Side trim mounting holes

[General23cmp]

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.

[67chevemall]

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

[Kennuck]

Here you go.

[Kennuck]

More

[Kennuck]

and even more.

[General23cmp]

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.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

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.

[Kennuck]

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.

[Lanman1972]

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[BlueBullet]

Subscribed

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by Kennuck

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.

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.

[67chevemall]

Looks like a big job and lots of patience.

Thanks for the pics those are great.

I think I'll save for last project.

[Kennuck]

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

[Kennuck]

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

[MDFarms]

Originally Posted by Kennuck

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

Where did you buy aftermarket clips that worked better?

[tinman_local2]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

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.

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.

[MDFarms]

Originally Posted by tinman_local2

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.

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

[tinman_local2]

Originally Posted by MDFarms

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

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.

[Busch.harley72]

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.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by Busch.harley72

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.

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 demonstrates 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, and as laid out with the fender molding, followed by the cab.

Last comes the upper bed molding. I installed mine a little higher than factory at the rear. This one takes the eye test, front to back and side view. Partially because the moldings are so long they may not be particularly straight.

Be very careful where drilling for door's front clips, and where the door moldings are placed front to back. Too far forward it bangs the fender, too far back on the lower front you can't put on nut on the clip, because of the door hinge. The front lower clips stud probably has to be cut.

[IT Cowboy]

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