Bonnett Chrome Trim

[Markunderwood]

Hello group
I am installing the side chrome trim on the 3.8S bonnet and am having a bit of trouble. The fasteners that I ordered from SNG fit good but when I bend over the tabs the chrome piece doesn't make a tight connection to the bonnet. I wonder if there is a better technique than the "bend over" technique or perhaps a better tool to use than a wood dowel and small mallet.

My second issue is for the center piece. I cannot find the fasteners that will work correctly on this bonnet. As you can see it has the slots down the center. I have ordered the fasteners indicated from SNG catalog and they do not fit correctly. When I took this piece off 4 years ago during the tear down phase they all were so rusted they crumbled. Any advice?

[jerry_hoback]

Off the top, I haven't done this project. But on the side strips I might try using a pair of padded, not-very-tight visegrips to hold the piece tight-ish to the bonnet and then a small pair of channel-locks to bend the stud over tightly. It might also be safer to put a rag under the head of the pliers doing the bending. As far as the center strip, Those studs do appear to be a tight fit probably pressed, and mine has 5 total, 2 at front under the leaper one at center with a press on collar and 2 at rearmost slots. Not sure if thats the right amount but I assume not. Ill have to check Old Green tomorrow and see how its set up.

[Markunderwood]

As you can I have been working on this problem off and on for months. For the side molding I ordered a second round of clips from Moss Motors which were a softer metal (aluminum ) which made them easy to bend once aligned in the bonnet side holes. I did have to grind down the tabs as they were too fat to go through the holes but in the end it worked out.

For the center piece I used the tabs from SNG and broke off the prongs. The remaining metal tab has a hole in the center. I used microscopic bolts and epoxy glued them through the tab holes. These were then fed into the channel on the chrome trim. I had the use a finger nail emory board to sand open the slots on the bonnet due to the recent paint. (HA HA I painted this car 3 years ago). This allowed the microscopic bolts to got through the slots. Align all the bolts through the slots with bonnet facing up, tack down with tape and flip over and then put on the microscopic washers and nuts. I used the excess tabs from SNG as washers as I had not other use for them after breaking off the prongs.

This restoration is the gift that keeps giving.