Hey everyone ...

Hood edge trim on my 85 Delta 88 appears to be wrapped in some kind of plastic that has turned yellow. See pics below. Is this plastic supposed to be there? Can I remove it? It looks to be the only piece on my car with this plastic, so it doesn't match the rest.

 

From your photo, that trim piece does not appear to be factory... IIRC, the rear hood trim piece should be metal and clip onto the trailing edge of the hood, not a stick on...

 

^^^THIS! It's probably the same aftermarket stick-on trim that is used on your non-factory half vinyl roof, too. Not much you can do except replace it. The yellowing is in the plastic coating that is on top of the "chrome" applied to the plastic trim.

 

See if you can pop it off the car. Then wipe it down with lacquer thinner. Should make the yellow go away.

 

I'll try this again. The yellow is the clear plastic outer layer aging. The only way to "make it go away" is to remove it. Lacquer thinner on that plastic coating will definitely make the yellow go away, since it will dissolve the plastic.

 

Obviously you won't be soaking it in lacquer thinner, just wet a rag and a quick wipe and its gone. I did it with no damage to the molding.

 

The trim does appear to be clipped on the back edge of the hood, not stuck on. Am I right? If this is indeed some kind of plastic coating, can I just remove it?

 

Your photos aren't clear enough to show any clips holding the trim in place... I have a rear hood trim piece, and it looks nothing like yours... If I get a chance I will take a photo and post it so you can see the difference...

 

I'm new to these cars, so I didn't know my vinyl top wasn't factory. Any more info available on these aftermarket vinyl tops? Is it best left in place or removed?

 

The factory didn't install half vinyl tops on these cars, so it's aftermarket. Since it was done by a nameless shop, we have no idea of the quality of the installation. I'm not a fan of any vinyl tops, since they trap moisture and lead to rust. Removing it likely means a repaint, however, so your call.

 

Joe - by "these cars", do you refer to 4-doors, or '85s, or...?

I have never thought that all the half-landau roofs on 80-85 2-doors (the opposite of a "slickback") were all aftermarket-installed.

 

Here are a couple photos of the original trim... Only took photos of one end, didn't want to completely unwrap the trim piece...

 

As I've waited for the Truth Decay Dept to respond - I've thought about this more, and I agree that HALF Landau tops aren't factory.

A 2-door B-Body with a factory Landau top would have a "quarter Landau" - extending from the base of the C-pillar to just above the B-pillar.

A 4-door B-body with a factory Landau top would have a "full Landau" (base of C-pillar to base of the A-pillar).

This is of course no less than Joe said. I apologize for introducing potential confusion.