Remove The Cladding?

I searched, and didn't find a good discussion on this.

I know some folks have done this/had it done/etc. Later this summer, I am planning to take my VX in for some body work. I am going to have my hood and tailgate done for sure (dent repair, respray). The body shop I got a quote from was telling me they would need to remove the cladding to do a good job when they respray. This made me cringe because I know the cladding is held on with the screws and with double-stick tape.

Has anyone ever removed and replaced the cladding side panels with good results? Give me the skinny.

Thanks- Bart

i know that a lot of the cladding is also held on with rivets....the front bumper, and rear bumper are held on with screws...

front bumper is really easy, its like 4 screws to remove...the rear bumper is fairly easy too..its like 4 or 5 screws, but 2 of them are behind the cladding over the wheels, those are the hardest to get to...

if you have something like this, it will help you immensely
http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/EZ502C.jpg

thats a right angle bit for a drill...you can get it at matco

Yeah, I've taken off the front bumper cladding, and I know about those nasty screws behind the rear bumper (had to get at those when I did Tone's hitch). But I am more concerned about the body cladding on the sides of the doors and over the fenders and the big piece on the tailgate. It is my understanding that these pieces are held on with the screws and with double-stick tape.

Jack, when you say "rivets", are you talking actual rivets that have to be destroyed to remove the cladding? From my experience, rivets are are usually crimped into place and cannot be taken off and replaced.

Ideally, I would remove the hood insert and all the cladding myself, and then take the VX in for the body work and paint, and then put everything back together again in my garage. I don't want the shop loosing cladding screws or messing anything up, plus it will save me a load of money if I do all the prep work myself.

Thanks -Bart

Bart, I replaced my driver's-door cladding a couple of years back. The old one was a beeeee-atch to remove because of the sticky-tape, but I don't recall replacing the tape or using another adhesive when I put the replacement on, and haven't had any issues since.

My advice is don't sweat it - figure out a way to reglue it when you put it back on.

My guess is that the sticky tape was simply used to ease assembly in the first place....

I highly doubt an automated "production" line was devoted to VX's...

..so I'm betting the tape held the cladding in place so the next/same operative could screw them in easily.

Just a thought

jo

I didn't really watch blujfan too close when he was removing cladding from the donor. I know there was some adhesive but what really took a lot of time was 1 or 2 bolts that were rusted in place & he had to cut them loose.

Yeah, I don't think it would be too hard to replace the double-stick tape once the cladding is removed and cleaned. I am just worried about damaging (over flexing) the cladding when trying to remove it.

I guess I will have to make that call when the time comes.

Bart

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZEUS

The only rivets I remember seeing were in the wheelwells - check out the top of the wheelwells. You should be able to drill them out and use new rivets of the same size really easily. I believe a hair dryer would also help you deal with the dbl stick tape.

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Ahhh, OK yeah. I know what you are talking about now. I have seen those. Bugger!

Thanks - Bart

I doubt a hair dryer will help much on the sticky stuff. I don't think you'll be able to get the heat anywhere near where it'll need to go. Prolly just talkin out my arse since I've never removed any of the cladding 'cept for the piece for hitch install.

Bart - just plan for a full day & take your time. You'll be OK.

Bart, all the cladding was removed from mine when it was in the body shop. It seems fine now even though I wonder IF they used any double sided tape on it. Just let them know not to remove the screws between the hood and headlights.

I'm not sure how helpful this is, but here it is. This comes from a dealer document as an introduction for dealer personel. There's also some stuff in the shop manual about the location and size of fasteners for some of the cladding in the body section.

http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/...x2/vxbody1.gif
http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/...x2/vxbody2.gif

Mark Griffin