I would like to know if the lip moldings had a crease and followed the body lines down low on the front fenders, or did they flow smoothly? Of course the reproduction moldings SUCK... so I am having to rework this things.

Man these things are crap. Especially the rears.

I would like to see some OEM moldings for the rear too if anyone has them. I don't see any way to get mine to fit without puting a slit in them down low to get them to conform.

I got these things for free, so I'm actually considering cutting these up, rewelding them and then sending them off for re-anodizing.

I don't know where you got your mouldings from,...but I have 2 sets that I got from YearOne on both my Cudas and they fit with little issuse, and no rework,...one car has repro rear qtrs, and the other has original rear qtrs, and I found no problems installing either set

Got them from Dale's Cuda shop. They are "supposed to be" the best. One of my quarters is original, one is re-skinned. Both of the moldings fit the same (like excrement).

Anyone out there with some original wheel lip molding pics on a Cuda????

Nos or original wheel lip mouldings never fit perfect, I had to use a crimping tool to get a better fit and then sand and buff to finish, not to a bright finish just a satin finish.

logan426

Hi Logan,
Can you show a pic of this cool tool?

Ken

I had to massage mine a bit too. Mostly the rears. They fit pretty well after about an hour of work to get the shape closer to the bodylines on the lower portions

Original moldings fit original quarters very well if installed with care. If not they could have been a mess. I have pics of one car that has PERFECT fit on one side, and lousy fit on the other, all factory installed.I have not seen a reproduction molding that fit nearly as well regardless of the install effort.

The best time to fit these monsters is before the car is painted.
Forget the factory holes.. weld 'em shut and start over, unless you're working with originals and you've been blessed with one of the cars like Scott mentions with perfect fitting mouldings.

Clamp them in place with "spring loaded hand clamps" & orient them for the best fit.

Drill & screw down one hole at a time using the same size pan head screw as your finish ones will be... no sense trashing your final attaching hardware.

Sometimes a slight reshaping of a fender line, etc. can be done for a minor misfit too.

This method also gives you time to send out your mouldings to be stripped & reanodized if you end up trashing the coating from manipulating them to fit. (Assuming they're anodized ones).
Cutting & rewelding them usually won't work... the different alloy of the filler rod will typically "take" the anodizing different and be visible.

And last... yes some fit better than others, but I haven't worked with enough different ones out there lately to comment on who's fit better than whose or who is selling who's parts. <-- sounds like a sentence from a Dr. Suess book... lol

Rick

Quote:

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Cutting & rewelding them usually won't work... the different alloy of the filler rod will typically "take" the anodizing different

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I don't know if I care at this point. It's either do that or have lip moldings on my Cuda that look like they were made for a 2006 Toyota 4 Runner. I'm only exaggerating a little bit.

What you need to put an end to your misery is a hand stretcher/shrinker,....I use one to straighten Charger mouldings for my customers conversions to Daytonas,...if it can move and straighten a 45 degree bend in a stainless moulding, it can certainly move an aluminum Cuda moulding,....if your delicate with the shrinking/expanding action, it'll leave small teeth marks, very much like whats already on your moulding,....buy a quality unit, as it'll have more than enough service in your shop to warrant the expense,...Eastwood has a nice USA made unit for about $300,...the cheaper offshore unit isn't worth the time, looks the same 1/2 the price, completely worthless

Mike

Stock stainless mouldings

Stock mouldings altered with a shrinker/stretcher, no cuts, no welds,......to fit the Daytona valance like original

Mike




Customers car

Frankly Steve, in your case I'd be trying a different brand of moulding before investing anymore time in the ones you have.
The Yr. One ones would be returnable and sounds like they should fit well... might be worth a shot.

I strongly suspect my old set of moldings were bought from Y1. And they are almost acceptable. But considering my car is painted and accomodations can't be made, I think I'll first try and see how well the 'surgery' goes. I really want a perfect fit. I'll be modifying the suspected Y1 moldings since they are a closer fit to begin with and the finish was worn on them anyway. I'll document and post my progress if it turns out well.

That tool is pretty cool. That would prob. fix the major prob with the DCS rears. If my car were stripped, I'd prob. try it. But in addition the the major angle problems at the bottoms (pretty much the same as on the front of that Datona conversion except they need bending in as opposed to out), I have smaller gap problems too. Chopping mine up just seems the best way to go from my vantage.