prep for paint.what to do

[xxkoadyxx]

k so im getting my car painted in the spring, and starting a list of things i need to do..

-i need to do some body work as ppl seem to park to close and smash there doors into my car.

but my pprob is what can i take off?

I know i can take the lights out, handles washer nozzels, rear whiper..can i take the lisesne plate holder out for when i get it painted or is that permanet? also what about the seal thats on top of the car? the black one that runs lenght of the car.. how do i take that off? once i take it off is it reuseable?
Also the rear window...should i get that taken out? as i need to do some work under the window? can i do that myself and get a pro to put back in? or do the pro gotta take that out and put back in?

Thanks, i know theres alot of questions, hopfully i can get the answered.. thanks

its a mk3 golf

[theman53]

you have mk2.I know from the questions you ask... The license plate holder will come out or should, mine was rusty and I made a new one, just unbolted it. I know you can take the seal strip off, but I didn't as I don't know how reusable they are the vortex may know that one. The rear window I was going to take out, but my bro in law who does glass work for a living said it would destroy the seal for sure and possibly the glass. 50% shot on having good glass to put back in. Mine was original and he said better luck with aftermarket.
hope that answers your ???s

[rabbitman]

I just took the rear glass out of my MK2 golf, I probably got lucky too. My method was: open hatch, find 2x4 that touched the inside of the glass and the ground with the hatch horizontal, put almost full body weight on hatch near where the 2x4 touched the glass. It worked surprizingly well and came out unbroken and I'm pretty sure the seal is fine too.

You might want to go around the seal with a plastic scraper and loosen it from the body, it's no doubt stuck with age.

For installation: put the glass in the seal, wrap a clothes line a few times inside the seals groove and with a helper outside holding the glass against the opening and you inside, pull the clothes line toward you. This should flip the seal over the pinch weld.

It'll take a few tries but it works, I did it on a vanagons side glass, go easy on the seal it'll try to tear if you're too hard on it.

[xxkoadyxx]

my car is a mk3..

[rabbitman]

my car is a mk3..

......it even looks like an mk3............

[GEE-BEE]

I pulled the fenders and door's and hood

Grill and door handles

light's / bumpers and all seal's

Windsheild and rear window

this allowed a  better paint on those surfaces since the painter was painting a horizontial surface

I then installed the new seals on the doors, rear window seal

I called and for 165.00 had a new windsheild installed with new seal

I did have it towed back to the house after paint.

Ive done two rabbits now, one frame off 67 Stingray corvette

I still want to do a 1980 rabbit truck in Porsche Mexico Blue...

GB