Chrome Trim Removal

[amasterj]

I posted this yesterday but it did not stick

I am removing the trim in prep. for paint. On my 63 front fender is a falcon and I can not figure out how to remove it. I found a nut in the fender and another in the door cavity. I was thinking it would just pop off, but it does not seem to want to. All my chrome is in great shape so I am very careful, and learning in the process. Does anyone know how to remove this piece of chrome?:confused:

[MacDee]

That piece of trim on my '63 hardtop had SIX nuts holding it. I had to remove the fender to get at some of them.

[amasterj]

I was hoping that was not the case! That is just crazy. Are you talking about the falcon that is attached to the chrome siding trim?

[MacDee]

Yours may be a bit different; mine dosen't have "Falcon" on it. I think it's the same piece, though. I took a picture of the fender when it was off. You can see the attach points as well as the shape of the trim piece:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d174/grmacdee/FenderBig.jpg

The fender is not that difficult to remove. There's a row of fasteners along the upper edge, under the edge of the hood, an attachment to a brace at the lower forward corner, and three or four along the rear edge, one of which is accessible after you remove the kick panel in the interior.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress.

[Jerry Kirby]

just a small piece of advise on the trim removal. Salvage as best you can the fastners screws, clips or whatever is holding the trim on. They are very expensive to replace if you can find them at all.

[redfalken]

It's been a long time since I took the Falcon badges off my `62 and I don't remember how I did it but I do know I didn't take the fenders off.

The badges have posts that push into barrel clips. The clips push into the hole in the fender and have a few barbs on the sides that hold them to the sheetmetal. The post on the badge pushes down into this clip and is held into place by sharp edges inside. Easier to see than describe! Here's an illustration I found. I think they sell them at Wesco Autobody.

If you're not sure, the safest would be to remove the fenders so you can access the back and see what's going on.

[amasterj]

Yes I was thinking it was barrel clips, but they seem very stiff and I don't want to damage the chrome/Badge. I guess I will take the fender off and find out for sure, it may be interesting to have a look under the fender anyway. I will post the results, in case anyone is interested. Thanks!

[amasterj]

Well if anyone is interested MacDee was correct, there was 2 nuts on the inside of the fender Badges. Although removing the fender was a pain due to rusty nuts and bolts around the front, it gives me a chance to do some good cleaning, painting and maybe some undercoating in the wheel wells. Also tempted to do some front end work while I have great access.
Thanks
Amasterj

[cometcougar]

Uh oh! Looks like another case of "While I'm At It" syndrome is developing. I bet we all know that one - Like when you go out to replace one little thing, and you end up with your car on a rotisserie (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit). Don't stop now amasterj!