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  1. #1

    Default What's a reasonable price to pay for some nice OEM door body moldings?

    Hello all. I'm planning on getting my car painted over the winter so I'm starting to get my ducks in a row. First on the list is to replace the doors. I have a set of nice 90 mustang power doors but I know there will be some extra work to install them. The biggest issue in my mind is changing the body molding from my current doors to the newer doors so I was thinking of getting a nice set that someone has already removed so I don't have to destroy my doors if it's not necessary.

    What's a reasonable price to pay?

    I know there are aftermarket parts available but they don't seem to be well liked so I'll try to stay with OEM.

    Thanks everyone.

  2. #2
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    The biggest factors in stuff like door moldings are
    - how long they've been off the car and if the factory metal backer stayed attached. (Use a blow dryer on high or a heat gun from a distance and carefully get it free of the double sided tape without removing the backer.)
    - where and how they were stored while off the car. (Every time there is a heat cycle they tend to shrink a little more)

    Measure your trim before you start to remove it. Know to the 1/32 how long it is "supposed to be".

    When I took my door trim off it went famously bad. The backer came off. It immediately shrunk 3/8" in length.

    what I did with my door trim after that happened was wrap it with a cloth and clamped one end into a wide clamp (a vise grip C clamp with angle iron welded on -- used in insulated steel building construction to hold insulation while putting on metal.... but any wide clamp will do) then suspended it from the rafters. (I used tie wire that's normally used to tie rebar but rope will work). Next I put a clamp on the other end and added about 5 lbs of weight to that end.

    I had it hanging right by the wall and marked where it was. I gently warmed it while watching for signs of it elongating. At the first sign I hung it in the sun and marked where I was and kept an eye on it. It stretched around 1/4" on its own. A little more heat and a gentle tug got it past 3/8" and it stayed where it needed to be from there.

    i did the necessary body work to my door and let the paint dry then used professional 3M trim tape from NAPA. I had a buddy support one end while I fiddled with getting the front part of the trim so it cleared the fender properly. Once I had it where I wanted it I reapplied it from front to rear with the door closed while my buddy held it level to the rear section of trim. Stuck it and left it bake in the sun until sunset. It's stayed where it should be for 20 years. It might just be luck as a few of the other parts I put on that day have since come off, but for those I believe the problem is rust..
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  3. #3

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    Thanks a lot for the tips Erratic50! This post is getting saved.

  4. #4

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    About 15 years ago I was restoring my first '85 with my dad. I was in a similar situation and needed door trim for a new set of doors. I lucked out and found a decent set on a car in a local junkyard. I used an old guitar string to remove them. Once I removed the metal backing the trim was badly warped. It was winter when we were doing all this, so we had a kerosene forced air heater (salamander) in the shop. I held them in front of the heater until they were soft and pliable, I then placed them on the floor, covered with a moving blanket, and set cinder blocks on them. When they cooled they were perfectly flat and have held their shape after being installed. Like I said, that was 15 years ago, and they still look good.

  5. #5
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    So there you go - moderate heat and a consistent "get it out flat" force (in my case pulling, debarnes -weighted blocks) is what makes a big difference.

    Door trim will often tend to shrink in length extensively with each heat cycle.

  6. #6
    Moderator wraithracing's Avatar
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    The way I have done the moldings for almost 30 years is an old 10" Drywall putty knife with a nice large wooden handle (yes I know Old school! ) I place the flat blade at the edge of the molding and then use a rubber mallet to hammer/drive the knife down the length of the molding between the molding and the car body. I work from one end to the other without pulling the molding, just allowing it to roll over slightly as I work my way down the length of the molding.

    This removes the molding without causing any damage to the metal backing, the door, and the rubber molding. Often if the door moldings don't have any major curl, waves, or bends I can clean up the metal backing and leave them in the molding for re-installation. If there is a significant curl on the end, then I will place the molding between two 2X6 wooden boards and place heavy weight on the boards to help flatten. If you can set them out in the sun to heat up that helps a ton! If the curl is still there are doing the above, then I will actually use a cut off wheel or Dremel and cut the metal backing just past the curl and remove that small section of backing and then I will redo the boards and weight to flatten then install.

    I only remove the metal backing if the moldings are too wavy or curled to flatten. Unfortunately I have seen too many of them shrink once the backing is removed so I try to not allow that to happen. Good Luck!
    ​Trey

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