Thread: Lower door moldings

Curious if someone has had a similar issue with the lower door moldings on a lighter- colored 97- 03 GT/GTP. Mine came like this, and maybe it's just oxidation on the fiberglass, but it almost seems like the paint is starting to wear through. Last time i hand washed the car, I spent almost as much time just scrubbing the moldings as I did washing the rest of the car, and maybe it lightened up a little, but not much. Anyone who has experience with this, should I just polish/ reseal the gel-coat, or look towards repaint/ replacement?

Those are ABS plastic like the bumpers IIRC. Looks like the clearcoat is starting to get baked. You can probably hit it with some compound and get it all out then throw some wax on it. If the clear is already gone and that is the paint wearing off then it'll be time for a sand/respray.

Will warn you, silver seems to be really hard to match color-wise. But since that is on the doors you might be able to get away with a paint-match color and not have it look funky.

Those are ABS plastic like the bumpers IIRC. Looks like the clearcoat is starting to get baked. You can probably hit it with some compound and get it all out then throw some wax on it. If the clear is already gone and that is the paint wearing off then it'll be time for a sand/respray.

Yeah, if they are too far gone, there is a full set that still looks nice & shiny at the local pnp yard, and even with slight variances from year to year in silver, I'll probably go that route instead of trying to blend or match the paint. That being said, I know there are some sort of clips on the bottom of the door, what is the best way to get them off without destroying anything?

Will warn you, silver seems to be really hard to match color-wise. But since that is on the doors you might be able to get away with a paint-match color and not have it look funky.

Unfortunately, I'm aware on this one. Used to work in auto body. Silver has to be blended to not be noticeable, unless you can find a junkyard part close enough to not be noticed.

Yep on the silver. My '03 CV LX Sport is silver metallic and needs some work on the rear dogleg. I just hope it doesn't turn into a repray of the entire rear quarter to make it match.

I think you can get to those clips from inside the door but I haven't tried that yet. With the age of the existing clips I would find a source for all new ones and just count on them breaking, lol... My brothers 01 GP had some clips broken when he got it and the wind nearly stripped it off once it caught it. I ended up just popping it off from outside to save the trim but have yet to source those clips. If I run across them I'll post them here. There is 3M doublesided tape and those clips that hold it on.

Here is a thread that I found that seems to describe it better and has a link to the clips--> plastic trim on rear door fell off, please help

Originally Posted by FordMan77

Here is a thread that I found that seems to describe it better and has a link to the clips--> plastic trim on rear door fell off, please help

Those last couple of posts in that thread are exactly what I was looking for regarding swapping out the molding, thanks man!

Originally Posted by ThatOldCarSmell

Curious if someone has had a similar issue with the lower door moldings on a lighter- colored 97- 03 GT/GTP. Mine came like this, and maybe it's just oxidation on the fiberglass, but it almost seems like the paint is starting to wear through. Last time i hand washed the car, I spent almost as much time just scrubbing the moldings as I did washing the rest of the car, and maybe it lightened up a little, but not much. Anyone who has experience with this, should I just polish/ reseal the gel-coat, or look towards repaint/ replacement?

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