44070dart
How the hell did I get this old..
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Anyone have any luck removing these moldings..
Side molding dilema
- Thread starter 44070dart
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Alaskan_TA
Well-Known Member
They look good on there. 
44070dart
How the hell did I get this old..
- Joined
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- right here ...see me I'm waving.. NY
Needs a stripe ..stripe & molding, no go in my book.. actually never liked any moldings like that, but worried about removing with heat.
If its the kind of trim that has a metal or plastic base with a black rubber center that sticks to the car with some kind of foam two sided sticky tape you can get some dental floss and leather gloves, use the floss as a saw behind the trim then with some time and patience you can remove the trim. Also I know body shop suppliers have a trim eraser (not sure that is the proper name) it looks like a round eraser on a metal mandrel that should easily remove the trim residue and not harm the paint, or low heat with a heat gun should also work but is more risky.
On a '70 the trim fits on little posts with clips, you can slide the trim forward? and it will come off. Maybe backward, I can't remember which way the clips face. If you remove the trim you'll have to grind off the posts and then paint unless the stripe will cover it.
On the later cars the trim was just put on with an adhesive, on my '74 Duster that trim just peeled off.
This is my '71, with trim, showing the clips and the posts. The little posts are spot welded on. If you do pull the trim make sure to grind them, if you try to pull them they leave holes in the fender and distort the bodywork. Some jackass did that on the other side of my car. When I converted my Duster to a Demon the fenders I used had posts and I used a cut off wheel on them, worked great, no holes.
I kinda want to put the trim back onto my '71 GT because it's pretty much original, but in general I think they look better without it.
On the later cars the trim was just put on with an adhesive, on my '74 Duster that trim just peeled off.
This is my '71, with trim, showing the clips and the posts. The little posts are spot welded on. If you do pull the trim make sure to grind them, if you try to pull them they leave holes in the fender and distort the bodywork. Some jackass did that on the other side of my car. When I converted my Duster to a Demon the fenders I used had posts and I used a cut off wheel on them, worked great, no holes.
I kinda want to put the trim back onto my '71 GT because it's pretty much original, but in general I think they look better without it.
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44070dart
How the hell did I get this old..
- Joined
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^^^^ that would be an issue ..
Yessir. Not exactly sure what year they swapped to the stick-on moldings. I would bet '73 if I had to put money on it. But your '70 definitely has the version attached with those studs. Which pretty much means a new paint job if you remove it.
Actually the above is incorrect. The post and clip style is in 1971-2, I believe. In 70 there were holes that fitted little nylon clips and they had little nylon posts that you pushed in to spread the clip and hold it in place. If you need a picture of the clip let me know. I have a 1970 Swinger that still has that original molding and a 70 Dart Custom that used to have that molding until it went in for a repaint in 1999 and I had the holes welded up so I could put the butt stripe on. There's really no other way to do away with the molding and even then it takes a good welder to get rid of the holes without warping the panels - there are LOTS of those holes. I have seen a couple Darts where they got rear quarter molding off a 4 door (it's shorter), got rid of the last hole or two that would be under the stripe. This ended the molding before the stripe and they hid the bodywork to close the holes under the stripe. It took some time and work, but the result looked pretty nice. They both planned to do away with the molding the next time the cars were painted.
So the '70's had holes in the fenders instead of posts? Got pictures?
sure, I take a couple pics of fenders and doors tomorrow. I might even have some pics of my Custom before the holes were closed...
Nice! I knew the '67-69 cars were different, but I guess all the '70+ fenders with trim I've seen have been '71's because I can't say I've seen a '70+ fender with holes instead of posts. Well, at least that didn't start off with posts. My '71 has holes now, but only because someone out there is a moron and knocked the posts off in such a way it left holes.
DartGTDan
'71 Dart GT Fan
I too would like to lose the side moldings and add the tail stripe.
My car was repainted by the previous, previous owner who removed the studs/clips (not sure if they were welded shut or if bondo was used) and then applied the stick-on moldings.
A few years ago I accidentally yanked the passenger front fender's molding off when it got it caught on my tattered jeans. While that piece of molding was off, I noticed the paint under the molding looked odd. Maybe the adhesive had a reaction with the new paint.
So, the moldings will stay as is and the tail stripe will stay on the wish list until the money trucks rolls in and I can afford a paint job.
My car was repainted by the previous, previous owner who removed the studs/clips (not sure if they were welded shut or if bondo was used) and then applied the stick-on moldings.
A few years ago I accidentally yanked the passenger front fender's molding off when it got it caught on my tattered jeans. While that piece of molding was off, I noticed the paint under the molding looked odd. Maybe the adhesive had a reaction with the new paint.
So, the moldings will stay as is and the tail stripe will stay on the wish list until the money trucks rolls in and I can afford a paint job.
So here's some pics of the holes for the side trim. The white car is my 1970 Swinger, a very unmolested car that I bought in the 1983 with 27000 miles on it. I tried to take a picture of the fasteners from the inside of the trunk. but a pic of a white fastener in a white trunk isn't very easy to get.
here are pics of a salvage 1970 door and a 1971 door.
lastly here are pics of a salvaged and a new fastener
here are pics of a salvage 1970 door and a 1971 door.
lastly here are pics of a salvaged and a new fastener
Like I said, my 70 Dart Custom 2 dr (see avatar) was a car my Dad bought new in 70 and it had the same arrangement until I have the holes welded during a repaint.
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