Gently removing SS trim piece from Surrey lid

[Geko]

Gentlemen, having read few horror stories about the SS trim piece being hacked while trying to remove it I decided that no screwdriver will make it anywhere close to the trim. Still I need to remove it.

 

I'm faced with 2 options: cold or hot.

Cold: Does anyone knows of any mixture that will help dissolving the black mastic? and how to apply it ?

Hot: Has anyone tried a butane burner to generate a meltdown of the mastic? What are the risks for the trim?

PS: The lid is aluminium.

 

Thanks for your inputs

 

 

 

[iain]

Hot air stripper and very gentle pulling? Depends also if there are some trim clips behind there as well?

[Tom Fremont]

Hi Stef,

 

I have removed 5+ of these without issue, never resorting to heat. Adhesive solvent ( 3M make one called " General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner " ) can be applied liberally and repeatedly. I recall tapping the edge of the trim away from the lid with a block of hardwood and a hammer. Patience is a virtue. There are (7) clips in addition to the glue but they don't much in comparison.

 

A paint stripping heat gun poses no risk to the trim that I can see.

 

The trim piece is actually quite tough. The most time consuming thing for the (5) I did was removing the scratches and gouges by filing, sanding and polishing. If the gouges are deep it may be necessary to punch them out from the backside before removing metal in the blending process.

 

Cheers,

Tom

[RogerH]

Hi Stef,

to help cleaning fluid to get down into the trim you could try probing a thin steel wire (coat hanger) in there and wriggling about )not you, the wire).

 

Roger

[John Bracher]

Stef

+1 for Roger's idea

did same with gas welding rod and a flame to heat it up while pushing it in and wiggling!

The welding rod that is!!

[Rob Clarke]

Hi,

 

I am restoring a barn find TR4 with and ali roof and the rear finishing strip has unfortunately got a ding in it. I suppose replacements are unobtainable, as I haven't been able to find one anywhere. Incidentally, I didn't have much trouble getting mine off, they are quite robust. For a possible repair, as they are stainless steel, I have contemplated trying to dress out the dent from inside the trim and then polishing out and remaining scratches. Has anyone tried this with any success?

 

Cheers,

Rob

[Tom Fremont]

Hi Rob,

 

As mentioned above, you can knock the ding out from behind with a suitable punch, then file, sand and polish. I had to do this on a couple of mine.

 

Cheers,

Tom

[Rob Clarke]

_{Cheers Tom, I'll give it a go.}

[Geko]

Success ! I got it out with a chisel and without dissolving the mastic. No damages. Took 1/2 hour and all clips are there. The trim piece is indeed quite resistant judging by the blows it could withstand ! I did bought a can of adhesive stripper gel though be that shall be the next step.

thanks

[Geko]

so the next step is to remove the scratches. Shall i just attack this with an angle grinder or Dremel and a soft sanding disc @120? Any other suggestions ?

 

 

[stillp]

I'd use something a lot finer than 120. Perhaps 320 to start, then progressively finer. Use a wheel rather than a disc so the abrasive marks run along the length, then every time you change to a finer grit turn through 90 degrees.

 

Pete