Trim questions - need an education.

[jvo]

I am presently working on the inner doors for my Ranchero build - putting hardtop door skins on them. 
Question 1.  My Ranchero was a 66B model I think, with the gold inset trim.  Is this trim the same on the front fenders that will line up with the trim I want to put on the doors from the Fairlane 500 model?  I have a retractable door skin that I am using on the drivers side, and so far it looks like I am making a passenger door skin from the 4 door Fairlane that I am using as the platform for the Ranchero build.  Hoping the front fender trim is the same.

Question 2. Is the retractable door trim with the gold inset the same as the two door hardtop and two door sedan Fairlane 500?  I have one of our members that has some trim I can buy, but I want to make sure the retractable stuff will line up properly with my front fender trim before I take the plunge.  I am hoping the holes in the door skin will line up so I don't have to weld them all shut and make new square and round holes for the trim clips. 
I know this sounds a little crazy but please bear with me.  I can make a paper template for the 4 door passenger front door skin to check if the holes are at least the same on the front of the door.  I will have to extend the door skin 6 inches to move the door handle and lock holes to the back of the door.  I don't want to have to cut new holes for the door handle and lock if I can help it.  Much easier to put extra metal in other places.  I have the door skin off anyways, so its easy to cut it and weld it and metal finish it perfectly before I put it back onto the inner door structure. I can cut and weld patches into these no problem, but just hoping I can use the existing holes for the trim, at least most of them.   
Hope this makes sense. Well, it may not make sense to some, but I hope everyone can understand what I am trying to do. Thanks.

[Ford Blue blood]

The trim will all line up at the fender/door gap for all 500s and Retractables....the trim for the Retractable is different when getting down by the lock area.  The lower Retractable door stainless takes a slightly different rout getting to the quarter.  The Retractable "check mark" goes through the lock, the 500 and others goes below the lock.

Your skins will need holes plugged and re-drilled on both sides as you are going right now.  If it were me I would look for two 500 skins because the trim for a 500 2dr is much easier to find.

Go to the 57 Ford site that John Gamble has up.  There are pictures of all the models there and the trim fit/differences will be easy to see.

[jvo]

Thanks for the reply.  I have looked at that other site, but the pics are so small that its hard to see any detail up close. 
I do see the lock differences on the trim, but again, most pics are so small its hard to really see the details.  I guess I'll take a paper pattern and mark all the holes on the retractable door skin I am using on the driver's side.  Then I will put the paper pattern on the other side to see how much of it lines up on the Fairlane 4 door door skin I will be using for the passenger door. 
I don't think I'll have much trouble adding 6 inches to the 4 door door skin, but I'd really not have to mark and drill out all the trim holes if I can help it.
I haven't had any luck at all trying to find door skins for any two door 500 series so far.  Talked to Jerry again for the 6th time yesterday asking if he had sent my window trim stainless yet, and also asked about door skins, and he told me good luck, that I would probably have to cut and patch what I have.  That didn't sound good, but isn't a deal breaker.
I can cut and patch the sheet metal no problem, just trying to take the easiest route and trying to avoid any mistakes that I will have to back track on.

So, let's take another step forward.  You state the retractable check mark is slightly different.  Is the stainless trim that is on top of the tail fin different on the retractable from the 500?  I will need that as well, and I need to plan on where that sheet metal goes very carefully as I will be using the door skin from the rear door to patch that area in as well.  That piece will end up being several pieces of sheet metal because the door skin edge will more than likely be rusty at the outer edge and I will end up cutting off maybe 3/4 of an inch, and will also have to allow for the "door gap" area also.  So, the rear door skin will need metal added to the front edge, as well as the rear edge, and needs to line up with the stainless trim on the top of the fin, and line up in the correct area to match the trim on the door.

That is why I am building the doors first, and will install the rear of the cab and B pillar.  Then, I can take my new EMS front quarter panel and put it in place for the bottom of the body, then fill in the rest of the top of the quarter panel with the described piece above.  Hope that makes sense.
  I will put pics in place on my build thread as I do this, but I need to decide now what trim I am going to use. If I have to buy some new trim, it won't be a deal breaker, as this is a low buck build so far, and if I have to spend some money on new trim, it won't be that bad, as long as it is commercially available.  Otherwise, I should probably get whatever trim I decide to use ahead of time, so I don't have to cut it apart later and redo it.
You guys are the 57 experts here, hoping to get this sorted soon.  Thanks.

