My car is coming out of paint shop this week. The shop said they could reuse my original moulding. Can they or should I just get new moulding from Chevy. I want the factory look and not aftermarket. I also don't want the old moulding to look "wavy" if they go that route.

 

I dont belive that the correct molding is available from GM any longer. Some aftermarket companys have some that look close but are not exact. These cars look good with no molding but for a car thats driven daily and parked in parking lots I wouldnt recommend that you go with no molding. I went with the no molding look on my car but it only get driven once in a while.

 

You can get the mouldings from Classic Industries but they're sold as individual pieces and they come in either black or white. Look for them on page 265 in their catalog.

 

If you want new you can get it from Classis Industries. But it is a little price depending on what you want the front&back go from 11.95-27.95. The doors go from 44.95-51.95. Kinda high I think for a strip of hard plastis seeing that it would run around or over $200 for it.

 

You'd probably pay that and more from the dealer if it was still available.

 

So is reusing the old moulding an option? How will it look?

 

I would say you can use the old molding as long as they took it off with care and didnt just rip it off because that would cause it to stretch and get out of shape then it wouldnt look good.

 

I plan to go over to the body shop tomorrow to make the final payment and they told me to give them two day notice to finish up little stuff. I will take pics and I don't think the old moulding is on yet so I will check it out. It is black and the car is black so coloring is not a problem, just stretching.

 

The shop I use has reused my original moldings each time something had to be done. They removed it with fishing line (only thing I can think to compare it to) and then cleaned the old adhesive off and applied new. I'd reuse it if at all possible.

 

Mine too, has been reused on my drivers door....They repainted it, and it looks good, except for one small finger print...BUT the molding itself is fine......I hope it comes out good...Please post pics....Tom

 

i left mine off when it was painted, it looks alot cleaner. if you think that you may, at one point, want to put them back on, keep them and they can be installed later.

 

Thanks everyone. I actually like the mouldings and thinks it gives the car a more "factory original" look.

I will post pics this week

 

4th Gen firebird side moldings are the exact same length(s) as the 3rd gen side pieces. Plus, I think the 4th gen moldings look good on thirdgens.

 

I went over to the shop today and thy are reusing my old moulding. It seemed okay. I will pick the car up Sat. and detail it sun and take pics. It is looking really sharp. This car is as close to mint as possible.