When I first inquired my local auto glass shop about this problem, they claimed that they would have to pull the windshield to replace the molding. I decided to investigate further, and found that this was not true. The entire job took about 30 minutes. If I had been more confident in the process it really could have taken only 15 minutes.
Tools I used:
1. Box Blade
2. Flat Blade
3. Flathead Screwdriver
4. Rubbing Alcohol
5. Rag
Using a box blade, wedge the blade between the molding and the windshield. If your molding is like mine then it shouldn't be too difficult to get the edge of a box blade under the original molding.
With a little leverage on the box blade, you should be able to pry the molding up.
Once you have part of the molding pried up out of the crevice, you should be able to pull the spine out by hand.
After the spine of the molding has been removed, there will be residual molding rubber still attached to the car. For this I used a flat blade to gently peel the residual away from the car.
Now that the residual has been peeled away, there is still some adhesive that needs to be cleaned off. For this I grabbed some rubbing alcohol and a soft cloth. This both helped remove the residual adhesive, and cleaned the surface for the new adhesive to stick to.
Keep in mind there may also be small shards of rubber that flaked off into the crevice while pealing the molding off. You'll need to scoop it out with a tool like a flathead screwdriver. You may even want to try to blow it out with some canned air if you have it.
The new molding comes with a adhesive strip with a protective peel. This peel can be left on the molding while installing and fitting it into the crevice. As you do this you may have to apply a little more force to one side or the other depending how tight the fit is.
Once the molding is in place you can begin to pull the protective strip away from the adhesive. As you do this, press the adhesive into contact with the roof.
And that's it. Pretty simple job.