I've got wax on the rubber gaskets on either side of my roof edge strips. attempting to remove it has just pushed the gasket into the recess. I've found the following about removing the strips:
Might anyone have more details on the procedure?
I certainly wouldn't bother with all that. Use a natural bristle detailing brush dipped in isopropyl achohol.
(Brush is sort of like a toothbrush but won't scratch. Get online at any number of car care sites or at local Pep Boys, Autozone, etc. Alcohol is available at CVS or Walgreens. )
And don't use carnauba waxes anymore! Polymer sealants don't leave white residue and last longer, too.
I figured out out how to do it and might as complete this thread for any future searchers:
1) Pull the front of the roof edge strip directly up until it pops off. You may need a plastic trim tool or similar to get between the windshield weatherstrip and the front of the strip.
2) There are four fasteners along the length of the strip. You just removed the forward most one in step 1. Keep pulling vertically and you'll remove the 2nd and 3rd.
3) The 4th fastener is a plastic pop rivet that is hidden behind the plastic trim that spans the top part of the rear hatch opening. If you pull the corner of the plastic backwards and down a bit, it will pop out and reveal the head of the rivet.
4) Drive the central plastic pin through the river with a small screwdriver. You won't be able to get the pop rivet out otherwise.
5) The whole piece should now come off by moving it backwards about and inch and lifting it off.
You'll need a new plastic rivet to put it back together. The correct part number is 999 507 499 40 but I'm sure every auto parts store will have comparable fasteners that will work.
If you pull to far on the plastic trim in step 3, you may detach the weatherstrip from the body of the car. A little 3M weatherstrip adhesive corrects this.
Over time the gaskets have been pushed into the recess by both normal use and cleaning/waxing/polishing so they needed to get pulled back out. Now that I've got it sorted out and the gaskets are where they belong, the whole thing looks a thousand times better. Most modern Porsches seem to suffer from this. The design kinda stinks.
I had been using polymer sealants but the aesthetic results of the Griot's Best in Show way were just so damn good that I don't think I can ever go back to a sealant! My wife actually cursed out loud when she say my Cayman and said it looked "better than new". It does.
I've never found a polymer sealant that completely masks spiderwebbing. With the Griot's Best in Show Wax it looks like the clearcoat has never seen the outdoors.
The best thing to do is prevent wax from getting in there in the first place. Next time I'll just mask the whole roof edge strip and hit that area with some of Griot's Spray On Wax.
I was able to remove mine very quickly by running it through a car wash. Popped off all by itself, bent backwards, and continually smacked the rear window until I could get out of there and put it back :-/
:hilarious:
When searching on the subject your post (I think) came up. I prefer my method
I use plain old wooden toothpicks to remove wax build up in that area. You can also use the pick to correct pushed in rubber strips. I also use a toddler's plain bristle toothbrush along the clear bra's edges and between body panels. To get wax off of black plastic, mix up some
Dawn dish soap
and water(1 to 8) and use the tooth brush dipped in the mixture-easy does it tho!
If you can do this procedure with taking photos it would make for a nice addition to our ARTICLES section!
(really for anyone who wants to do it)
I just got the new plastic rivets and weatherstrip adhesive in the mail. I'll gladly take pics and submit it as an article.
Did this ever get made into an article?
