Side trim mounting holes
 

Will all the holes for my upper and lower moulding be in a perfect line from grill to gate if they are correctly aligned, or are some holes offset? Anyone have drawings with dimensions? Thanks in advance.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Are you thinking of adding the trim?
And your truck has no holes.
Well me too.
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Ttt...

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Here you go.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

More

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

and even more.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Wow, thank you!

Mine has holes for trim already, but the trim never aligned properly. I suspect it is bad body mounts, so once they are replaced, I assumed they should all line up. We’ll see. Looks like they should.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Only problem with the assembly manual is it doesn't provide a starting point, otherwise know as initial reference points. For example, the top image (post 3) reads 30" & 10". 30" & 10" from where?

I'm definitely subscribed, because I'm adding uppers and lowers. This subject has come up many times over the years. Ideally, someone might provide the vertical and horizontal measures for the outer holes for one side of the truck (tops & bottoms) from definitive edges. For example:

The rear edge of the door to the center of the first hole is:
The bottom rear edge of the door to the center of the first hole is:
The front edge of the door to the center of the first hole is:
The bottom front edge of the door to the center of the first hole is:

Yeah, that's just one of 10 pieces, and images would go a long way. Takes some doing. Makes me want to tear off the moldings on my driver......;)

If ever someone could do this, then we'd all know the exact locations.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

The clips slide in the moulding so the horizontal measurements aren't real critical. I just held the lower molding up against the truck and figured out where the holes would be to make it look right. I don't have the upper molding but it would be harder to locate vertically because you don't have a body line adjacent to the molding for reference.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

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Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

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Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Very good points, and I know it can be done without the factory measurements. But it would be a bonus to have them.

If the hardware is centered, which I suppose it must be, then the height of the holes should be easy to figure out. Tape the trim up, mark the ends and snap a chalk line, for example. For what it's worth, the lowers look to be 3/8" below the body line. Think I recall reading that too.

Upper bed trim is a bit different, because it's slopes down toward the rear.

From what I gather, the uppers start with the door, placed level. Judging by my 72 LWB Super, the upper door trim sits against the door lock, or it's off by a pinch. That said, can't swear my trim is a solid reference, some holes have rivets;) and the positioning of the upper RH door is poor. Doesn't mean the hole locations were changed, and I don't know why it would.

In other terms, height seems fairly straight forward, less upper bed trim. But my 72 LWB also has the upper bed trim. Just as well to measure. LWB or SWB, the rear hole should be the same height.

Horizontal seems a bit more tricky to me, uppers and lowers. It's probably straight-forward once done.

On a side, might be interesting to note, the number of holes does not need to be factory, for a "factory" build. I'm guessing here, whether or not they drilled the holes anyway is beyond me. Could also be the trim pieces I've got are GM replacements (i.e., NOS, but not factory)...................... I have all the NOS pieces, which included all the clips and such. At some point in time, can't say when, 3M stickers were added to the inventory. Somewhere around here I have all the parts listed, with comparisons to the assembly manual.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Looks like a big job and lots of patience.

Thanks for the pics those are great.

I think I'll save for last project.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

My trim was all NOS with clips included as well. I found the aftermarket clips actually work better than the NOS clips.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

There is someone on the blazer forum that used 3m tape directly on the trim without using the clips worked out pretty good.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Where did you buy aftermarket clips that worked better?

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

The "30" and "10" are dimensions off factory floor. Basically the assembly line was parallel to the floor and all dimensions were referenced off the floor.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

So cab setting flat on floor? Or something under body mounts?

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

That's the million dollar question. No one really knows where the factory fllor is in reference to the drawing. If you can locate one factory hole, you can reference everything from there. That is the way I did mine. I had an old bedside that had trim, so I used a fixed laser to transfer those holes to my truck. So many inches from the top of the bed and so many inches from the front of bed, etc. You can follow the drawings from that point.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

I have all the trim off currently. My 72 c20 is without the holes on the upper pass side bed. I was hoping there was an easy way to lay them out. I will be happy to measure any of my factory holes for folks that are in need.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

Wish I knew that when I started my project many years ago. I don't think it comes up often. The assm. manual is nice for front to back, though not so practical. Up and down are a mystery, but GM's lines can be figured out w/o the manual.

FWW, 1971ish, the moldings, clips and body generally demonstrate where to drill the outer holes for each piece. With that in mind,

The lower side molding's top edge is 4/10" below the body line. Real simple.

Upper side moldings begins with the door, clears the door lock, should appear square on the door, pleasant the eye, lays out with the fender molding, then the cab.

Last comes the upper bed molding. I installed mine a pinch higher at the rear than factory. It's supposed to slope down at the rear. Really the front edge should be square with the bed's front, but then they're all supposed to be square with the body. Upper bed takes an eye test especially, primarily because the moldings are so long, they may not even be straight, which is one reason mine ended up a pinch higher at the rear. Speak of imperfections, GM's lower door molding lengths vary somehow, hmmm. Anyway, the tops of my upper bed moldings are visually even with the tops of the tail light bezels - didn't measure.

Be very careful where drilling for the door's front clips especially, and placement front to back. Too far forward they bang the fender, oh no! And if the lower front is drilled too far back you can't get a nut on the clip's stud, because of the door hinge. The stud may have to be cut after you do, or oh no!, the door hinge broke the stud or worse.

If paint lines are established, the molding's center is supposed to be on them anyway.

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

So a bit of a crazy idea here that might be shot down right away or laughed at, but how about using nylon bolts to mount the trim? The nylon bolt could be glued or JB welded to the center of the trim piece

Re: Side trim mounting holes
 

No!:lol:

The clips work very well, just can't use too many 3m clips, if any at all. Well you can if you don't mind gaps, and not made to last.

Not too fond of the outer upper bed clips I've seen though, but it would seem when they're on and in you're good. They have to be secured such as with duct tape, otherwise they move and pretty much just fall off easily.