LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

So I followed another thread here where someone (too lazy to search) posted how he blacked out his roof strips with Trimbrite.

Far easier than taking the strips off and risking damaging them or clips in the process.

The tools I used for the job

-Box Cutter (new blade) although I recommend a plastic blade knife you'll see why
-A soft tshirt with no graphic print or anything on it. or a thin rag.
-TrimBrite T9005 Blackout tape (two rolls purchased from amazon) about $20
-A credit card or a spudger tool.. something smooth and plastic to wedge between the strip and car.



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Clean the strips with dish soap hot water and a spray bottle and made sure they dried completely. I parked my car in the shade to do the job.

I started with the passenger side first at the front window and worked my way back. The tape is pretty malleable and easy to work with.. patience is key and you need to stretch it in some instances.. but once it's down on the strip it stays down unless you pull it up. I used my left hand to unroll and I am dominant with my right hand to guide where I wanted the tape to adhere and form to match where the strips curve.

The hardest part I noticed was the front window where the strip meets near the hood. There isn't much room to work so you really have to force and stretch the tape into a small curve to get it to match the curve in the strip and cover all the chrome. Be patient.. it will form around it after stretching and reapplying the tape.

The technique i used while holding the tape in the left hand was overlapping the edge closest to the door about an 1/8th of an inch so it had something to tuck under.. and the other side I let completely overlap the windshield rest of the car. This way you only have to cut one side and pressing this side down first and smoothing towards the car with the t-shirt made this an easy process. You get the hang of it after some playing with it.

DON'T WORRY it will re-apply several times even if you stretch the tape or get a bubble or wrinkle in it. Just go along smoothing with your right hand or whatever is comfortable from the outside of the strip toward inside of the car moving slowly. Take your time and it will look great.. I used one big strip and went all the way to the other end of the car.. smoothing it the whole way.. Got a bubble here and there.



The next step you need to get to cutting. I kind of winged this part and cut with my knife and trimmed the extra tape off the inner side of the strip. Their should be close to a half or 3/4 inch of tape running off the other side of the strip onto the cars body.. I followed the *middle* of the channels of the inner strip each side down while cutting to stay consistent. peel off the cut portion only after you have made sure you cut it all.

Next I went back with my t-shirt and wrapped my credit card in the shirt once and slowly wedged it in between the strip and the side closest to me first.. again, go slowly (i ended up tearing my tape in one spot) because I went to swiftly. The tape should kind of just grab the underside of the strip.. this stuff is really sticky (thats what she said)

Finally I went back and finished off the other side that had a little more slack than the first and made sure that all wrapped under and adhered well.. I only used the card where the strip meets the roof on this one. For the windshield and rear window I did it with just the shirt since there is plenty of room to smooth it with your finger. The T-Shirt just makes it glide better.

Now you'll notice there are two spots where the strip has a gap that we jumped across to make things easier. Where the front windshield meets the roof theirs a gap in the strip and where the roof meets the back window there is another gap.. I just cut with my knife right down the middle and used the credit card shirt so stickt he tape to the underside.. trim if you need to.

Now a note of a few of my mistakes..

* don't go to fast when smoothing.. you may rip or ripple the tape.
* use a plastic razor blade.. I stupidly cut my windshield weatherstrip as you'll see in the last pictures below.

I hope this wordy guide helped someone accomplish this.

Rightside


Leftside


A case where I smoothed too fast with the card/shirt combo and ripped/rubbed the tape.


My cut weatherstripping


Hardest part to get the tape to cooperate

LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

I should also note that you can repair little spots like where I went too fast with another piece of tape on top. It's very unnoticeable now and looks great. I just cut a small strip and layered it on top and it doesn't stick out one bit.

Air bubbles can be popped with a sewing needle and smoothed out with a shirt too.

Kryogen

or remove the strips and paint with krylon fusion.

MaxPrime

Roof strips man i see a lot of people having problems with this sand it down and paint it you never have to worry again.

FenderGuy

I took my off and I have to say what a chit design from Nissan, these cheap chrome peeled on roof strips are just a effin nightmare to deal with. Its not real chrome it's just sort of chrome tape that they stuck to the plastic roof strips. I can't wait to be done with this project and adios car from hell

LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

My original plan was to remove the strips but I wasn't going to risk snapping a strip or clips and have to spend $200+ for another piece of garbage..

This is for people that want to keep the strips on and not run the risk of ruining their current setup. I fully agree that paint is way better. But this is more than acceptable to me and take all of 30 minutes to do.

the macedonian

The person was me

Very glad it worked out well bro - looks sick!!

