Camaro Research Group Discussion > Originality
68 Convertible Windshield Header Moldings
jeff68:
I have a set of NOS 68/68 winshield header moldings that have the satin finish on them. The only part of the moldings that is bright chrome is the short 'leg' where the moldings turn to meet up with the wide side moldings. I though that this was correct. However, this past summer I found a car with some unusual moldings, and the owner said that they were original pieces. See the attached photos. Talking to my father (who bought my car new), he said that he remembered his looking like the ones in these pictures as well. Are these original moldings?
KevinW:
Jeff, I'm not sure what why that one is different, might just be wear marks from the seal. The NOS ones sold by GM were later service parts, where the whole thing is chromed and the satin was painted on except for the leg (I have a set from the 80s). Factory satin headers were not painted. From the factory, the surface was not polished (except for the leg) prior to chroming. The unpolished section almost looked like it was glass beaded then chromed.
jeff68:
The line between the satin and bright chome was very sharp, so I don't think it was wear from the seal. My chrome shop is very good and they can duplicate the satin plating pretty well and my NOS moldings really need to be refinished. So, I'm trying to decide how to have them plated; all chrome, satin chrome except for the 'legs', or the way they are in the pictures. I really dislike the look of the chrome on the 'legs' only, so I was hoping that the pictures represented a correct alternative. I guess that I can always just go with all chrome, then paint the satin parts.
firstgenaddict:
Old thread, however what is the story on header molding finish?
I remember the 68 Firebird conv we had in the 80's wore Satin finished header moldings (don't remember if it was split like the one shown), our 67 Camaro conv had bright chrome, the 69 I am doing now has bright chrome, what is correct?
Mike S:
I read within CRG a while back that in '68 there were new DOT safety laws passed that made it necessary for the satin moldings. I think the wiper arms were included in that too but I am not 100% sure. '67 was bright trim.
Maybe John Z. can verify that.
Mike
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page