hey guys i have a 84 ford f150 and im planning on painting it two tone and anyway it has the chrome molding down the side but some of it is dinged up pretty badly after searching for several days for original replacement i finally found some but i need my arms and legs if you know what i mean. is there any alternative to seperate the colors that would look good or should i just try to find a junk truck that has the pieces i need any comments or opinions would be greatly appreciated
thanks in advance

DYLAN

 

I've seen two-tone trucks without the mouldings, but I agree..... I like them for the purposes of breaking up the scheme. And, they serve a practical purpose - they protect your paint. After repainting my '85 Bronco (solid white), I had just about decided to leave it without mouldings (it did not originally have any). Two weeks after putting it back on the road, I got a nasty ding in a parking lot, right in the high spot / crease along the body line of the driver's side quarter panel. This was enough to convince me that I wanted moldings, but I couldn't make myself perform the required drilling of the body to install the correct lower body side and "eyebrow" mouldings over the wheel openings. So, I found a '90 F150 in the local salvage yard and bought all of the mouldings (adhesive mounted) off of it for around $30. I used a very fine (32 teeth per inch) hacksaw blade to shorten them as needed to fit the Bronco's lines, and I stopped short of the indented areas around the wheel openings. I've got some pix in my gallery if you want to see how they look on the '80 - '86 body style. You be the judge..... I realize that Ford did a better job of fitting mouldings around the wheel openings, where my "conversion" simply stops short along the bottom edges. But, the '90 mouldings are functional, they were much cheaper and easier to install, and I don't think they look as out of place as they could (you could also use color-keyed mouldings from a mid-'90's truck). Hope this helps!

 

restorit, hey thanks man i have a question for you i still have the eyebrow molding i think just one of them is dinged but anyway wonder how hard it would be to tie the eyebrows into the molding you have if possible or do you think i should just try to find the four or five pcs that i need in a junkyard or if you dont think my eyebrows will go with your type molding is there an eyebrow that will.. by the way your bronco looks great you did a good job on that molding i like the idea of it being stick on because those rivet/clip on moldings are a pain in the you know where thanks again
DYLAN

 

Thanks! I guess anything is possible, but to be honest, you may have a tough time trying to tie the eyebrows into the later moldings. It may be worth your while to search out the pieces you need. They should be available somewhere at a decent price..... at least you've got the Internet to help search, although, it's always preferable to see the item in question first-hand. If you haven't, try LMC Truck and Jeff's Bronco Graveyard. On the latter source, I realize we're dealing with an F150, but since they share so many parts, they just might have one or two in the yard. I just can't think of a better way to separate the paint scheme, unless you want to use a solid color from the upper body line (along the door handle level) down, and a different one higher (as I'm thinking of it, though, I'm not really sure of what combo would look decent applied that way.....) For what it's worth, also, dealing with the used stick-on mouldings wasn't really a walk in the park. After removing them from the truck, the backs all had to be heated with a heat gun and the metal strips that are made into their backsides needed to be removed (necessary to get them to lay flat when remounted, as the strips are contorted when the mouldings are pulled off.) A bit of a pain..... As you're talking to potential sources for the mouldings, however, be aware of one thing: the early '80's trucks had the same type of moulding setup as the mid '80's (eyebrow with wide aluminum rocker trim), but the black vinyl inserts were different. The earlier trucks used a triangular-shaped, thicker black insert, where I believe the one you're using is a wide, flat piece. Just $0.02 worth to make sure you get the right piece. Good luck with it. It'll be worth the extra effort spent in locating the right pieces!

 

thanks restorit youve been a great help !!! i think i just go ahead and paint it and just drive it till i find my pcs..

thanks again

DYLAN