Cubano

Has anyone done that... removing the body color plastic bumper strip things on the doors. I think it might look good.

anyone have bofore and after pics? In titanium grey??

SmokaOne

hey man there is already a thread about this. it has some pics. I my self have a titaniam grey sedan. I have taken them off. I dont have pics, but trust me it looks way better. Just take some fishing line and run it behind the front of the piece about 3 inches or untill you can get it with your hands. them gently pull them off. it is just glued on so it comes off easy. I did mine the 2nd week I had the car so there was almost no mess to clean up from the sticky tape. what are you reading this for still, go take them off already.

mthegodfather

Just type side moldings in the search and there are a bunch of post about this. Alot of good after pics aswell.

miles

I did it as well at it looks much better

BigBastardMazda

I'm probably going to do that when it's sunny and hot. That's the best time to do it with dark cars because the adhesive is soft and it seperates from the car a bit easier.

What do you guys recommend to take the remaining adhesive off? On my last car I used goof off and it was a little too abrasive for the clear and it distorted it just a little (not enough to notice, but the swirling around that area was intense).

Also, who has completely debadged the car? I know that taking off the front emblem would look weird, but has anyone completely debadged the back decals and the side "2.3" decals? Do they come off completely?

I'll look at it more tonight when I install the Short Ram.

If you have a light colored car and you want to debadge it or take off those moldings, use a hair dryer to heat up the adhesive... it really does help a lot! For all you black/dark colored car owners out there, just let her sit in the sun for a couple of hours and wala.

miles

There is no need for a hair drier on a hot day even with a light car. My car is silver and I just started it with the fishing line and it peeled right off. Don't use adhesive remover because there is no need. Car polish or wax works fine if you pick off any chunks of adhesive with your finger nail. The 2.3 comes off but it is more difficult. On the back of the car the 3 is put on with adhesive but the mazda and the mazda emblem are both bolted on. so don't try to take them off unless you want a bunch of holes in your trunk.
I took my mouldings off on a 60 degree sunny day and it took about 20 min.
Good luck

BigBastardMazda

Good to know, thanks for the input on the debadging....

That actually kind of blows that they bolted on the other decals because I think the car would look killer with no decals on it at all.

Cubano

I'm pretty much sold, but I still would like to see the pics on a Mazda3. I didn't see any on the other threads. Anybody see any?

miles

here are some pictures with my mouldings off.

Cubano

Just did it. Totally badass. Took off the 2.3s too.

My technique: Cold day, so in the garage, used a blowdryer to get up the first edge, then with no heat applied pulled up the rest with even tension. No glue left at all.

Also, my car is 9 months olds, and there were no differences in the paint.

Pics to follow.