try it out this weekend. what kind of adhesive would you recomend? i bought a couple of cans of some extra strengh adhesive, thats suppose to be a good water resistant, from my local auto parts store. will this do or is there some special order type that works even bettter? i just want to do this one time. thanks

That adhesive should work fine if it is from your auto parts store and for vinyl roofs.