I'm in the process of stripping the paint off a 69 Vette I recently purchased and confused about the wiper door trim. It appears to me, from pictures I've seen, that the stainless trim piece is painted leaving only the lip unpainted. I'm wondering why GM would attach a one inch wide trim piece with clips and paint all of it except that lip edge? It seems to me as though the whole stainless trim should have been left unpainted to match the rest of the trim around the windshield.
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Re: 69 wiper door trim
It's painted with the trailing edge left unpainted pehaps because it gives the entire windshield the appearence that it is framed in stainess steel.Jack Corso
1972 Elkhart Green LT-1 Coupe 43,200 miles
Top Flight 1994, 2018 & 2021 -
Re: 69 wiper door trim
Jim-----
Whatever the reason was, that's definitely how it was done. Also, keep in mind that painting stainless steel requires special efforts to promote adhesion. So, that's something else that had to be dealt with. This was not done at St. Louis, though. The moldings were supplied from the manufacturer with a black primer pre-applied. Presumably, adhesion-promoting steps were taken at that time and were probably specified in the GM specs for the moldings.
The moldings were also supplied with masking over the un-painted bead. This consisted of a very small diameter, lengthwise-slit plastic tube that covered the bead. The tube was usually a yellow color but was in place when the black primer was applied so it's usually more-or-less covered with the black primer. After the car was painted, the plastic tube was removed to expose the un-painted bead.
I've seen quite a few 68-72 Corvettes over the years with the entire moldings in natural stainless steel. However, I don't think a single car was ever delivered from St. Louis this way.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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