Stainless Rocker Trim Question

Hi All-

Hoping someone has an answer on this. As I have culled salvage yards, I have taken off the chrome rocker trim off a few Chev Caprices with the plan to put on my Roady Wagon (can't have enough chrome on these huh). I have taken the best pieces I could find with no scratches, dents or blemishes. I laid them all out the other day to polish them up and low and behold, they are two different materials! Some are aluminum and some are stainless like the Roady side molding trim.

Does anyone know what years had the stainless rocker trim versus the aluminum? I want to put on only the stainless trim.

Thanks in advance for any light you could shed on this.

First, the Caprice sedan rear door and rear quarter trim will not fit the wagon. I would get it all from one wagon, then you will have the same trim on all panels. The Caprice wagons have the same shape trim as the RM wagons, and will bolt up directly. Since the only place you are going to find the rear door and quarter trim is on a Caprice wagon, you can narrow it down to the year with a little effort. I would look at the earlier years first. GM tended to go cheap on the latter half of the production run.

I do not know which years have stainless/chrome vs. aluminum.

We are talking two different things here. I am asking about the rocker trim at the lowest portion of the wagons not the side body mouldings.

We are talking about the same parts. I am referring to the lowest trim on the door, and all that I stated is true.

Well in that case Thank You! Great info. I will continue to hunt for pre-94 rocker trim that us stainless.

As you see above, I have been squirreling the lower door rocker chrome away. The weather will be nicer soon and I want to get a complete set of shiny trim on the lower portion. I already discovered that GM used both Stainless and aluminum trim for the rockers. The aluminum was probably a weight/cost measure but it pits and dents readily. Oddly, I discovered that the black roady trim on my wagon is already stainless!

I am missing 2 pieces of stainless (1 each side) to make a complete set so since mine on the wagon are dent free, I could just use existing if I can get the black paint off

Now the question, how do you get the black paint off? I just tried aircraft stripper but it had zero effect! I know someone on here has done it but the procedure is buried in another post somewhere.

Anyone done the removal of the black?

The black is not paint. It is a plastic tape/coating. The parts may not be stainless, they may be chrome plated steel. Put a magnet on them. There are some stainless alloys that will be attracted to a magnet, but the attraction is not as strong as a piece of regular steel. Be careful stripping and polishing, you may not get the results you expect. Under the plastic, there may not be chrome, or it may not be stainless.

I suggest you try some heat to remove the covering, but do it on a scrap piece to experiment. You will also find out if the surface under the plastic is suitable for your use.