Middle stripe width on 2 tone paint

[CDN Sharky]

Hello I tried this in bodywork tread but so far no luck. I am doing a 2 tone paint job on my 78 gmc shorty with all the chrome trim all new pieces so I have no old lines on where the side was before. I am painting all parts seperataly and I don't want to have to put molding on to mark it if I don't have to does anybody have measurements on where the center colour should sit I know I can use the rib body line but no clue where the bottom should be. Please help

[bigguy]

Does the trim bolt onto the body? If so, your best bet is to mock it all up so that you don't have to drill on fresh paint. Once the trim is on where you want it, make some templates or measuring lines to use when you remove the trim. Another reason to mock it up first is that trim doesn't always line up from panel to panel so aligning it before hand will result in a better fit and finish.

[ray_mcavoy]

The top edge of the middle color starts about 1/2" down from the body line (which hides the transition near the middle of the upper trim). The overall width of the middle color is about 14-1/2" to 15" at the doors, cab, & front of the bedsides. But from the rear wheel opening back it tapers to about 11" wide at the tailgate.

I agree with bigguy ... now would be a good time to mock up the trim, mark out all the hole locations, and drill the holes prior to paint.

If it's any help, here is a sketch of the trim hole locations I drew up back when I was working on Dad's 77. To reduce the number of holes we needed to drill in the new sheetmetal, we substituted some additional stick-on clips in a number of locations (mostly the front fenders). So this sketch doesn't show all of the holes that were originally used for the trim. And when mocking this up on Dad's truck, I did find a few hole locations that needed to be moved slightly to get the trim to line up from panel to panel.

[CDN Sharky]

I wasn't going to do the hole thing was just gonna use double sided tape that's on the trim seems easier. Thanks for the drawing it will help.

[ray_mcavoy]

You're welcome!

One thing I should probably point out is that holes A, B, C, D, M, and N on my sketch are for sheetmetal screws that pass through holes in the trim. Those holes are in the painted groove portion of the trim which is slightly offset from the center. So those holes don't line up exactly with the color transition line. All the other holes are for stud/nut or snap-in type clips that are centered on the back of the trim so those do line up with the color transition line.