Final assembly of a car is probably the best part of a project—well, after taking that first drive or pass down the track. In all the excitement, we guarantee you will be tempted to rush the process. Please don’t give in. Take your time and do the job properly to avoid damaging freshly painted body panels or scratching delicate surface finishes. You’ll thank us later.

A commonsense precaution is to protect those parts and surfaces from damage using painter masking tape (and lots of it) on components, fasteners, and even tools. Another good idea is to use non-marring tools. These are tools made from materials that won’t scratch or gouge a part, fastener, or painted surface during installation. Here are some of the most common.

Lug Nut Sockets

Mounting wheels and tires—especially with an impact gun—presents a fine opportunity to mess up your expensive wheels. The potential metal-to-metal contact between socket and the wheel or lug nut is virtually guaranteed to scratch or gouge finishes. A better way to go is to use non-marring lug nut sockets. They have plastic sleeves around the outside to protect the wheels from damage. Some also have plastic inserts to protect the lug nuts from scratches and gouges.

Plastic Scrapers and Blades

Plastic scrapers and blades are invaluable for removing things like decals and emblems on bumpers, windshields, and painted surfaces without scratching. Some are all-plastic with blades that can be resharpened with a file. Others use replaceable plastic blades. If you have a razor blade scraper, you can get non-marring plastic blades for it.

Plastic Chisels

Plastic chisels are perfect for removing adhesive-backed body molding. They’re also great for removing stick-on wheel weights or digging out weatherstrip out of painted channels. Windshields are a prime example.

Plastic Pry Bars, Wedges, and Hooks

Plastic pry bars, wedges, and hooks are used to pop off door panels and other interior trim, removing clips and seals, removing wheel covers, and other stuff. They have ends of various shapes, and many are made from glass-reinforced nylon so you can put leverage on them without worrying about bending or breakage.

AN Hose End Wrenches

Almost everyone knows about using aluminum wrenches on delicate AN hose ends. These tools are made with short handles so you don’t overtighten the end. Overtightening a hose end can damage the anodized finish or even worse, distort it and create a leaker. Most AN hose end wrenches are made to fit specific AN sizes, but there are adjustable ‘crescent wrench’ style wrenches that work with a range of hose end sizes.

Soft Blow Mallets

During reassembly, you occasionally have parts that need a little persuasion. That’s where a soft blow mallet comes in handy. Summit Racing offers Titan Tools Sorbothane Mallets that feature heads make from a urethane polymer that absorbs shock and vibration. That reduces the chances of marring or denting the surface you’re working on, making the mallets safe for use on glass, sheetmetal, and trim pieces. The mallets are available with 5.5-, 12-, and 20-ounce heads to deliver varying levels of persuasion.

Check out the accompanying photos for more information on these and other non-marring tools.

Milwaukee Tool SHOCKWAVE Lug Nut Sockets
Lug nut sockets like these Milwaukee Tool SHOCKWAVE Impact Duty Sockets have a plastic outer protector to prevent damage to your wheels when you’re mounting them on the car. The SHOCKWAVES are impact tool-rated, thin-wall for easy access in tight wheel assemblies, and have a non-marring plastic insert to protect the lug nuts. The sleeves are color-coded gray for metric sizes and red for SAE sizes for easier socket selection. (Image/Summit Racing)
Titan Tools Scraper
Scrapers with plastic blades definitely get the job done when removing decals, emblems, or trim molding glued on painted surfaces or glass. My Titan Tools Scraper removes the vast majority of the residue. Plastic scrapers are good for removing gasket residue without nicking or gouging machined surfaces.(Image/Wayne Scraba)
Cal Van Poly Blade plastic scraper blades
Most razor blade-style scrapers can use plastic blades. If you already have a good scraper tool you can get plastic blades like these Cal Van Poly Guard Blades. They get dull just like metal blades, so have a couple of packs on-hand. (Image/Summit Racing)
Performance Tool Plastic Chisel Set
Plastic chisels are perfect for removing adhesive-backed body molding, and stick-on wheel weights. You can also use them to dig out weatherstrip out of painted channels. This Performance Tool Plastic Chisel Set comes with one- and 1.5-inch wide chisels that are strong enough to use with a hammer. You can resharpen the blade ends with a file as they wear, too. (Image/Summit Racing)
Titan Tools Pry Bar Set
Another cool non-marring tool set is this Titan Tools Pry Bar Set. Each bar has two heads with different shapes, essentially giving you six types to work with. These are ideal for removing interior trim and other moldings. (Image/Summit Racing)
Titan Tools Non-Marring Wedge and Pry Tool
This Titan Tools Non-Marring Wedge and Pry Tool is just the ticket for popping door panels and removing clips, weatherstripping, bezels, and other trim. The tapered wedge end removes trim and molding while the U-notch end removes clips and plastic fasteners. (Image/Summit Racing)
AN Fitting Wrenches
AN hose end wrenches are made from aluminum so they won’t mar the ends when you install or loosen them. The reason the handles are short is to prevent you from over-torquing a hose end and causing it to distort or leak. You can also get a crescent wrench-style adjustable tool that fits a range of AN sizes. (Image/Wayne Scraba)
Titan Tool Sorbothane Soft Blow Mallets
If you need a super-soft face mallet, Summit Racing has you covered with Titan Tool’s Sorbothane Soft Blow Mallets. The mallet heads are made from a urethane polymer that absorbs shock and vibration. That reduces the chances of marring or denting the surface you’re working on. (Image/Summit Racing)
Titan Tools Pick and Hook Set
This Titan Tools Pick Hook and Pry Set has six tools with various hook and pick ends to remove all sorts of trim pieces. They’re also good for removing O-rings and seals without damaging them. (Image/Summit Racing)
Performance Tool Spreaders
Plastic body filler spreaders like these from Performance Tool are perfect for smoothing out air bubbles when installing decals and stripe kits. They’re also good for applying and smoothing seal sealer and make great mixing boards for small amounts of two-part epoxy and other adhesives. When you’re done, just bend the spreader and the gunk pops right off. (Image/Summit Racing)

Keywords
Non-Marring Tools
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Author: Wayne Scraba

Wayne Scraba is a diehard car guy and regular contributor to OnAllCylinders. He’s owned his own speed shop, built race cars, street rods, and custom motorcycles, and restored muscle cars. He’s authored five how-to books and written over 4,500 tech articles that have appeared in sixty different high performance automotive, motorcycle and aviation magazines worldwide.