OEM Side Skirts, "Weather" Strip coming off. Needed??? Options

[Celicav]

So, I struck gold and sourced pair of OEM sides from a member here. I received them today and they are in good shape, except the weather strip along the top edge is coming completely off one skirt and tiny bit off the other. I need to sand them down (they need repainting b/c are wrong color (white), plus they need touching up due to road wear) and prime them before painting red.

Okay, what do you think about the weather strip? Important to keep it on there? If I do, it kind of gets in way when I am going to sand them down, plus the strip is a white color, so i would have to paint it red.

Is the strip more for protecting the skirts from scratching the car when on the car, or is it more for keeping out moisture, ie "weather" strip as I call it.

Thanks!

[azian_advanced]

after test-fitting the skirts to the body, you'll notice that the top edge will be off by a few millimeters. so you need the tape to seal up that gap.. so it's mainly for cosmetic reasons and not for keeping out moisture.

if you use rubberized double tape, it will be easier to clean if you remove the skirts, all you need is some adhesive removing solution (that's safe on paint). the foam type mounting tape (ie. from Walmart) dries out and doesn't hold as long and will leave a good mark on the body when you remove the skirts