Trim holes re-drill or go stick on?

[Highnote1]

So I am coming to the forum for advice....My 76 is getting ready for final strip and paint.  The car has welded beltline trim holes on the hood, one door, and one open hole on each quarter....the trunk was just fllled with bondo and those are all open now.  These all were done before my time.  I thought the hood was putty but I dug in yesterday and they are welds...

 

So...my original idea was going to be open holes in door and one on each quarter and then deal easily with re-drilling bondo holes on hood....but now I found welds on good and lots of them!

 

I have done 4 years of rust remediation on floors, rockers and quarters...it will be really clean when it is all painted and done!

 

The stick on trim would probably seal up the holes just fine on the ones that are still there after epoxy primer and all the levels of paint....

 

Opinions? Do I just drill them out?

Edited May 4, 2020 by Highnote1

[Mark92131]

You could open all the holes on the waistline trim and use stick-on over them.  Then the new owner would have the option to go back to the original anodized aluminum trim.

 

IMHO

 

Mark92131

[Highnote1]

If I open them all up, I would just go ahead and use the real stuff. Just debating on what is best. I think it will be hard to get rid of all of those welds. 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Highnote1

[m42002]

Those trim bolts don’t need to go back in the exact same place. Redrill near, and you should be good.
Not a purist, not sorry. 

[doslucero]

I went with cowles 1/2" molding and never looked back.  The holes are still under the molding.  If you're a stickler for real trim, open the holes before paint but I'm super happy with the stick on trim.  And I don't have to worry about it getting dented. 

[TobyB]

3 hours ago, GoGo Garnet said:

Those trim bolts don’t need to go back in the exact same place. Redrill near, and you should be good.
Not a purist, not sorry. 

I'm with GoGo-

 

drilling holes in welds is going to be miserable.  There are only about 6 places you'd have to. 

 

I'd then offset the rest by 1/2" and never look back.

 

Cobalt bits for the welds, though, for the few that are mandatory 

(hood seam, back of doors, front of rear quarter)

 

t

[Jae]

After I got my car back from the paint shop, I went with the stick on stuff from the auto parts store because I was being a cheap ass and didn’t want to buy new trim yet. Fast forward 2 years later, I bought new ss trim directly from the manufacturer in Vietnam. The stick on trim looked good and held up. The double sided tape sealed the trim holes I had so no moisture or water got through. I wish I had taken photos but from about 5-10 feet away, the stick on and ss trim looked the same. 

Edited May 5, 2020 by Jae P

[tashakes]

After my second repaint I wanted to use the metal trim but was all banged up. The first time I painted I used the stick on and looked great.  When I pulled it off for repaint some paint came off. That's how good it sticks.  So I did it again on the second repaint. The holes are still  there just in case but I doubt they will ever be used.  The only time I have been around "conoseurs" was at the Vintage last fall and many actually were surprised and could not believe it was the cheap stuff. I highly recommend it unless you are building a show car.  

[theNomad]

I'll be using black stick on, just to further piss off the purists.

[JsnPpp]

My vote is to drill holes for the next owner but use stick on if you wish. The new trim sets are much more reasonable costs and is the way I'd go.

 

If you are 4 years in to the resto then a few more hours making the holes prior to paint is to me "the right answer".

 

Jason

[NYNick]

I left the holes and went with stick on, because I like to give Steve/Conserv the heebie jeebies.?

[AustrianVespaGuy]

Yeah, unless you *need* to go original for concourse stuff, I'm highly in favor of the stick on solution.  Cheaper, looks better in my opinion (slightly thinner and no seams!) more durable, AND easier to repair (aka replace) if a section does get messed up. Plus if you ever want to go 'naked' in the future, you can without having ugly holes in the bodywork!  Also in favor of deleting/filling in the big holes for those silly useless side markers, but yeah, opinions on aesthetics are allowed to differ!

Full disclosure, I think the REAL stuff was going for around $800-900/set when I did my repaint, and I don't think it's nearly that horrendous these days. . .

Edited May 7, 2020 by AustrianVespaGuy

[Highnote1]

Thanks for all the advice!  Is the consensus the 1/2 inch stuff?  I would like to use the seam covers to further pull off the effect I think.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Highnote1

[Spyke]

If the holes are gone, stick it on!

 

1/2" seems to be what everyone agrees on, though 5/8" might work as well. Just no thinner than 1/2"

[AustrianVespaGuy]

Yeah I think mine's 12mm, so half an inch sounds right.  I agree 10mm or less would probably look a bit weird, though isn't 5/8 even a bit fatter than the original? That'd probably look a bit chunky IMO, so yeah I'm gonna say stick with 1/2!