Trim Questions

I searched around on here and found some helpful threads but still have questions. Perhaps there are other treads that I missed.

While removing the wood grain trim on the front fenders, some of the nylon or plastic "plugs" that go into the fenders and receive the plastic "studs" on the back of the trim either broke or tore out. Are these available repro anywhere? If not, do any of you have a few used ones available?

Similarly, I have so far removed one piece of the wide stainless "belt-line" trim. I find this to be much more difficult than the wood grain trim, which is rather simple. I broke the tiny little "ears" on the top of two of the clips. I looked on eBay, but do not see any such clips. Are they available new? If not, do any of you have any for sale used?

What are the mechanics of how that belt trim is held on? I know you lift up on the trim and then pull the top edge out, which I did, but the fact that I broke a couple clips suggests I do not have a good feel for what is happening when I am doing this.

Thanks for your time.

Removing the stainless trim plain sucks.  I'd rather do three sets of woodgrain trim than one stainless belt trim set.  Part of my confusion came from the fact that the "springy" little arms on the clips for the rear quarter sections are on top, whereas on the rest of the trim they are on the bottom of the trim.  So, on some pieces you must push down to release, and on others push up.

I also found that even when knowing what to do, i.e. push trim up from bottom edge, pull top edge away, it did not come easily at all.  Not at all! My fingers are raw.

Time to take the best pieces from the two sets I have, remove any rubber strips, polish them up and reinstall.

Definitely need some clips!

I have a whole bag of clips that I would sell for $50. I also have 2 good grommets for the pins. I hate to give up the grommets, because they are impossible to find, and impossible to remove from the cars without destroying them (the OCC cladding is all held on by the pin/grommet system). The pins are easy to break as well because they are brittle from age, and there are none available to purchase. I have a front and a bottom piece with pins on them.

As far a the pins and grommets, if you have a grommet on a pin, you should reinsert the pin with the grommet, and put some kind of a push nut on the pin inside with a spacer to allow it to draw tight, or put a push nut on the inside of the grommet itself, and then you do not need a spacer.

If you can get the end studs out of the holes, it is easier to push up on the door trim. You should work one clip at a time starting with the front or rear. When one comes off, the others are easier. The stainless trim is pretty strong, and you can put a good bit of stress on it without bending it. Be careful with the paint at the ends. It is easy to slip and scratch it.

If you have trouble removing the screws around the wheel openings, you can grasp the screw by the point and head with a cannel lock pliers, and rock it a few times. That will break the screw loose (I believe they use thread locker on them), and you will be able to remove them easily. I have done this enough times to just grab all of them, and rock them before even trying to unscrew them.

After reading on forums about methods for stripping the wood trim prior to painting it, I ordered some aircraft remover. It will be here next week. In the meanwhile, I tried acetone, steel wool, red Scotchbrite pads, and a razor. Slow. Then I tried 100 grit discs on a DA sander. Works very well. I think I will skip the aircraft remover and just do it this way.



My car will never be more than a driver; it has some dents and dings, average paint etc. But it is pretty clean. However, the peeling wood trim and the stainless beltline trim, which had missing rubber, screws through rubber, and chunks of tan adhesive showing, made it look like an octogenarian's beater. I will be glad to get the trim sorted out. I'm painting the wood trim and removing the rubber from the belt trim.

Looks pretty good to me!

Flasheroo wrote:

Looks pretty good to me!

I agree and 2nd that, my favorite color

Looks like its coming together very nicely...

I found a shop that does custom work and they said for $165.00 they will paint the trim in place to look like wood. All I have to do is in a couple places is remove the pieces that were left from when someone removed the wood siding.  

I need the two front "spears" redone with wood grain as they are beginning to peel. Do you think this guy could do them for me---or do you know where I could get the left and right pieces either usable as is or needing restoration?

I'd like to post a gif photo of them, but can't figure out how to do that.

Polished trim on a dark car looks sharp. Better late than never I guess.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t508-trim-removal-and-polish-from-other-site?highlight=polish+trim