I was married in 1974(still 45 years later) and bought several boxes of Freakies cereal. My nine year old grandson collects the Funko bobble heads. Their store in Everett is not to far. To make a long story short, I now have a Boss Moss from them.

 

That's me!
Very cool. You rock.

 

I am strongly considering doing this as my trim looks like it has been sliced and diced. The chrome looks rough as well. The wrap I had done just doesn’t do it for me. Is there a consensus whether the weather stripping has to be replaced? Is it visible at all on the car near the roof line? I would not mind knocking $300 off the cost of doing this modification.

 

Yes you definitely need the weatherstrips replaced when doing this conversion. As I have told others that you will be greatly pleased with the results.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. In the end I would rather do it right than save some money. I have an appointment with glass specialist Monday to get a quote for the install.

 

You had a "Wrap" done to cover all of the Chrome Molding? May I inquire as to which Brand of Vinyl was used? Did you do it yourself or a shop, and would you mind please posting up some photos of what :didnt do it for you" if possible? Just had mine done and would like to hear what others have done & used. THANKS!

 

Here is long sad story of my window trim. The previous owner of my car had all the chrome smoked with a paint. It looked great, but a month into my ownership it started to peel around the rear window. I tried to remove the rest of it with a plastic razor blade. Some of it came off easily. Some did not. The paint went under the rubber edge where it meets the chrome if that makes sense. Trying to remove it marred some of the edges of the rubber. I ordered the pre-cut vinyl kit that I have seen referenced in your Facebook posts and had the guy who tinted my windows install it. He was not a fan of it and it did not uniformly cover the edges of the chrome. Soon it shrank and looked worse. I then removed it and painted the trim in rust oleum’s version of plasti dip because it came in gloss. After several months the gloss was gone and it looked blotchy. Several weeks ago I had it wrapped again. Because the edges of trim were so rough and uneven marred from removing the old paint and maybe some razor marks from the original vinyl install, he recommended wrapping over the entire trim. It too started to shrink in places revealing slim pieces of chrome trim. I will take pictures later today. I think if your trim is in good in shape a wrap can work. I am not sure I would recommend gloss because it magnifies every little flaw. I am not sure what product he used. For me, the molding replacement is probably the only way to go. I am not crazy about spending $1000 plus to do it, but the rest of the car looks so nice, but the window trim to me is an eyesore. I know 90% of the population do not notice and I get compliments on the car all the time. It just bothers me because I am stickler for details.

 

Here are some pictures

 

Liked this most - "I am not sure I would recommend gloss because it magnifies every little flaw" ...And echo this x50 !
If you like the Carbon Fiber Appearance in any likeness, feel free to PM for more "Details" -

 

It's not easy to get the trim on the Lexus correct, but it is possible. Just takes the right installer.

 

thanks again for this thread and the part numbers...have the retainers and window assy's but didn't realize i needed the weatherstripping. my appointment for install is this thursday and it would have been a bummer to get there without everything i needed. thanks again rcfgrandpa and bossmoss.

 

You’re Welcome! You will be greatly pleased I promise you. Please post after photos, I’m sure others will enjoy them as I will.

 

I finally got mine installed on Saturday. It took me two months to get one of the windows delivered without the clip broken off that lines it up to the separate molding. My glass installer told me that my weatherstripping was in great shape and I did not need new - but I had him install the new pieces anyway, since I had already purchased them. No issues with install at all, and it turned out great.

Depending on LexusParts, I may or may not have an extra piece of quarter glass (undamaged) to get rid of. It's the less expensive piece.

Also, I had the tint re-done on the glass before I had them installed. That made it super easy for my tint installer.

While this turned out to be an act of patience, I got decent pricing on parts from LexusPartsOnline (minus the shipping damage issue), and my installer charged me $250.00 for the labor. I'm very pleased with the end result!

All the thanks go to RCFGrandpa.

Jim

 

Thank you Jim for your kind words. Sounds like you are pleased too. So much better than a wrap or painting over the chrome.

 

I ordered my parts from LexusPartsNow as well. They didn’t ship me the right rear window and claimed it was not their problem. I had to fight them through PayPal and I finally got reimbursed. I posted my ordeal on the RCF Facebook page. I ordered the window through my local dealer and hope to have the install done soon. It has been a four weeks since my initial order through LexusPartsNow.