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Subject:Stripping '87 Westy to paint
From:Marc Perdue
Date:Sun, 15 Jun 2014 17:13:20 -0400

Hi all,

I've spent a good portion of the weekend stripping parts off the van,
getting it ready for new paint!! I've run into a couple of issues that I'm
thinking you all can best answer.

Plastic piece on the rain gutters
a) Are these available from vendors?
b) The one on the rain gutter for the driver's side, in front of the
driver's door windows, is different from the others. Rather than being a
small black strip, it is pale gray (might have been silver once?) and
covers the whole edge of the gutter. Is this normal?
c) While the trim on the front of the passenger door window came off
easily, that over the sliding door seems to be held in place with
weatherstripping sealant. I'm wondering about the wisdom of taking it off
and have such a mess to be cleaned up before painting. Somebody else is
doing the painting and likely would be cleaning off the adhesive. Should I
just leave the trim on there or take it off?

Front bumper
The two bolts on the rear bumper and one of them on the front, are 13mm
bolts and came off easily. The second bolt on the front bumper is a 14mm
bolt and won't come off at all. It feels like there was a welded nut inside
the bumper that has come loose and there doesn't seem to be any way to get
to it to remove the bumper, or tighten it back up for that matter. What to
do?

Thanks, and I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go.
Marc Perdue

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