Okay, let's add to this discussion.  Forgot to ask about the tail fin trim.  I still have decent trim that goes from the taillight fin to the rear door opening.  Decent, meaning a bunch of small dings that I will have to learn to repair.  I can do zero bondo sheet metal repair, and have a book on repairing trim, but no experience on it yet, but I am probably going to have to learn.  So, having said that, I noticed that some of the trim pieces seem to slip inside each other, and I assume that Ford might have made them somewhat modular in that maybe some pieces will work on two doors as well as four door cars? 

I probably should have done a little more research on this subject before this, but I'm in too deep now to back out, and too proud to quit, so I need to solve this problem in the near future.  Thanks again.

[Ford Blue blood]

So, let's take another step forward.  You state the retractable check mark is slightly different.  Is the stainless trim that is on top of the tail fin different on the retractable from the 500?

Okay, let's add to this discussion.  Forgot to ask about the tail fin trim.  I still have decent trim that goes from the taillight fin to the rear door opening. 

The Retractable check mark is very different.  Look at the drivers door on my Retractable.  It is a 500 door and trim, notice how the check mark comes up rear short at the edge.  The passenger door shows the correct door and quarter match.

The top of the fin from a 4dr will fall short, you will need to find 500 fin stainless.  The short curved piece that ties the door trim to the tail fin trim is different also.

[jvo]

Okay, thanks for that lesson.  Appreciate that. 
I took the passenger door apart from the 4 door that I have to see how the holes for the trim line up, and I think it will work.  They don't line up perfectly, but they are very very close at each end of the door, because this door is 6 inches shorter than the retractable door skin that I have. 

Now, the only reason I am using a retractable door skin is that Don Engold sold it to me when I needed a vent window assembly.  I got the other vent window from Jerry's Classic cars, but he doesn't have another door skin to sell me. 

I think I will be better off using Fairlane 500 trim as you suggested.

So, here are some pics of the paper pattern I did this morning. As you can see, this is the retractable door skin that I have.  I did a pencil pattern on this paper to mark the body lines and holes for the trim.

[jvo]

Then, I removed the door skin from the 4 door, and transferred the trim holes in it to the paper to compare. They are pretty much in the same line, but not necessarily in the same place, which I don't think will matter as the trim clips will slide back and forth on the back side of the trim. The door handle however, is 9/16 of an inch higher on the door on the retractable skin, and there is a very slight variation of the same distance along the top of the door, but I could deal with that.

I think I should really look for another door skin though, as this one is gonna need a 6 inch stretch, a whole new bottom from the trim down, and a bunch more slice and dice to make the door top the same as the other side also.

[jvo]

You can see at the left side of the paper pattern, the trim holes line up almost perfectly, but on the right side, they are out of alignment.  When I slide the paper pattern back six inches, where it would be when the 4 door skin is stretched that amount, they line up quite nicely again.  But, you can definitely see the door lock hole, and the door handle hole would have to be moved to be the same as the other side. 
I need another door skin, and I will just have to be patient till I can find one.
NOW, I think because of what Ford Blue Blood showed in his pics, I should be looking for Fairlane 500 trim to finish off the doors and tops of the fins.  I am pretty sure I can take the fins on the rear door skin, and match them up in the proper place on the upper quarter to match the back end of the doors, but I will need the door trim as well as the trim for the tops of the fins, so I will start looking for that, I guess.
Anybody got any extras laying around?

[jvo]

And one more close up shot of the paper pattern in the door handle area.

[SkylinerRon]

There are 4 different fin top moldings for 57 Fairlanes
2dr ht & conv
Retract (shorter than the 2dr!)
4dr
4dr w/Styletone paint

I would think the 4dr skin would need to be lengthened in the middle.

The gold trim and mouldings are different on most models doors and even the front fender gold is different on Customs & Fairlanes.

The horizontal door stainless is shorter on the Retract because it has to turn upward to a taller fin than the others.

Burton makes fin molding for Retracts maybe others too.

Goodluck,

Ron.

[jvo]

Thanks Ron. I am away for the weekend, but was able to look at my daughters ipad. Looks like I need to chase down the hardtop mouldings.