'02 sans trim

[lobf]

Anyone have a picture of an '02 without the trim under the door handle? I'm getting a new paint job on my '76, and considering removing all the trim, but want to see what it looks like. Thanks for the help!

P.S: Anyone have pics of an '02 with the BMP front spoiler only (i.e- w/o side skirts or rear body kit) or with any (available) front spoiler only? Thanks.

[visionaut]

The 1502, a "budget" 02 model which was produced 1975+, came from the factory with no "beltline" trim around the body of the car. Here's a pic of a very nice German 1502 restoration.

In my opinion, sometimes the beltline-trim deletion comes across as "clean", yet other times it just seems to accentuate the mismatch of the sheet metal 'lines/edges' in that area of the car body. The body line isn't really consistent from hood & front fender (which has a 'double ridge'), to the door & body (which has only a single ridge), to the trunk (which has another, but different from the hood, double ridge). And I can't tell what's different when it looks good to when it doesn't. From the front or rear of the car, it almost always looks good, and from the side when viewed from above or far away it can look good, but at eye-level, close up it can look a bit misaligned.

I like 02's that both have the trim and those that don't - maybe it's a factor of the rest of the car that plays into it as well...

[2many02s]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b372/merlin530i/Cars%20FS/943c.jpg
I do have a picture with that airdam but I can post it here. send me your e mail and i will send it to you.

[MrBlah]

http://www.geekopolis.com/gallery2/d/4737-2/DSC_1132.JPG

[mmiller2002]

[QUOTE=lobf;7698794]Anyone have a picture of an '02 without the trim under the door handle? I'm getting a new paint job on my '76, and considering removing all the trim, but want to see what it looks like. Thanks for the help!
QUOTE]

Don't forget that it's a lot of work to delete that trim correctly. Welding up all the holes and grinding them smooth.

I have wondered about doing that, then having a silver stripe painted there instead of the trim. May be less prone to rust.

[lobf]

is there some place to buy new trim? mine got bent, and I thinik I'd like to replace it.

[visionaut]

is there some place to buy new trim? mine got bent, and I thinik I'd like to replace it.

Among other places, I know BavAuto sells all the trim - both as kits and as individual pieces. Check under "exterior" > "trim & gaskets" >"trim/side moldings".

[bourkeco]

Heres mine

[blunt1]

is there some place to buy new trim? mine got bent, and I thinik I'd like to replace it.

i have new beltline kits for less than bavauto or bimmerparts. email me at unkorama at g mail dot com if i can help

[kpolito99]

Dump that debris collecting trim that only helps to promote rust! White with M-sport stripes or Estoril blue with Hartge stripe.

[cheechthechi]

How do you weld up the trim holes?

[2many02s]

I love those wheel arches. Are the the Rabbit ones?

[kpolito99]

I love those wheel arches. Are the the Rabbit ones?

Yup! VW Rabbit from the early 80s.

Weld up those holes by tacking a little scrap of sheet metal to the inside and filling the holes completely with weld.

IMHO it really cleans up the look of the old girl and makes washing/waxing a snap.

[Pinepig]

How do you weld up the trim holes?

I use nails, just grind the heads down to the right size, stuff em in the hole and weld.

Makes it easy by giving you something easy to hold on to while you start the weld.

[cheechthechi]

I use nails, just grind the heads down to the right size, stuff em in the hole and weld.

Makes it easy by giving you something easy to hold on to while you start the weld.

Didn't think of that, thanks for the idea!

kpolito99, how did you remove those flares/ mount them onto the 2002?

[Dickfruster]

I completely support the removal of all trim, especially the the part on the rockers.


Today I have noticed a small hole on the bottom of my quater. I feared the worst and poked it with a screwdriver- the paint came of with the metal and the screwdriver went into the inner rocker seal.I crabed the flashlight and saw some pretty bad rust on the inner seal as well. God, I was so F$#@# pissed. This car seems to be roting from inside out!!!!. Now I will have to get the trim off and cut the lower portion just to see if the roker inner and outter seals are about to rust out in a few years. Damn f$#@% unibodies.It's almost as if I have to cut the car apart to remove all of that rust!!!!!!!!!

There is a little advice to some square lights car owners. There is a small peice designed to reduce noise behind the rear interior panel on the 1/4 panel. This thing seems to collect rust and moisture helping it to rust out. Check yours.

P.S. All this considering that my o2 is in exellent shape and lived all its life in Cali.

[kpolito99]

Didn't think of that, thanks for the idea!

kpolito99, how did you remove those flares/ mount them onto the 2002?

I used a cold steel chisel to cut the entire fender loose from damaged cars in the yard. When I got hom I careful scribed a line and used my dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to trim the arch to the desired shape.

