Body Moldings

[UKNOWME]

I have a 1980 Scottsdale with no moldings. After the bodywork I want to install the complete molding kit so I can 2 tone it. Without any holes in the body is this a simple addition? LMC has the complete kit. Thanks

[ray_mcavoy]

From the factory, these moldings were attached with a variety of clips and fasteners. Several locations (mostly the front fenders & cab) used clips with a stud on the back that goes through a hole in the body and is secured with a nut on the back. A few locations use sheetmetal screws that go through pre-punched holes in the trim. And a few locations use springy metal clips that snap into holes in the body. The remaining areas (mostly along the middle sections of the door/bedside/tailgate pieces) are held in place with 3M double-sided trim/molding tape that's stuck to little plastic inserts on the backside of the trim.

Dad's 77 Sierra Classic was originally two-tone and had all of the moldings from the factory. When I restored the truck a few years ago, we substituted some of the plastic stick-on clips in a few locations (mostly the front fenders) to reduce the number of holes needing to be drilled in the new body panels. That required salvaging those plastic clips off the old molding, cleaning them up, and puting some fresh mounting tape on them.

I chose to keep the stud/nut or screw fasteners on some of the more critical locations though ... like the tip ends of each molding section. That did require drilling some holes in the new body panels. I test fit all of the molding and drilled all of the necessary holes while the truck was still in the primer/bodywork stage to avoid having to drill through (and possibly damage) the paint afterward.

[old Rusty C10]

we used that kit on mine and it was ok

[UKNOWME]

Thanks for the info guys!

[Skunksmash]

I'd get the 3M chrome molding from oreilly's and stick that stuff on. I did it on my 82, and it worked fine for the 3 remaining years that I owned the truck. Its like $40, and its stick on. No drilling and all that stuff. This molding looks exactly like the factory molding, you can't tell the difference. Its awesome in my opinion.

[Squareforceone]

Originally Posted by Skunksmash

I'd get the 3M chrome molding from oreilly's and stick that stuff on. I did it on my 82, and it worked fine for the 3 remaining years that I owned the truck. Its like $40, and its stick on. No drilling and all that stuff. This molding looks exactly like the factory molding, you can't tell the difference. Its awesome in my opinion.

Any pictures of your 82?

[oldmann1967]

Originally Posted by Skunksmash

I'd get the 3M chrome molding from oreilly's and stick that stuff on. I did it on my 82, and it worked fine for the 3 remaining years that I owned the truck. Its like $40, and its stick on. No drilling and all that stuff. This molding looks exactly like the factory molding, you can't tell the difference. Its awesome in my opinion.

Pretty sure the moulding he wants is far more extensive on the 1980 model. For refresh in '81-87 you can use the cheap roll up stuff and it will be close.

[Desert1957]

Originally Posted by Skunksmash

I'd get the 3M chrome molding from oreilly's and stick that stuff on. I did it on my 82, and it worked fine for the 3 remaining years that I owned the truck. Its like $40, and its stick on. No drilling and all that stuff. This molding looks exactly like the factory molding, you can't tell the difference. Its awesome in my opinion.

I think this is the Molding he wants, no stick on stuff here. Drilling is required.



Desert

[Desert1957]

Not to hijack this thread , but is there a template available to locate all the holes required. I would like to install this on one of my trucks and get the mock up done before paint.

Thanks Desert

[ray_mcavoy]

Hi Desert,

Here's a sketch I made off the original trim holes on Dad's 77.



As I mentioned in my earlier reply, we substituted several of the stud/nut type fasteners for the stick-on ones so the above sketch doesn't show all of the holes that were there from the factory. The front fenders are where we did most of the substitution but I did drill a couple holes in front/back of the wheel opening (similar to K & L on the bedsides) that aren't shown on the sketch. Also, the bedsides originally had some additional holes (not shown) on the sides back near the tail lights that took snap-in clips (we substituted those for stick-on ones as well).

Another thing that's important to note is the fact that the screw holes (A, B, C, D, and M, N on my sketch) seem to vary in position side-to-side a little bit depending on the molding. And the location of those holes is critical since the screws go right through the pre-stamped holes in the molding, leaving no room for adjustment.

I started by marking out the original locations (from the sketch) with a Sharpie marker on the primer. Then I held the new molding up against the truck and noticed that some of those screw hole locations were off a little ... around 1/16" to 1/8" or so. So I re-marked those screw hole locations on the truck using the new moldings as a guide. I should point out that we were using NOS GM moldings so if the screw holes on those were off a little as compared to the truck's original moldings, I wouldn't be surprised if the aftermarket pieces are off a bit as well.

In addition to those screw hole locations being critical, the height of the holes for the snap-in clips (I and J) as well as the ones we left off (substituted w/stick on clips) back near the tail lights is also important since you can't move the clips up/down on the molding and you can't drill the holes oversize or the clips won't fit securely into place. The side-to-side position of those holes isn't quite as important since you can slide the clips along the molding a little to compensate. And the holes for the stud/nut type clips can be drilled slightly oversize to allow for some fine tuning of the molding position.

[Desert1957]

WOW! Nice job, I will use it too...

Thanks Desert

[UKNOWME]

Originally Posted by ray_mcavoy

Hi Desert,

Here's a sketch I made off the original trim holes on Dad's 77.



