Removing wide lower aluminum trim on my '70 Sport Fury

[Chrome58]

Hi everyone,

I need to remove the wide lower aluminum trim on my '70 Sport Fury (the one that goes from the front wheelwell to the rear one).
I see some screws to the rocker panel, but all of them are rusted and won't budge, even with some penetrating oil.
Do you have some tips ?
Thanks.

PS : I suppose there is some trim clips behind it as well.

 

[ayilar]

Bookmarking this thread. I may want to do the same to clean up what's behind the lower trim on Snow White, my 1970 Polara 'vert.

 

[Big_John]

For the screws, here's two things that might help.

If you can get to the back of the screw, like a wheelwell molding for example, grab the back of the screw with a pair of visegrips and turn to remove. Yea... That ruins the screw, but you'll need to replace it anyway.

The other is one of these screwdrivers. You hold it against the screw and it rotates when you smack it with a hammer.

Amazon product ASIN B003BI8HHQ

 

[FURYGT]

There are screws on the bottom of the rocker panel molding underneath the rocker. See if you can spray some PB Blaster in any gaps from underneath the car. Once you get the screws out, gently push the molding upwards towards the door as the top edge of the molding has a “channel” that fits over plastic clips. The moldings and clips are impossible to find so be gentle. You may end up having to drill out some screws. Good luck.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

^^THIS^^ plus:

If the molding is the wide style, there may not be channels in the top molding edge that allow you to release from the clips - mine on my 66 Monaco 500 did not have those, so pushing along to get the clips to the channels may not work. It may strictly be a lift up and out of the clips situation.

Regardless:

Go slowly. The screws along the bottom of the car may be covered in a layer of hard dust. Brush it off with a wire brush, and soak it in PB Blaster. Get that nozzle in there along the whole way. Wait. Repeat. Wait.

Keep in mind, there may be screws along the front and rear edges of the molding if it wraps into the wheel openings too.

Tape some masking paper to the body panels along the top edge of the molding to protect the paint - it will scratch the paint as you lift it up if you're not careful.

Do NOT pry from the top - you will snap the clips under the top edge of the molding. Once all the screws are out, be very gentle and lift the molding straight up to lift it up out of the clips. This may be an operation best performed with two people - one at each end of the molding when lifting up and out.

 

[Welder guy]

I finally got to restoring the kick plate trim on my 69 sport fury. This thread might help you out .