Trim Gone to Heck

[novaks47]

As you can see in the pic attached below, the 2 areas that are circled are in need of some serious help. The lower circle is the side molding on the doors of my 2002 Mazda Protege. That side of the car gets raped by the sunshine all day every day. I`m pretty sure that the molding is some form of hard rubber, but I don`t know for certain. The circle on the right side of the pic is the plastic molding that surrounds the windows on the doors. That stuff is much worse looking in direct sunlight. Instead of black, it looks like it`s got multiple colors, almost like water spots, only with slight coloration. I don`t know if it`s some sort of oxidation or what. I have thouroghly washed the trim each time I wash my car, but it seems to do nothing. Ideas? What can I use to treat each material?

[Eliot Ness]

I would try some Poorboy`s Trim Restore (http://store.danase.com/powotrre.html) or Danse Diamond Gel (http://store.danase.com/diamondgel.html). I have more experience with the Poorboy`s and it works well, but the sample I have of the Danase stuff was pretty impressive, but I haven`t tried it on a surface as bad as what you have yet.



On either one, apply and let it soak in for a while and then buff off the excess.



Another product worth trying is Klasse AIO (http://www.autopia-carcare.com/kus-kla-10.html), it works very well at cleaning up trim, and is a great product to have around.

[Macruz19]

you can try the above ^, but usually I replace my mold trims.

[dgoff07]

i believe that the bottom area is painted. my paint chipped off after time and left shiny metal underneath, so i sanded it off and now have shiny silver instead of black! the paint is kind of pours too if i remember correctly.

[SVR]

That door moulding looks like a great candidate for my trim dream treatment.

I believe the B pillar trims are just stuck on vinyl and of course cannot be machined but I would use ultra gloss superpolish to bring it up and then any one of the german AIO`s and seal with acrylic or stronger sealant a couple of times.



Clearkote VM by machine should restore the door moulding. A good coat of fireglaze or glare pro polish would probably seal that door moulding for quite some time.

[braindead]

Hi Novaks47



I have the same 2002 Mazda Protege sedan in silver, but the trim is in great condition compared to those in the photo`s.



I have used AIO & SG since the car was new to protect them from the harsh summers here. It is a daily driver & outdoors 24/7!!!



The B pillar trim / door frame trim is a self adhesive vinyl 3M tape, which you can replace with spares from your dealership spares department. It doesn`t look that easy to replace, but maybe someone here may have some helpful hints & tips on replacaing it...



Try AIO on the door moulding to see if it removes any oxidation...



Hey SVR, what is fireglaze? I`ve never heard of it! Is it an Aussie sourced/produced product or from overseas?



Here`s a photo of my car`s window area, it was the best I could find... Good luck.





http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t140/pxd02/Img_2005.jpg

[imported_themightytimmah]

I use Collinite 845 to protect my hard rubber trim... Try cleaning it with AIO first.

[NickelPlated.45]

Wow trim looks good Petey. I need to clean up my trim.

[nonsensez9]

try a soft pink pearl eraser.

[SVR]

I believe it to be an older version of Glare Pro Polish. It`s made by them and although I had been skeptical about it before, the original formula polished up my 1972 XA falcon V8 coupe brilliantly and the double strength version I use now is amazing when machine applied to door mouldings, metals, fibreglass and is a killer 1 year + sealant

Don`t use it like a polish on clearcoats though, it can scratch the paint.

Better for SS paints.