After repainting my 69 Cutlass I am reassembling. While trying not to destroy the paint what is the proper way to reinstall the hood rear moulding ( the long piece ).

I seem to recall two clips during removal of the moulding. My foggy memory says that the clips were used on the two holes in the rear of the hood where the moulding slips on.

My assembly manual does not cover this. Any tips / help appreciated

 

The ones on my '68 and '69 are just held on by friction - no clips. I just very carefully started them with hand pressure but that doesn't go far, if at all. It just gives you a starting point. I marked the center point of the moulding and where it goes on the hood to be sure the moulding was as centered on the hood as it could be. I then used a rubber hammer to slowly and carefully tap the moulding into place. I was worried about making sure the moulding stayed centered (didn't want overhang on either side when it was fully tapped in) but, by being careful and centering it at the start, it never became a problem at the end.

Randy C.

'68 4-4-2 convertible
'69 4-4-2 convertible

 

You have a common problem with repaints on these cars. If you went with a BC/CC respray then the thickness of the paint is way too thick to accommodate the trim. You either have to sand down the rear of the hood (use tape to mask the area you want to protect) OR you'll have to try widening the channel on the cowl trim to fit. I ran into this with the deck lid trim on my car. I ended up used a big flat blade to gently expand the channel on the trim, and then massage it into place. Rubber hammer is the way to go with this trim to avoid denting.

 

Randy,
Thanks for your response. Sounds like good technique. Any Idea why the two holes in the hood ?

 

Door Ease dry lubricant stick.

Tweak the trim by opening up the recess, and then apply the lubricant to the hood edge.

No paint damage and works every time.

 

Thanks Alan,

I did use BC/CC on the paint job. The car was stripped to bare metal but I have no doubt that between my primer and BC/CC I am much thicker than factory paint.

After widening and attaching does the trim piece need to then be pinched or only if I widened way too much ?

 

Ok, where does one find Door ease dry lubricant stick ? Napa ? Autozone ?

And opening up the trim piece recess as Alan described ?

Thanks

 

You don't have to widen the channel very much. It should still end up being a friction fit so no pinching is required.

For door lube, I would suggest lithium grease.

 

What MY442 and Allan R said, I would sand the backside of the hood, might help with the fitting the trim, and avoid paint chipping..amazing how paint build can effect reassembly on our cars..

 

When reassembling my car I rubbed bar soap on any piece of trim that would slide against paint. My 70 was mostly stripped before painting.

 

Thanks to all who responded

 

Google is your friend.

 

Got it. Thanks