I am sure that a nibbler or some other professional tool would make the job a whole lot easier.

[IndyBMW]

P.S. All this considering that my o2 is in exellent shape and lived all its life in Cali.


That sucks. I'm in the middle of tearing my 70 apart, and I'm amazed at the amount of rust that is 'hiding'.

OT: What wheels (and offset, size, etc) are you running on your car? I love the setup, it's very nice!

[kpolito99]

I completely support the removal of all trim, especially the the part on the rockers.


Today I have noticed a small hole on the bottom of my quater. I feared the worst and poked it with a screwdriver- the paint came of with the metal and the screwdriver went into the inner rocker seal.I crabed the flashlight and saw some pretty bad rust on the inner seal as well. God, I was so F$#@# pissed. This car seems to be roting from inside out!!!!. Now I will have to get the trim off and cut the lower portion just to see if the roker inner and outter seals are about to rust out in a few years. Damn f$#@% unibodies.It's almost as if I have to cut the car apart to remove all of that rust!!!!!!!!!

There is a little advice to some square lights car owners. There is a small peice designed to reduce noise behind the rear interior panel on the 1/4 panel. This thing seems to collect rust and moisture helping it to rust out. Check yours.

P.S. All this considering that my o2 is in exellent shape and lived all its life in Cali.

Dude - that sucks!

Several years ago I encountered the same situation. Back in the day (1984) I was advised to dip my shell in a paint removal and rust inhibiting solution. I metal conditioned everything and applied an overall coat of zinc chromate primer before beginning my rebuild.

Every panel on my car has been preserved well except the rockers where etchant seeped between the stich welded doubler panels. I felt the same as you and it pained me to see my baby slowly rotting from the inside out... .. . one thing I most desperately wanted to avoid.

About 4 years ago I had a BMW restoration house install full length rockers and cut out all that cancer that I fueled almost 20 years ago. The quarter panels where artfully reconstructed in six individual pieces of thicker gage steel and my car is much stiffer than the original uni-body.

It cost a fortune but my car is solid and I doubt I will see the same situation again in my lifetime... .. . well atleast as long as I continue ot own my car.

Good luck with the repairs.

[Alpine003]

God, I was so F$#@# pissed. This car seems to be roting from inside out!!!!.

Same thing I've found. Some of these older cars can be so misleading from the outside.

As for VW flares, I've contemplated at one point in using the newer 88+ GLI or GTI plastic flares and modifying them to fit and molding them in. It seems to flow good but the plastic texture will need to be sanded down if you want an even paint finish.

[kpolito99]

IMHO anything looks better than the factory turbo aero kit with the black beading and exposed fasteners... .. . can anyone say "JC Whitney" :redspot

[2many02s]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b372/merlin530i/tii%20FS/SuperChargedCar00125.jpg
this is my flares but I really, really, really like those Rabbit flares!

[kpolito99]

Thanks for the flare support.

Man that yellow 02 is riding low :buttrock

I used to have a race header that was positioned under the passenger floor board outside the tranny tunnel and it used to scrape against everything.

What kind of ground clearance do you have? Your 02 makes mine look like a 4x4:lol

[2many02s]

I sold that car last night... The suspension is from Ireland with ST springs and Bilsteins.I think the car appears lower because of the aftermarket side kit and the custom air dam. 15 inch wheels. The suspension is exactly the same as on my M2. So if was to do another 02 where would I buy those steel rabbit flares?

[Alpine003]

I think the car appears lower because of the aftermarket side kit and the custom air dam. 15 inch wheels.

I don't know, I see some good tuckage going on...

[kpolito99]

I guess that you have to go to a junk yard. Back in the day I looked through several local yards for VW Rabbits that had been hit just right. You need to find a fender that is crumpled just enough near the door or front end so that the yard cannot charge high dollars for the entire fender.

I think that I paid about $15-20 for fenders that had arches which were intact. The fronts were very easy as I could overlap the VW arch by about 1 - 1.5 inches on the inside and weld both sides.

The rear was a little tougher and required that I re-radius the inner rear wheel tubs. Depending upon how high you position the arch for your intended suspension drop, you will find that the inner well and outer panel seperate. The OEM arch has a lip formed by the intersection of the inner wheel tub and the quarter panel. After cutting the desired profile on the outer panel, I cut slits in the inner tub and hammered out the fingers to effectively deepen and widen the inner arch. I tacked these fingers to the inside of the outer panel to retain some of the original structural integrity. The small slits were eventually filled with seam sealer and covered with rubberized undercoating. The underside of both my front and rear arches look as good as factory.