I'm having my car painted (1989 Turbo Trans Am) and was wondering what the census thinks? I know they served a purpose to prevent door dings . Should I leave them off for a cleaner look? Any opinions are welcome and pictures if you have them.
Thanks
Adrian

 

I like the moldings. Seems to break up the body into upper and lower rather than one big slab. Proportions or something like that. I don't know how to explain it but I think it does look better with them.

 

Here's without =

 

Some people decide to remove them. I went out of my way to find new reproductions for my car. People are inconsiderate jerks in parking lots. Although I rarely park in a lot without the car attended, still not a risk I was willing to take. Even sitting in my car, I had a few times I saw people with carts way too close and near opening the door into mine.

 

A Firebird has a bit different look than a Camaro, but here's a pict of mine to compare with the above. A fine looking red IROC at that.

 

 

I like the molding.

It serves a purpose and looks good doing it.

I eliminated mine because it was the right choice for me.

 

This is mine without i have not had a problem even in crowded lots thankfully.!! Oh, This is a 1988 Firebird btw

 

I say Yea. Mostly for the protection.

I'm so close to paint my car, but timing is out of my hands. Work, weather, Holidays. I have every thing I need to get the job done, including the trim.

The plan is to paint every thing apart for the most part. Then assemble and align all body parts. This mean windows, weather seals, etc..

The last pieces will be the trim. You only get one shot to get Them in the right place cleanly! So planning is key.

If your body work is fantastic and you don't mind the risk of a ding, and you like the look with out trim... do that.

Trim could be put on later to cover up small dings and it can mask less than great body lines if put on with care. That's my two cents.

 

I am also on the fence about this. Just painted my car and have a set of moldings to go on. I like the clean look with out them but on the other hand worried about dings and I have so small ripples in my body line(didn't catch them in prep).

I found factory teals ones in nice shape to match

 

4th gen moldings are a bit wider and look good too

I prefer the smooth look

 

Beautiful carlike the cover on the hatch too.

 

Thanks... I have quite a bit of time into it now. Some people can take or leave the solar wing(hatch cover). I prefer it over louvers for our 3rd gens.

 

I took mine off because I hated cleaning the wax off of them when i polished the car. I wish I would have left them on because now I have a dent in the back of the driver's door lol!

 

without

 

To me it depends on the plans for the car in question.


original restoration, put them on(if it originally came with them)

modifying it as you like, leave them off

 

I like the way they look.

My 89 GTA

 

Does knowing the center portion is discontinued help you make the decision either way?

Lon

 

The cars purpose is going to be for show and cruise but the car is far from stock it has some mods. I'm going to have them painted separate and just go by my gut feeling wether to have them put on or not when the time comes. I could always mount them at a later date.

 

Before putting on:

After:


I like their function and they 'break-up' the panel for the eye. Ultimately, subjective opinion rules.
I had no problems re-spraying my original pieces. I used a wide-er double-sided tape adhesive (3M), cut to size, and cut a middle path out so that the adhesive would not ride on the crease of the panels (on either side of it). Carefully used a heat gun to activate the adhesive. It's good to wait for the paint/clear to cure (for me that was 60 days) before putting them on and using the heat gun.

 

I personally like them. I had them on my 85 Bird. I want to put them on my 86, but I cannot find the style molding I had anywhere.

 

Their identical to the 86,take them off before you send the 85 to 3rd gen heaven.

 

So what have you guys used to attach the molding to the door? I just got my driver side door repaired and I need to re-attach the molding. Thanks.