Today, vehicles appear in a wide variety of styles and sizes in the market. And they continue to add new challenges to vinyl film wrapping because of their differences. Among all vehicles, molding is one of the distinctions you can tell between one from another.
Sometimes, an installer might not have a clear idea in terms of whether a molding is safe enough to remove – especially if you have never seen that kind of molding before, even though it would be much easier to wrap if you could take it off.
Here are some less common moldings you might come across and a proper way to remove each of them:
Molding near windshield
There are plastic moldings near the windshield for some vehicles, which is usually at the top of the fender. Mostly, they are soft and made of rubber. You can use a plastic removal tool to pry them off with no stress.
Protective molding on the rear bumper
The top side of a back bumper, which is the area next to the trunk, can get damaged very easily due to several reasons like scratches from luggage. For some cars, especially a hatchback, there is a covering molding to protect it from potential damages. Mostly, there are clips underneath to secure it.
Those clips are fragile. Thus, when you wrap a car like this, there is no need to take off the entire molding. You can use a plastic removal tool to pry this cover off, loosen the clips inside, and tuck the vinyl wrap film underneath during the application.
Molding on the front bumper
Many cars today have plastic moldings covering the sidelights at the front. And they are held directionally. You can use a plastic removal tool to pry and loosen it – Do it at the right angle. Do NOT fight against it. In some cases, those are secured by clips underneath, and you should pull from one side to the other. Just be extra careful if there are clips inside because those clips can be very easy to break.
Molding covering the front vent
A BMW is typical with this molding. There are two moldings at the front covering the front vent on a BMW. To remove it, you can just grab and pull, and it will come off.
Covering molding for nozzle
Some luxury cars have water nozzles at the front, where there are plastic covers. Usually, this kind of section is tricky to wrap around. So removing those covering moldings can make it much easier. Glide the plastic removal tool underneath and gradually pry it off.
You can now reach the nozzle itself and wrap much further. As for the plastic covers, you can wrap them separately before putting them back in place. Your workflow would go much more efficiently in this way.
In short, here are some golden rules when removing moldings: Do not fight against them. Leave them in place if it fights you when trying to take off. Be careful of moldings with clips. Do not take them off entirely when it is possible. For more wrap tips, visit teckwrap.com
