Molding Question

[67valiant 100]

First Thread:upside down::upside down::upside down::upside down: My dad has a 1970 Newport convertible and it doesn't have the molding on the top of the front fenders and never had any signs of having any. All the other 70 Newport's we've ever seen has this molding. Does anyone else have a Newport like this or is it just a factory goof? It is a late 70 model.

 

[rapidtransitrick]

it may have been a factory delete although i believe it would be rare maybe a question for galen he may be able to tell you something from your option tag

 

[7polara0]

i do believe that you only got the fender moulding if you had the lighting package. the moulding would have had the signal indicators mounted in the top edge for you to see. the factory borchure shows a pic of a 70 newport without the moulding in place, but the others shown all have it and have the fender turn signal indicators mounted in the moulding.

 

[rapidtransitrick]

i do believe that you only got the fender moulding if you had the lighting package. the moulding would have had the signal indicators mounted in the top edge for you to see. the factory borchure shows a pic of a 70 newport without the moulding in place, but the others shown all have it and have the fender turn signal indicators mounted in the moulding.

that does make since

 

[67valiant 100]

I'll try to get pics........it does have fender turn signals.

 

[67valiant 100]

Finally got pictures.....

 

[7polara0]

looks legit to me. i guess you could get the fender signals as a seperate option back then, unlike today. looks like a nice car. post some more pics of it out and uncovered when you can....

 

[67valiant 100]

Oh and this car has a little more than 30,000 documented original miles and when we got it 10 or so years ago it had the original faded paint and that's how it was with no other holes drilled for fender moldings. Also that molding thats right next to the fender that goes along the door is different than the one for a fender molding.

 

[rapidtransitrick]

yes it looks like thats the way she's been from day 1

 

[67valiant 100]

I think I may have solved the mystery but its a long shot. I was looking at '71 Chrysler brochure and noticed that the Chrysler Newport Royal (cheaper model than just a Newport and came standard with a 360) appears to have no moldings on the fenders but still has the fender turn signals and moldings around the windows. Its a long shot because the "Royal" didn't come around till mid '71 and are Newport convertible is a late '70 car. :fishin:

 

[polara71]

Are you reading too deep into this? They weren't just an option?

 

[67valiant 100]

When was the last time you saw one without the fender molding. I've been to the Mopar Nationals and didn't even see one.

 

[polara71]

I gotta say I never looked that deep. I think we all tend to pay close attention to cars of our own particular strong interest. I look VERY deeply at 69 to 73 Polaras and Monacos when I see one. While looking at all C's I have to say my attention isn't as strong as it would compared to a Polara or Monaco. Certainly not enough to notice a molding in place or not.

But now I would probably start to look........

 

[67valiant 100]

bump for new members to see :hello:

 

[70NPORT]

I think I've seen 1 or 2 other 70'- 71' models (both HT's) that did not have chrome molding on top of the fenders, just small turn signal indicators only. These sales ads for 70 and 71 models don't show any turn signal indicators at all.

 

[polara71]

Looks clean without them, but I like them on there, I guess because its more light and more chrome. If they were body color forget it...

 

[commando1]

Yes. Les is more in C-bodies. I see a fast top car without a vinyl roof, I'm in heaven.

 

[70NPORT]

Looks clean without them, but I like them on there, I guess because its more light and more chrome. If they were body color forget it...

Yea, I totally agree. The lack of them being there is a big turn off. They are sort of like "crowns" for the fenders, they need/should be there in my (humble) opinion. I love watching mine blink when I turn corners. :sideways tongue:

 

[Newp]

I agree they should be there. That way you won't forget to turn the signal off after changing lanes, and appear to everyone in front or behind you as though your driving around the world to the left...:hello: lol.

My '75 T&C would light up the driver side fender indicator when you were in the throttle to hard, to remind you that you were wasting fuel.

 

[67valiant 100]

70fusy's pictures got me thinking that cars with no fender turn signals got the different door moldings. Since this was a late '70 car, maybe they ran out of fender moldings or that style blinkers at the time but the customer want fender turn signals. So Chrysler used the non fender signal door molding and combined it with the seperate turn signals found on other cars. A fine example of Chryslers way of using parts on hand to get a car built.