1973 Dart Custom side moulding question

[dodgemahal]

Believe it or not, but I can't figure out if the full body length side moulding goes above or below the character line in the sheet metal. I removed it to paint the car a couple years ago and now I can't remember. I've studied pictures online but I still can't tell. If you have a Dart with this moulding can you tell me please?

 

[Alan J Odze]

Call Gary LaPlante 603-721-6654. The man is a MOPAR encyclopedia of knowledge. He can give you the exact specs on any MOPAR.

 

[dodgemahal]

Thank you Alan. I'm glad you responded. You are the only one who has.

 

[72bluNblu]

I'm sure there's an answer for what it was supposed to be, and equally sure the reality is you can find it applied above, below and directly on top of the body line on any number of original cars.

On my '74 Duster all 3 of those positions are accounted for. On the passenger quarter the moulding started at the bumper end below the body line, with the top edge of the moulding at the body line. By the time it reached the passenger door, it was above the body line, with the lower edge at the body line. On the drivers side it started at the rear of the quarter above the body line, and transitioned to directly on top of it.

Drivers quarter, clearly above the line at the tail of the car

Passenger quarter, above the line at the door and transitioning to below by the middle of the wheel opening

Close up of the witness mark, above to below the body line just behind the door

Further back on the passenger quarter, witness make entirely below the line, top edge even with it.

So yeah, clearly the speed of the application was more important than its accuracy. I'm also sure you will find purists to swear up and down they were all the same and the way they think it should have been. These were probably applied by the least qualified person on the entire assembly line, because they required zero actual skill to apply. So the reality is there's what was in the book, and what happened was that and then everything else possible. Think, if you gave the job to a 19 year old and told him he had a minute to do the whole car.

 

[Alan J Odze]

Bet you that molding was applied at the dealer.

 

[72bluNblu]

Bet you that molding was applied at the dealer.

Nope. It’s on the fender tag.

And look, I don’t know the complete history of the car, so I couldn’t say anything with 100% certainty. But everything else on the body was original, and the moulding was a match for the factory moulding I’ve seen before.

The idea that the stick on moulding was applied perfectly on every car is just silly. Yes, there were guidelines. But factory the tolerance on the suspension mounting points was a 1/4” and they used all of that. So I don’t know why people would think stick on stripes and moulding were tighter toleranced than the chassis.

 

[dodgemahal]

That's fascinating and it makes a lot of sense, 72blu. I'm going to call Gary just to hear what he has to say. I'm betting it's supposed to be below the line.

Then, I just need a recommendation for an adhesive and a way to affix the molding so I don't have to hold it all day. Ha!

 

[Alan J Odze]

That is cool it’s on the fender tag. So this photo is a perfect guide. I recall back in the day when I worked for Ford we had detail guys that did apply items at the shop. I was a mechanic and there were items like AC we would install.

 

[72bluNblu]

That's fascinating and it makes a lot of sense, 72blu. I'm going to call Gary just to hear what he has to say. I'm betting it's supposed to be below the line.

Then, I just need a recommendation for an adhesive and a way to affix the molding so I don't have to hold it all day. Ha!

Originally it was like a double sided tape on the back of the moulding, I would bet that 3m probably has something that would be close.

That is cool it’s on the fender tag. So this photo is a perfect guide. I recall back in the day when I worked for Ford we had detail guys that did apply items at the shop. I was a mechanic and there were items like AC we would install.

I'm sure some of those pieces were done at dealers, I know they did AC installs and various different options (wings, etc). In this particular case though that's a factory moulding that was called out on the fender tag.

I wouldn't call my car a "perfect guide" either, its more like a reality check on whatever the factory guideline actually was. I'm sure that there was a factory guide that called for a specific location for the install, and equally sure you can find plenty of examples like mine that don't meet it!

I've seen a factory guide here before for some of the moulding and call out applications, you might be able to find something like that on The 1970 Hamtramck Registry Home Page or maybe even MyMopar