'79-'84 Bodyside Molding Restoration Thread

[Gemini1999]

Actually the double detail is on the bottom of the body side moulding.

Not if you're looking at it upside down...

[tcruise]

I recently refinished the body moldings on my 83 Mexican Mustang.
If your moldings are not banged up, I'd suggest trying this instead of painting them.
After all, they are there to protect the car from car doors, shopping carts, etc. If you paint them, they will be very easy to bang up.

A couple of the short moldings on my 82 were peeling at the ends. Rather than take them completely off, I just peeled it back a ways and scraped the old glue off using a painters tool. I bought a tube of glue at the auto parts store that's for gluing trim parts on. It's clear. You put it on, press the parts together, then pull them apart for 10-15 seconds, then press down again. I used a ratcheting tie-down and a piece of 2x4 to hold it in place over night. It's been good so far.

I refinished all of the rubber moldings on this car. They weren't damaged, just had a lot of staining on them. I sanded them with fine sandpaper, starting with 400 grit, finished with 1000 grit. Then applied two coats of Wesley's Black Magic, which is liquid silicone.
The look great.

I also painted everything below the moldings with black trim paint, with a clear topcoat. I painted the left side BEFORE I refinished the molding, and painted the right side AFTER. The only issue I had was that a little bit of the black magic ran onto the original paint, and polluted the primer coat a little bit. But the paint seems to have stuck on just fine, so I did a little light sanding and finished painting, and it looks great!

[IDMooseMan]

That looks great.

[qturk94]

I found a pair of the mouldings that go behind the rear wheels off of a '79-'81 in a junkyard that I got for my '84 SVO, will this work for the shorter ones too or just the door?

[Gemini1999]

I found a pair of the mouldings that go behind the rear wheels off of a '79-'81 in a junkyard that I got for my '84 SVO, will this work for the shorter ones too or just the door?

I'm almost positive that the molding pieces that are in front of/behind the wheel are different lengths with a diagonal cut to accomodate the wheel opening at opposite ends. You shouldn't be able to use the pieces in places that they weren't designed to fit. The piece that fits behind the wheel should be longer than the piece that fits behind the door edge.

[wraithracing]

I found a pair of the mouldings that go behind the rear wheels off of a '79-'81 in a junkyard that I got for my '84 SVO, will this work for the shorter ones too or just the door?

If you look closely at the moldings you will discover that the moldings between the wheels (behind front wheels, in front of rear wheels and doors) are actually thinner than the moldings that meet the bumpers (in front of front wheels and behind rear wheels) The reason for this is clearance between the door molding and the front fender when opening the door. The moldings that meet the bumpers are a bit thicker and because of that will not match the moldings between the wheels.

So the long answer to your question is no the moldings are essentially specific to their locations. You might be able to use the rear moldings up front next to the bumpers, but they would have to be swapped from L to R and R to L and cut down to the shorter length of the front moldings.

Best of Luck!

Trey

[qturk94]

Sorry I should have worded that better. I was asking if the rear quarter moldings could be straightened with this same trick, not if they could be used else where

[85GT-79FJ40]

Yes you can straighten the shorter pieces by removing the backing. But an SVO doesn't use the moldings between the doors. They have a thin molding that goes inside the groove down the side of the car instead of covering it up like the other cars. The regular moldings are too thick to work with the spats that go in front of the rear tires.

[Mr. Ranchero]

I had to look up this thread to get the adhesive information since it was 7 years since I did the side moldings on my 84. I took a different approach on stretching out the door moldings. I used a woodworker's bench, clamps, and a heat gun to stretch them before applying the adhesive and mounting on the car. Seven years later they still look like the day I put them on.

[brianj]

In a fit of pissedoffednes at how long it was taking with a heat gun, i actually used an oxy acetaline cutting torch on mine. I ran the flame down the aluminum strips about as fast as i could, and all the aluminum peeled off. I stripped all of the trim in under 15 minutes. While i do not recommend following my lead, it sure did work well! Lol.

[STL79Coupe]

I had to look up this thread to get the adhesive information since it was 7 years since I did the side moldings on my 84. I took a different approach on stretching out the door moldings. I used a woodworker's bench, clamps, and a heat gun to stretch them before applying the adhesive and mounting on the car. Seven years later they still look like the day I put them on.

Is it 85-86 mouldings? I aske because the 79-84 usually doesn't shrink, but I've heard that they can.

In a fit of pissedoffednes at how long it was taking with a heat gun, i actually used an oxy acetaline cutting torch on mine. I ran the flame down the aluminum strips about as fast as i could, and all the aluminum peeled off. I stripped all of the trim in under 15 minutes. While i do not recommend following my lead, it sure did work well! Lol.

Pete Hissing Cobra said he used a samll mapp gas torch.

Mine only curled a little on the ends so I just took a small die grinder disc and removed the metal strip back about 5" and they are fine after 5 years or so.

[STL79Coupe]

Sorry can the second post be deleted

[Hissing Cobra]

Mr. Ranchero,

That's awesome that you were able to stretch them back to length. Have they shrunk at all since the reinstallation?

[Dirtybird91]

Wow. This thread had certainly cleared things up for me. I have looked to buy a new set of side moldings for months for my Pace Car restoration project. I now see they are not available. This is my only option, so I shall do my best.
Frank

[82gt50]

1. This is so good can it be made a sticky?
2. Why won't anyone make these moldings new?

[STL79Coupe]

1. This is so good can it be made a sticky?
2. Why won't anyone make these moldings new?

It's on the homepage I believe, and Daniel Carpenter Mustang is in the process. It's a working part number for them but it's been a long time in the making.

[roush235]

I've heard of two or three prototype sets having been completed, but none were of sufficient quality to be ready for manufacture. This process has been going on for two or three years. Patience I guess, hopefully the end product will be worth the wait.