85/86 Body Side Moldings

[HCBERICH]

I need to replace all the body moldings on an 85. It has the LX trim. The previous owner painted them all black and they do not look good. They are also very wavy from removing and replacing. My question is are there any NOS sets around, and has anyone used the aftermarket ones from LPR?

[JTurbo]

I used a repro for my 86 GT drivers side door (other side was fine so I never removed it). It's close in terms of profile, but not 100% correct.

However it was still better than dealing with a wavy original molding. Pics are posted in my 86 GT Vert resto thread.

[wraithracing]

Just my .02 about the moldings. I did have a NOS pair of door moldings for the 85/86 cars, but I sold them about 1 year ago to a member restoring a Saleen. There might still be some NOS moldings out there, but I would be surprised as I couldn't find any and neither could the other member. I honestly didn't want to sell my set, but didn't have anything that I could justify installing a NOS set on.

As for the aftermarket moldings available now, they are decent reproductions. As JTurbo mentioned they are close, but not perfect. Most would never notice the difference, but if you do put them side by side to a good set of OEM moldings you can see the difference. The issue is the OEM pieces just have a crisper shape and the angles on the Repro pieces are just off a bit. Nothing terrible, but again they are not perfect. Honestly I don't think it's worth complaining about for the price.

If it were mine, I would consider replacing the moldings between the wheels with the Repro units so they all match and you won't notice any differences. Then keep the OEM pieces for the bumper covers. Good Luck!

[HCBERICH]

Thanks guys. I kind of figured that was the case. I may hold out for a while and try to score some NOS ones. I am in no hurry, I think I am going to put this project on the back burner for a while anyway. That will give me time to gather more stuff. I need a real good set of original seats for an 85 GT. The previous owner had the seats done but the aftermarket material is not even close. I would rather have a set of nice used originals.


Thanks again for the input!