98 V70 Rubber Roof Strips and Scratched Bumper

Post by **98v70dad** » 20 Apr 2015, 17:57

Cosmetic things on my v70 don't often bother me a lot but I have a couple of issues that i'd like to address since the car still looks pretty good.

1) The rubber strips that run on the roof from back to front and down the window pillars have begun to degrade pretty badly and little pieces are flaking off. I've read that these are held on by clips and can be removed by starting at the front and slowly working toward the back. These could be stripped of rubber and painted but I don't know if the rubber is there for a reason or if its just cosmetic. Can anyone answer this? I've read that others have plastikoted them. Seems too shiny to me. Also I'm doubtful that would stand up to a southern summer UV beating. One idea I had that I haven't seen mentioned is truck rubber bed liner "paint". I'm not that familiar with that product so it may be too lumpy ... don't know if it comes in a smooth version. The owner of my favorite used parts place told me not to mess with the strips. His comment was "don't mess with those or you'll be sorry, just accept that your car will eventually look like crap". His comment made me laugh because his Volvo is old and it looks like crap. He may be very wise, I'm not really sure. Anyhow any words of wisdom or ideas from this group would be appreciated.

2) My back bumper top is badly scratched and has cracks. The rubber piece that goes on top of the XCV70 bumper looks like it would cover the damage. The illustrated parts catalog says it fits a V70, but it doesn't look like the tailgate will clear it when it swings up. Has anyone else tried this ... how did it work out for you? It will be cheaper to let it look like crap and it will match the roof strips but a little face lift would be nice if I can make it work.

Post by **FLXC90** » 20 Apr 2015, 18:38

Had the same issues with POS70 got lucky and found a pair of trim strips at JY, I would like to Plasti-kote the old ones. I masked out an area on the top of my bumper, sprayed it with some rattle can sealer, came out lumpy, but sanding and filling, then a satin black would probably do the trick, and be maintainable. I am also looking at liquid electrical tape to build up the contour on the trims?

Post by **98v70dad** » 20 Apr 2015, 19:00

[quote="FLXC90"]Had the same issues with POS70 got lucky and found a pair of trim strips at JY, I would like to Plasti-kote the old ones. I masked out an area on the top of my bumper, sprayed it with some rattle can sealer, came out lumpy, but sanding and filling, then a satin black would probably do the trick, and be maintainable. I am also looking at liquid electrical tape to build up the contour on the trims?[/quote

Thanks. I just came in from putting a little black paint in the peeled up area which is about 1 inch long and 1/8 wide. I learned while I was working on it that the stuff that looks like rubber is more like plastic and on my car it has widespread cracking. There's not a square inch that isn't covered in longitudinal cracks. I don't expect that it will be long before I start getting a lot of peel ups. I don't know if parts like this can still be gotten at the dealer since the car is so old. They usually don't carry cosmetic stuff for more than 5 to 10 years. I'd pay $200 just not to have another "backlogged" project around the house.

Post by **98v70dad** » 21 Apr 2015, 08:40

Cosmetic issues don't seem to get the same interest as mechanical stuff, but I'm sure that nearly everyone has had this problem.

Any comments or suggestions would be really appreciated.

Post by **cn90** » 21 Apr 2015, 09:09

Find a car at junk yard that has been garaged. For ex, if the car is 200K but garaged during its life, these plastic molding strips are still decent even from 1996-98 years etc.

I got lucky and found a few of these at local junk yard.

PS: I have seen ad for Carbon Fiber roof trim, search for it.

Blockpartie · Post by **Blockpartie** » 21 Apr 2015, 09:44

Problem with the roof strips is mechanical wear and tear. Like ^ said, their condition is unrelated to mileage.
For your car these strips will be very, very expensive. For cars with roof fails new front strips are cheaper as the part itself is shorter. You can still get them from a dealer of your choice.

Avoid the rubber bumper protection. It doesn't look that good in person and will trap water & dirt. There is a plastic aftermarket piece for this area that covers everything. Not that cheap but cheaper than having a bumper painted professionally.

Post by **Rondo** » 21 Apr 2015, 12:44

I had the very same issue on my last s70. All of the plastic coating was cracked and peeling. I scraped off what I could and masked off the area and used a heat gun and some goof off to remove the glue. I lightly sanded the bare metal with 1200 grit emory cloth (wet) and cleaned it all up with mineral spirits and a tack cloth. Then I just used flat black bumper paint. (I'm not sure if the strips are black or grey after so much time, but I thought the black looked better). It looked really good when I was finished and lasted for the last two years of the car's life. Hope that helps.

Post by **98v70dad** » 21 Apr 2015, 18:47

Rondo wrote:I had the very same issue on my last s70. All of the plastic coating was cracked and peeling. I scraped off what I could and masked off the area and used a heat gun and some goof off to remove the glue. I lightly sanded the bare metal with 1200 grit emory cloth (wet) and cleaned it all up with mineral spirits and a tack cloth. Then I just used flat black bumper paint. (I'm not sure if the strips are black or grey after so much time, but I thought the black looked better). It looked really good when I was finished and lasted for the last two years of the car's life. Hope that helps.

For those who applied paint what did you do about the rubber strips or seals that run down both sides of the plastic strip? Did you just mask over them or did you remove everything paint it and then put it back together?

I've given this some thought and paint or similarmay be best way to go to get close to the original look. Today I found that Walmart sells smooth spray on rustoleum truck bed liner in a rattle can. It apparently does well with UV and it has the original look and feel. A post from someone yesterday about painting the back bumper top gave me the idea since it would work well there also. I read that it takes many coats but looks smooth and uniform if you're patient enough to put on many coats.

I also found that the part is still available for about 160 (discounted). Oddly one side costs a dollar or two more than the other. I can't see myself paying 320 for trim strips on the outside of a 16 year old car ... For nice seat covers maybe, but not trim strips. However it's nice to know you can still get the part if you're willing to cough up the cash. The JY would be a nice option if I had any free time. The Atlanta commute eats most of my free time on weekdays.

Post by **Rondo** » 21 Apr 2015, 20:00

I masked off the rubber seals. This takes some time, especially removing the old plastic, so be patient and careful and it will turn out well. I also used several coats to build up the paint to look stock. You can also use silicone grease (not vaseline, it breaks down the rubber) on the seals and just mask under them. This will allow you to just wipe the paint off and has the added benefit of "conditioning" the rubber. Good luck!

Post by **E Showell** » 22 Apr 2015, 14:11

I got the rubber roof strips together with all associated hardware very cheaply from a guy who was parting a car. They very much improved the look of my S70. I also stumbled on a product at a local NAPA store that is a dressing for this type of soft rubber part that seems to work very nicely. I can't remember the name right now, but I'll dig it out and post later. Smells a little like coconut and probably has some type of wax formulation. As I recall, it is made by one of the major car products companies like Meguirs.