Fairlane 500 Trim Questions

512Fairlane · 2012-01-19 21:08

I sorted through all the trim that came with our 57 Fairlane 500 project and I have a few questions. The previous owner had the holes for the trim that goes on the side of the roof (right above the drip rail) filled because he wanted to leave that trim off. He said the trim holes leak and ruin headliners. I'm fine with that because I like it without the trim. My question is the rear window trim has two tabs that look like they went under the large trim. What do I do about these. Is there another body style that would have those trim pieces without the tabs? I have roughly 3 sets of all of the trim except the pieces that go over the fins. Some parts have some dents but I think I can put together at least one complete set except for the tail fin trim pieces. Those are very dented up and I'm not sure I can get them straight again. Are they hard to find? Does anyone make reproductions of those pieces? Thanks.

JimNolan · 2012-01-19 21:38

The Club Victoria and Town Sedan don't have the roof trim so the rear window trim from one of those cars would work. Just stay away from the 500 series cars. As far as the holes causing water leaks, WHAT. I've been in all kinds of downpours and washed my car 10,251 times and haven't had a problem and I know of at least one clip that is loose on my roof trim. Call Concours for the fin stainless, get ready for sticker shock. Good Luck, Jim

512Fairlane · 2012-01-19 21:49

Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for one of those cars. I'll start scrouging the junk yards for some more trim. I figured the fin trim would be the hard ones to find. This car must have been hailed on pretty good at one point. The side trim is all in good shape but anything that was on top has some dings. The fins were the worst.

Ford Blue blood · 2012-01-19 23:07

Burtons makes the top of the fin stainless, around 4 - 500 for a pair.

RICH MUISE · 2012-01-20 08:10

About the holes leaking.....keep in mind the factory sealed trim holes with a non-hardening putty-like sealant. It's more likely than not when cars are repainted and reassembled, that sealer is left off. The same goes for the side trim also...I've got to pull one of my side spears off and add the sealer because I forgot to put it on when I assembled it.
Rich

JimNolan · 2012-01-20 09:14

Rich,
Depending on what type of clip you used you don't have to take the trim off. The roof is the only place I used sealant on the outside of my car around the holes for the clip. The rest of my trim has sealant applied from the inside. Since I used the screw and nut clips on all my stainless, I filled the inside of my washer/nuts with this rope type non-hardning sealant and just tightened the nut onto the screw. The fin stainless is a prime example, since I used all screw type fasteners ( I'll never dent another piece of high cost stainless pushing and tugging on it to go over a clip) it was easier to install the sealant in the washer/nut. Jim

Ford Blue blood · 2012-01-20 10:57

I use the sealant that is used to hold the windshields in on newer cars. Very sticky, comes in a rope type configuration, wound in a flat roll with wax paper. Comes in different diameters, very sticky and any that squishes out is easilly cleaned off with mineral spirits.

JimNolan · 2012-01-20 11:48

Blue Blood,
That's exactly what I used. Give everyone a tip though. Wet your fingers a little when handling the stuff. I won't tell you how I wet my fingers but, I will tell you I didn't die from it. Jim PS Give me a break. Wetting your fingers while you're stretched out in the trunk with your arms sticking over a wheel well to put a nut on a trim clip is no place to have a bowl of water for wetting purposes.

57AGIN · 2012-01-20 21:53

Rich:

That was very good information about sealer and very timely as it won't be too long before we start putting on the side trim.

Jim:

Thanks for the tip about the water. I, too think the spray bottle to be the source of H2O of choice. Rick and I will be using the screw type of trim fasteners too. As it was an expensive proposition to get my stainless straightened out and I remember putting some of the whoop-te-dos in it myself. Rick turned me on to using the screw type fasteners and I've got a full set for my Custom 300's trim.

Ford Blue Blood:

Thanks for the tip about the window sealant. This is such a great site for tips, thanks for chiming in.

Bob
57 AGIN

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Fairlane 500 Trim Questions