pastortom1
Well-Known Member
Just purchased a set of new repro tail panel moldings from Klassicparts on Ebay.......A little pricey, but not much you can do.....wanna play you gotta pay I guess.
The QUALITY of the part itself is outstanding, as I told the vendor. Beautiful finish, properly striped, and the aluminum is HEAVY baby, NOT the thin stuff they put on at the factory. MUCH nicer part in my opinion.
BUT, the metal is so thick, you need to take extra care with your clips....without shims between the clip and the car, you can bend the clips way too much when you tighten the nuts. In addition, stock Mopar clips do NOT fit between the open channel on the back of the molding.....On a stock molding, the channel is wide enough that you can have the clip mounted on the car and then install the molding OVER them....then a little tweek of the nut, and the clips turn into place nicely, even on rusted clips. BUT, they will NOT fit in the channel of the new moldings....Thus, you have to scrap the old clips, regardless of the condition. I fabricated my own stainless channel bolts...much better, tighter, and they'll never rust again.
In addition to the clip problem, the new moldings are not bent properly to the contour of the decklid. When it's installed, you want it to fit nice and flat.....no go for these new ones....if you lay one side flat on the lid, the other side sticks out about 1-1/4 inches from the surface! You could just FORCE the thing to fit, but it ain't kosher....it'll never look right....SO, it had to be gently BENT, first at the center for the proper angle, then in the opposing centers for a flat fit to each side....THEN and only then will the moldings fit properly.
I contacted the vendor, and wouldn't you know that they've NEVER had a problem like this. I wish I had a dollar for every time in the last 40 years of building cars that I've heard that one. BUT, if you have a little experience in tweaking your parts (which you usually need to do with this new stuff), I would say that it's worth the effort and the cost. Restoring the old ones can be done, but I've found the metal is so thin, that it's sometimes just impossible.
I'll try some pics in sunlight tomorrow.
The QUALITY of the part itself is outstanding, as I told the vendor. Beautiful finish, properly striped, and the aluminum is HEAVY baby, NOT the thin stuff they put on at the factory. MUCH nicer part in my opinion.
BUT, the metal is so thick, you need to take extra care with your clips....without shims between the clip and the car, you can bend the clips way too much when you tighten the nuts. In addition, stock Mopar clips do NOT fit between the open channel on the back of the molding.....On a stock molding, the channel is wide enough that you can have the clip mounted on the car and then install the molding OVER them....then a little tweek of the nut, and the clips turn into place nicely, even on rusted clips. BUT, they will NOT fit in the channel of the new moldings....Thus, you have to scrap the old clips, regardless of the condition. I fabricated my own stainless channel bolts...much better, tighter, and they'll never rust again.
In addition to the clip problem, the new moldings are not bent properly to the contour of the decklid. When it's installed, you want it to fit nice and flat.....no go for these new ones....if you lay one side flat on the lid, the other side sticks out about 1-1/4 inches from the surface! You could just FORCE the thing to fit, but it ain't kosher....it'll never look right....SO, it had to be gently BENT, first at the center for the proper angle, then in the opposing centers for a flat fit to each side....THEN and only then will the moldings fit properly.
I contacted the vendor, and wouldn't you know that they've NEVER had a problem like this. I wish I had a dollar for every time in the last 40 years of building cars that I've heard that one. BUT, if you have a little experience in tweaking your parts (which you usually need to do with this new stuff), I would say that it's worth the effort and the cost. Restoring the old ones can be done, but I've found the metal is so thin, that it's sometimes just impossible.
I'll try some pics in sunlight tomorrow.
