I'm getting down to the short strokes on my 79 F250 SC 4x4 build. I get to the side chrome in the body line and am having trouble figuring out how the retainer clips are fastened to the body. I had the left box side replaced and also the doors so they have to be drilled for the clips. Is it just rivits that are used to mount the retainers? The right box side has the factory "rivits" in place but seem firm and stick out so you can slide the plastic retainers back onto them. Maybe the years and our BC salted roads have frozen them in place.

Also, a note for you guys. When I placed the cab (new cab mounts) and box back on the frame after body work and paint, I noted the back of the cab was sitting 1/2" higher than the box. After shimming the box 1/2" (didn't take any shims out on tear down) the body lines were matching. Looking down the line of rivits on the right side of the box, I saw they were 1/2" high in the body line at the front of the box. I guess Ford matched the chrome line and ignored the body line. Can't say as I noticed this before I tore it down.

400 hours so far and loving it
hate sandblasting though

 

Bedside chrome plastic clips (except the ones on each end), slide onto the Nubs then the chrome is snapped onto them.Then the ends require a nut to fasten it to the box.

 

So those "nubs" aren't just normal rivits?

 

No, just held on by rivets. Go to www.dennis-carpenter.com and look at the 73-79 truck parts catalog. It show exatcly which clip goes where and its a good source for the ones you need.

 

I need some advice about this moulding topic. I'm trying to re-install the side moulding (XLT, 1 1/2" wide with black rubber/vinyl insert) on my '75 F-250. The "nubs" are all in great shape, no rust and the clips survived the disassembly. I just can't figure out how to actually get the clips to re-attach to the nubs.

It appears they have to be slid into the underside (backside) of the moulding and then when the moulding is pushed in, if the clips are lined up correctly the nub will fit into the hole in the clip. But once I get that far, I can't get the clip to slide onto the nub and lock in place in part because no matter how hard I press in on the moulding (I've bent it trying), the part of the clip with the hole in it doesn't move up close enough to the body to allow the nub to stick far enough into it. I don't think the head of the nub is extending all the way through the plastic clip.

I have tried sliding the moulding but that doesn't move the clip, it just slides along the back of the moulding. I have tried sliding a car door-lock tool (flat stip of stainless steel and 1" wide and very thin) in behind the moulding while I hold it in with hole in the clip lined up with the nub, but I can't make the clip slide onto the nub.

It seems to me that the clip needs to have more of an arch to it so that when the moulding strip is held in place the part of the clip with the hole in it will be up close enough to the body that it can slide.

I have also tried putting the clip onto the nub and then pressing the moulding onto the clip but the tangs on the clip press against the body to tightly to get the moulding to hook on them.

Am I having this trouble because the 30 year old pieces of plastic have simply lost their shape? Do I just need new clips, will they be the correct shape to install easily, or is there some trick to this that has escaped me? Thanks!

 

Check out post #2 above.

 

Put the clips on the nubs first. The chrome has to be snapped over the plastic clips. If you look the clips closely you'll see a barbed ridge the chrome slips over. I dismatled the strips to clean them by taking the vinyl out of the chrome. Once I worked the vinyl back into the chrome, (if you're going to do this start with a short peice to make sure you want to continue) I gently squeezed the chrome along the back and bent it slightly to ensure once it snapped onto the clips it would stay there.

By the by, I gave up on the nubs and used screws to secure the plastic clips. Simplified the process a lot. Chalk line from one end of the truck to other down the body line. Chrome is now dead straight and in middle of body line.