JamieMacdonald

Anyone ripped an Impreza apart recently?

When I bought my car last year it had a slight car park dink/scratch to the n/s/r which got me a few hundred quid off the asking price and I knew I could get a good job done at a local bodyshop I've used before. Or so I thought
Basically, they did a nice job of respraying the rear wing and they also had to do the strip that goes along the top of the A,B and C pillars right down to the wing mirror as it's all one panel.
It appears that they sprayed and laquered the panel without removing the strip of plastic that runs along the edge of the roof. This left a bit of a rough edge and the water has since crept in, causing the laquer to peel. I'm going to get them to do it again (for free of course ) but I want them to do it properly this time.
What I need to know is can this plastic strip be safely removed and then replaced after painting? It looks like you would have to remove it to replace the windscreen so I guess it must come off.
Any Ideas?
J
(Sorry about the essay!)

JamieMacdonald

btt

Steve Breen

I had to have a new door and wing on my P1 plus a dink on the rear panel fixed. To blend in the new paint work they also did the rear wing and up the C pillar. Everything was removed including the strip you mention AND the rear windscreen! Now that was a proper job which took three days.

Steve

JamieMacdonald

Cheers Steve.

I guess the plastic strip must clip back in once removed.
Thanks for the reply!
Jamie

wrxjoy

This plastic strip is held in by plastic clips if they break while removing (easy in the cold weather) they have to be replaced which is easy on the top of the roof but the ones on your front and rear screens are held in by sealant. So you would need that particular screen removing. Hope that helps
ps clips cost next to nothing from your local dealer, and maybe consider going to your local windscreen fitters and using their experience in gently easying the clips off for a couple of quid as screen removal/fitting is quite a big job.

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

From my experience winderscreen fitters just pull the stip out and break all the clips.

They then bond it back in with 1/2 tonnne of mastik.

I ended up getting new clips and a new strip when I had a similar paint job done. Although I had to modify the front clips and glue them in due to the amount of mastik that had been used on the screen.

JamieMacdonald

Thanks for the info guys! I might try to remove it (carefully) myself and if I break anything I'll just put a new one on after it's been painted again. The current strips have gone a bit 'scaley' where the lacquer touches them
Does anyone know how much these new strips/clips are each?

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

About £60 + clips which I think are about 50p - 80p

JamieMacdonald

Is that £60 each? Crikey :0
Cheers

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Oops tell a lie....just checked and it was £36.74 + VAT and the Clips were £0.67 + VAT each.

Front Screen, Roof and Rear Screen Clips are all different, but all the same price.

Thats for the Strip that runs from Wing Mirror to Boot-lid

JamieMacdonald

Just been to visit the bodyshop, car is booked in to have both rear wings resprayed on Monday (at no extra cost of course)
Will hopefully have it back by Saturday when I'll be driving up to the Highlands of Scotland
That should be a pleasant drive
Cheers for the info.
J

JamieMacdonald

Well the car has had the rear wings resprayed after having the strips taken off - 22 out of 24 clips broke so I am going to replace them all. New ones should have arrived by the time I get back from Scotland - I didn't take the scooby in the end. Just as well as I got GATSO'd on the A9 doing 60 in a 50 - I dread to think what speed I'd have been doing had I been driving the Impreza! Probably less as I wouldn't have been trying to make up for lost time after getting stuck behind friggin caravans!
J

JamieMacdonald

Well, no word from the GATSO so I'm in the clear, woo hooo
I have spent the last two morning replacing all the broken clips which hold the roof strips onto the car. The front and rear windscreen ones were a real bitch, I had to cut the old sealant away with a stanley knife - v.scary, about 1cm away from my lovely new paint work. Managed it all without a scratch so all looking good now
More importantly, I've got my aerodynamicism back
Jay

nigelward

You've got a few months yet before knowing whether you are in the clear, can't remember whether it is 3 or 6 months the Police have to issue the ticket.

NIgel

JamieMacdonald

D'oh, then I have TWO potential blemishes on my otherwise clean licence

John Stevenson

they have 14 working days to issue a NIP !!