Install Directions 4 Side Moldings Here

I've ordered (and received) my body side moldings from a dealer in Windsor, Ontario. As he didn't include installation instructions with the moldings, he recently promised to mail them. In the meantime, I found them on Toyota Europe's website:

http://techdoc.toyota-europe.com/le...rius_PZ415-G0280-00_Side_Mouldings_220409.pdf

Hope this helps someone!

Greg

PS If the one's I receive from the dealer are different, I'll try to post them, too.

 

Here's a link to the instructions for the previous Prius.

Greg

 

Well, I finally installed my body side moldings. The parts man from the Windsor, Ontario Toyota dealer sent me the installation instructions, but I chose instead to use the European version. The Canadian version was nearly useless apart from providing the alcohol/water mixture described below.

My steps were:

(1) Using a clean cotton cloth, I wiped on a degreaser (Rustoleum Wax & Tar Remover purchased from the Auto department in WalMart) on the door panels on one side of the car.
(2) After waiting the prescribed four minutes (per the bottle) I wiped/buffed off the degreaser with a clean cotton cloth.
(3) Partially filling a spray bottle with equal amounts alcohol (I used 91%) and water (I used filtered), I sprayed the degreased door panel areas and wiped them with a separate clean cotton cloth. (That makes a total of three cotton cloths.)
(4) Measuring the prescribed distances (I converted mm to inches before starting), I placed two 3" lengths (whatever works; nothing magical about 3") of blue painters tape in horizontal positions as indicated in the instructions (about 38" - 39" apart; I don't remember exactly; again the distance is based on the conversion from metric to inches). I marked the appropriate measurement on each of the two lengths of tape.
(5) I unrolled a long length of tape from the roll and held it taut with the one edge of the tape close to the door, but not touching it, so that the edge intersected each of the marks on the two pieces of tape. While I held the tape taut, my daughter gently pressed the center of the tape and worked outwards toward the ends so that the end result was a straight horizontal piece of tape. Before pressing the tape down at the very ends, the two pieces that had the measurements marked on them in step (4) were removed.
(6) I purchased a light-weight, four-foot-long (aluminum?) ruler from Home Depot ($7-$8) and a 10 foot long magnet roll from the craft section of WalMart (about $3). The magnet roll had an adhesive strip on one side. Laying the ruler flat on the kitchen table, I slowly applied the adhesive side of the magnet to the ruler so that the edge of the magnet matched the edge of the rule (total thickness might be 3/16". (I exposed more and more of the adhesive area on the magnet as I went along, then cut the excess off -- 6 feet or so -- with a pair of kitchen scissors; exposing it all at once would have been a mess!) I then had a very long straight edge that would easily and securely adhere to the door panels while I applied the body side moldings. It would also adequately support the molding while I positioned it and pulled off the tape backing.
(7) I checked and rechecked the measurements and the tape position.
(8) I placed the straight edge magnet over the tape so that I could barely see the top edge of the entire length of the tape. The initial positioning was to cover most of the width of the front door panel.
(9) I took the front door molding and stretched it out and placed it in the prescribed position (per the instructions) without removing the tape backing on the molding. Once I was satisfied with the intended position relative to the opening edge of the front door (e.g., my starting point for attaching the first molding was the left edge on the front passenger door), I removed a couple inches of tape from the that edge (on the passenger side I was working left to right) and again placed the molding without touching the exposed portion to the door. Once I had that portion of the molding that was not adhesive-exposed (all but the left edge on the front passenger door) lined up on the straight edge, I carefully pressed the exposed portion (left edge) against the door panel. The plastic strip that is pulled off to expose the adhesive, was then gradually pulled off (upwardly) as more and more of the molding was lined up and pressed in toward the panel. (I refer you to the diagram on the European instructions. It depicts this well, although it may advise working both ends toward the middle, whereas I worked back to front (that is, left to right on the passenger side)). Once the front door "half" of the molding was securely in place, I simply moved the straight edge back toward the rear door, using the already secured molding as a guide.

The Canadian instructions listed the use of a rubber roller (sometimes called a "j-roller") as optional. It would have been used for applying additional pressure to the molding once attached to the door. I tried to find one, but no one (including Home Depot, Ace Hardware, WalMart, auto stores, paint stores, etc.) had one. I didn't really want to wait for delivery for an online order, and I thought that since it was optional, I'd just as soon avoid the additional expense.

All-in-all, the moldings weren't that difficult to install, but for me it took some careful planning. Starting out, I didn't know what products to use to prepare the door surface (none of those listed on the Euro instructions could be found anywhere; the description on the Rustoleum cleaner was virtually identical to what the listed products were intended to do). Of even greater concern was the means of guiding the molding onto the door in a straight horizontal fashion. The straight edge with the magnetic strip was an extremely great help in this regard. Without it, I don't know how long it would have taken me (not to mention untold frustration). In total, I probably spent 45 minutes on installation. Planning the operation took much longer. I might have spent a total of $20 on installation materials. As I recall, the dealer was going to charge me at least $100 to install them... but they aren't available to US dealers!

Pictures, no doubt, would have been helpful. Regrettably, there are none. I trust that my descriptions in conjunction with the Euro instructions will suffice. For me, the preparation know-how and the straight-edge creation made the directions unnecessary apart from the measurements and the method of removing the tape backing while pressing the molding to the door panel.

Hope this helps.

Greg

PS If you make a straight-edge like this, I suggest that you not apply two parallel lengths of magnetic strips to the ruler. One length provides sufficient holding strength and still allows one's fingers (or fingernails) a place to get under the ruler a bit to lift it from the door when removing/repositioning. I'm not sure how easy this would be if the entire back of the ruler were covered with magnetic tape. One strip covers about 40% of the width of the ruler, I would guess.