As I mentioned in my earlier reply, we substituted several of the stud/nut type fasteners for the stick-on ones so the above sketch doesn't show all of the holes that were there from the factory. The front fenders are where we did most of the substitution but I did drill a couple holes in front/back of the wheel opening (similar to K & L on the bedsides) that aren't shown on the sketch. Also, the bedsides originally had some additional holes (not shown) on the sides back near the tail lights that took snap-in clips (we substituted those for stick-on ones as well).

Another thing that's important to note is the fact that the screw holes (A, B, C, D, and M, N on my sketch) seem to vary in position side-to-side a little bit depending on the molding. And the location of those holes is critical since the screws go right through the pre-stamped holes in the molding, leaving no room for adjustment.

I started by marking out the original locations (from the sketch) with a Sharpie marker on the primer. Then I held the new molding up against the truck and noticed that some of those screw hole locations were off a little ... around 1/16" to 1/8" or so. So I re-marked those screw hole locations on the truck using the new moldings as a guide. I should point out that we were using NOS GM moldings so if the screw holes on those were off a little as compared to the truck's original moldings, I wouldn't be surprised if the aftermarket pieces are off a bit as well.

In addition to those screw hole locations being critical, the height of the holes for the snap-in clips (I and J) as well as the ones we left off (substituted w/stick on clips) back near the tail lights is also important since you can't move the clips up/down on the molding and you can't drill the holes oversize or the clips won't fit securely into place. The side-to-side position of those holes isn't quite as important since you can slide the clips along the molding a little to compensate. And the holes for the stud/nut type clips can be drilled slightly oversize to allow for some fine tuning of the molding position.

Thanks!

[slimneverdies]

Sort of on topic. I'm stocking up on parts before I do the big paint job. I'm curious as to how many different accent colors did the moldings come in. I've only really noticed that there's the black outline and gold outline. I just bought some OG cab corner pieces but I want them in gold or possibly red if they actually came that color. Anyone with more info on this ???

[nekkidhillbilly]

ive used 3m glue and tape on older cars with stainless before i think you could get away with this on the trucks stainless too. bad thing about the clips thats one place rust loves.

[slimneverdies]

I just saw on another thread that the other color isn't gold but saddle tan. I'll go with this color if red isn't an original color on them.


Thanks
Slim

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

I'm curious as to how many different accent colors did the moldings come in. I've only really noticed that there's the black outline and gold outline. I just bought some OG cab corner pieces but I want them in gold or possibly red if they actually came that color. Anyone with more info on this ???

Black and Ochre (aka gold or yellow) were the only two factory colors for the accent stripes in the 73-80 moldings. Black is the most common color. Ochre was only used on 1977's as well as the GMC Gentleman Jim trucks.

And on those cab corner pieces, the Chevrolet emblems typically had an ochre background while the GMC emblems had an orange/red color background.

[slimneverdies]

Originally Posted by ray_mcavoy

Black and Ochre (aka gold or yellow) were the only two factory colors for the accent stripes in the 73-80 moldings. Black is the most common color. Ochre was only used on 1977's as well as the GMC Gentleman Jim trucks.

And on those cab corner pieces, the Chevrolet emblems typically had an ochre background while the GMC emblems had an orange/red color background.

Thanks Roy. I guess I'm going to be creating a mutt. I wanted to make my 78 look like a 73-74 so I guess the ochre moldings would be a dead giveaway. Was there any typical version (trim) level that they came on? I have a Scottsdale C20 and the only badging I have on mine is the Scottsdale c20 and the 3+3...

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Was there any typical version (trim) level that they came on? I have a Scottsdale C20 and the only badging I have on mine is the Scottsdale c20 and the 3+3...

I believe the molding on the back of the cab below the rear window (which includes those corner pieces) was a standard part of the Cheyenne and Silverado trim packages. And I think it was also included on trucks (any trim level) with a 2-tone paint scheme where the roof is painted the secondary color.

[slimneverdies]

Ok. We'll I guess I need to search through the forum for some pics of the different trims. Did the "3+3" emblem just come on all of them?

[Slammed84]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Sort of on topic. I'm stocking up on parts before I do the big paint job. I'm curious as to how many different accent colors did the moldings come in. I've only really noticed that there's the black outline and gold outline. I just bought some OG cab corner pieces but I want them in gold or possibly red if they actually came that color. Anyone with more info on this ???

My cab moldings have the yellow/gold. I'll trade them for your black ones

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by slimneverdies

Did the "3+3" emblem just come on all of them?

I'm pretty sure the 3+3 emblems are Crew Cab specific and used to denote the seating arrangement ... room for 3 people in front and 3 in the rear. GM also offered a Bonus Cab with the same 4-door cab that didn't include a rear seat.

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by ray_mcavoy

I'm pretty sure the 3+3 emblems are Crew Cab specific and used to denote the seating arrangement ... room for 3 people in front and 3 in the rear. GM also offered a Bonus Cab with the same 4-door cab that didn't include a rear seat.

your right and the 3+3 was lower on the cab than beside the window it was around the middle of the door iirc. the also made rare crew cab ext cab deals like a mega cab. done by the conversion companies but sold by gm like the ext cabs.

[Dieselwrencher]

TTT for anyone looking to put trim on their trucks.

[Slammed84]

Originally Posted by dieselwrencher

ttt for anyone looking to put trim on their trucks.

ttt ?????

[Dieselwrencher]

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