As for the back portions, what I ended up doing is opening the trunk and going from there.

chulo

they can be tricky

the macedonian

agreed with Chulo - i ended up not purchasing another roll despite my gut and had to go back to grab another one. took me a while to do overall

mitrals

iTrader: (1)

Where did you get the blackout tape in Canada? Will Canadian tire have it? I am planning to do mine over this weekend. Let me know

the macedonian

Hey man - yep, to my surprise Canadian Tire had plenty - was pretty cheap as well.
What part of Canada are you from ?

mitrals

iTrader: (1)

the macedonian: I am in London (about 2 hours from Toronto). Any tips for the strips?

LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the responses guys.. overall I am happy with the way these came out.. if they get crumby over the years.. I'll just take em off and sand and paint.. but for now and under 20 bucks and 30 mins.. I'll take it!

Thanks for the tips Macedonian your write up was pretty good. I wish I documented mine better during the process. Hopefully cleared up some points in mine or give others better ideas how to do this.. I still have about a third of tape left over on each roll to do what I please now. I'm sure I'll figure out something to do with it all.

good luck to everyone that wants to go this route!

05SmokeSE

Does anyone know if you can get that TrimBrite tape in silver or chrome color?

I'd like to do mine, but black won't look good on a Smoke colored car.

Thanks for any help.

the macedonian

Liquid has a very good write up. All I could add is to make sure you get this done in the shade as the adhesive and tape will not do so well in the heat. The credit card/towel combo is a must so no ghey bubbles form (you also can use it to tuck the tape into the channels perfectly for that clean look)

Here is what mine came out like ->

http://flic.kr/p/9Vcg75
http://flic.kr/p/9Vcg6E
http://flic.kr/p/9V9qp8

the macedonian

hey man, you can get it in many different color options. I have seen the chrome color as well as silver. I'd stay away from the chrome as it tends to look very bright and sort of looks exactly as the stock strips do. The silver is a bit darker so i'd probably do that route if anything.

LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

So just an update.. my tape has split in some spots where I have stretched it a little too tight.. this may be from a heat/weather combo. It's not severely split but hairline crack split in very tiny slits.. I recommend not stretching the tape too tight like I did. It still looks great but I do have noticeable slits in the tape which I'll just re-do I have plenty of tape leftover.

P.S. the slits happened close to the inside and outsides of the channels not the center of the strips so way less noticeable. Most likely from the stretching around the bottomand using the card/towel combo.

Kryogen

remove strips, clean, paint with krylon fusion gloss black, place strips back, enjoy. 10 minute job.

6.5affiliate

I personally never removed the strips from my car. I just taped everything off with painters tape. Sanded and prepped it. Taped it off again along with black plastic bags to cover about 80% of the car to where I was sure that there won't be any overspray. Not worried if it did happen but I rather not waste the time and energy.

Anyways, don't forget the clear unless your going with flat type paint.

the macedonian

why did you have to stretch the tape?? in my case i had to cut a small portion as it was too wide for the chrome strips... i've had this on for a few months now, have done a few automatic car washes as well as by hand and have had zero issues....

LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

I only stretched it a little to make it cooperate as if I layed it flat I would have a lot more airbubbles. I formed it to the strip by wrapping it around the outside of the strip to the inside by pulling on the tape and tightening at I smoothed it down to make it bubble-less. I may have just stretched or pulled too hard in some spots :/ Oh well most people probably won't experience this issue.

Kryogen

taping takes way longer than remove 2 strips man.... unbolt rear strip, pop off.
pull on long strip, remove. ez.

6.5affiliate

I know, just didn't want to risk breaking anything. I remember when I first joined 6thgenmaxima.org (RIP to the first forum I EVER joined in my life) and asked questions about this mod. I pm'd jsmithsole about it and he gave me instructions but warned me that he had broken one of the tabs and cracked the strip while he was doing this. Also, some others reported the same thing and that if it isn't put on there correctly than the windshield can be cracked too.

eugrub

iTrader: (1)

DO NOT TRY TO TAKE THE STRIPS OFF! I broke two of them and it's not the same when you try to put it back in. UGHHHHHH I'm gonna try trimbrite right now.

cheese20323

Has anyone tried that carbon fiber tapes?

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

The dealership replaced mine 4 years ago and everything was fine. Drove the car for 1/2 a day and then I heard a loud CRACK. My windshield had to be replaced by them because it cracked in half because they didn't get the chrome strips in just right and the pressure on the glass caused it to create a horizontal crack all the way across the glass. The lesson is dont do it unless you absolutely know what you are doing.

bizzurk31

Thanks for the post. The info gathered was helpful

Maxima Fl

Good info

sqranks

Good write up...

moNYtx

Hey thanks, I plan on doing this soon. I also have to get rid of the swirls in the paint.

LiquidIce

iTrader: (1)

another update.. strips are holding up well.. waxed em to restore their shine due to sitting in the sun a lot and getting a beating from the elements but they are great!

Street Legal

thanx for the write up. Going to give it a try but im going to leave the back rails chrome and tape the longer rail.