I designed and had fabricated the roof rack in the photo about 7 years ago for my ’92 80. At that time, I coated the finished rack with POR-15. It was starting to show some age and fading so I removed it a couple of weeks ago and had it stripped and powder coated which also matches the ladder much better now. I am not anticipating reinstalling the original luggage rack and would like to get rid of the 4 ribs/strips on the top and plug the holes. Here is my question… I took the end caps off of one of the strips and with a small rubber mallet was able to tap the cover forward about 8 inches. At that point I checked the adhesion of the part under the cover. I found no screws and it (the base part) is tightly boded to the top. Does anyone know if these base strips can be removed without damaging the top and paint? Worst case I guess I can live with leaving them on as they’re really not visible. I had no problems removing the original rack frame. Any input will be appreciated.