The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Center windshield molding Q

I have this nice gap at the bottom and top of the molding for the inside of the windshield. Are the Clips that are pictured supposed to cover those gaps?
If so I am only seeing them painted and I need Chrome. I suppose I could paint them my dash color.
Paul
52 GMC

Yes. I just looked at my truck. That's some really crappy fit & finish trim. It looks like something you'd expect to see on a Yugo.

Do they sell a chrome or stainless one? It doesn't even cover very well but I guess the truck buying public wasn't all that interested back then.

I'll take picture of mine for you

Those end clips for the center molding go over the windshield molding to cover that gap. If you buy some of the repop ones, you could get them chromed, which would be $$$, assuming you can find a chrome shop.
Another alternative is to get some stainless steel sheet metal and duplicate the clips using that, and polish them up. A simple slot, a slight bend and a radius bend would do the trick.

That's the beauty of having a plain trim level truck. Mine are just painted cab interior color, as is the center trim and windshield molding.

Thank you. That answers that question and thanks for the picture, I will probably get the repops and see how they fit and maybe make my own using those as a template.

pauld,

Are these what you are looking for???

Not mine. Just something I found based on the question you asked.

Dan

Gdad's link is it

OMG, those clips would be the nicest things in the cab

Those aren't an exact match for the originals. They don't have the curve on the part without the hole that laps over the windshield interior trim, but they can be modified easily. Most of the work is done.

Otto, your top could be on the bottom and your bottom on the top. I did find that they were two different shapes.

Here is a picture of mine which I believe original.

I just couldn't bring myself to spending $35 on those little clips. So I made a couple. Found an old broken stainless pie cutter, I knew i kept that thing for a reason. The mangled one is what happens when you don't use a sharp bit. I put different bends in them for a better fit. They shined up pretty good. 2 hours no cost. Fun metal fabricating,,priceless. I'll install them next week as I still need to paint the outer center trim piece.

Very nice solution to the problem pauld!

Thanks for sharing!

Now just gotta hope the Mrs. doesn't go looking for that old pie cutter - haha!

Dan

Do you think someone took them off and put them back on the wrong way?

That's the same gap mine has.

Show us what they look like installed.

You know what's interesting is that the Center Post was welded on the inside of the window frame at the bottom and at the top it was welded on the outside of the window frame so I don't know if it was replaced at one time or that's just how it was from the factory. But I will post pics when it's done

The center post on my cab is sandwiched between the cowl and the dash panels on the bottom and spot welded on the inside of the windshield frame at the top. I suppose there were different methods at different factories. The FAM shows the center bar on the windshield only on RH drive cabs which must have still had 2-piece windshields in 53 (date of most FAM sheets), and welded to the inside of the pinch weld at both top and bottom.

Well this is how the center strip clips came out. Haven't tightened everything down yet but wanted to get that out there. Do you notice on the chrome center strip, there's a hole where the mirror should go. I tried to put the mirror on the Chrome strip with a jam nut but it holds it out from the welded-in center strip. I found a mirror bracket that attaches to the top screw so I ordered that.

Nice work.
I don't recall that the inside center strip on my truck had that extra hole for the mirror bracket. I'd have to go out in the snow (yes on May 3! ) to look at it.

That looks good. It's so shiny it's reflecting black. I thought you painted all the chrome.

It is Chrome. It's just the lighting and the dark reflection off the dash

I noticed that and changed my post but not before you answered.

That hole in that strip for the mirror is a little off centered so it doesn't look like it's factory but yet the inside of the hole is Chromed also, so I don't know

Paul,

The pie cutter pieces worked perfectly! Looks like they were just meant to be there. Great job and thanks for sharing the results.

Don't know if that hole is present on my Grandpa's '51 as his solution for adding an inside rearview mirror was a little less original - haha (see below).

Dan

That looks like the same mirror mount that's in my '56 Cadillac.

Otto,

Who knows??? It very well could be??? His idea was if he could make it fit, he did. He was a consummate scrounger and repurposed things rather than buying stuff new.

Dan

Kind of like making parts out of pie cutters 😆

Hey, just about any material is fair game in my book.