Side Protection Molding on early 70's 240's

[yamazaroon]

Hey guys, I'm new to the classic Z forum and I'm currently researching to find a good condition early 70's Z. One thing I've decided is that I really like the one's without the side door protector molding. As I've never had one of these cars, I'm not too familiar with which models did and didn't have this molding. Is the molding something that can be easily removed? And if so, how hard is it to make it look like it was never there? I would appreciate any advice someone might have.

Jonathan

[Zs-ondabrain]

I always thought it was a dealer option, but I could be wrong.

Dave

(sometimes missinformed)

[yamazaroon]

I always thought it was a dealer option, but I could be wrong.

Dave

(sometimes missinformed)

OK, thanks.

[EScanlon]

Dave's right, it was a dealer option that got put on a lot of cars "automatically".

Depending on how they mounted it, rivets drilled through the sheet metal or two sided automotive sticky tape, it can be easy to remove but hard to repair the effects on the paint/body.

FWIW

E

[240ZGL]

Most were riveted on if there the nice ones. I took mine of and now I just have to fill the holes

[Goose52]

...it was a dealer option that got put on a lot of cars "automatically".

Yep - the side molding was one of the things that the dealer loaded onto my car when I bought it in '72. The molding on mine (thankfully) was attached with the two-sided tape. I removed the moldings within the first year with no damage to the paint.

[Exdamyankee]

Mine came with them too, unfortunately riveted on. It is rare to find them without them, as the vast majority had them either port-installed to dealer-installed before they were ever delivered to the first owner.

Pain in the butt to fill the holes, but worth it to get the clean-side look, IMO.

[yamazaroon]

It sounds like I might be better off in trying to find one without the molding to begin with. Might save a little work, but I probably shouldn't pass up a nice one just because of the molding. Thanks for all of the info!

[beandip]

I removed mine that were riveted. One thing you do not want to do is to fill the holes with filler like bondo or icing . That stuff is porous and will allow moisture to travel in from the back side and rust the panel. the holes must be sealed with braze, lead solder or something similar. I used solder as I was preping to paint. You are going to find that the selection of 240Z are going to be limited and as time goes on even more so. First and foremost look for a Z that is the most rust free and complete as you can find. With a good car to start with the rest will be MUCH less costly and easier to work with . On a scale of 1 to10 the side molding is a 1 on difficulty . In the over all picture not a big deal compared to the rest of the project on even a vary clean 240. Gary

[yamazaroon]

I removed mine that were riveted. One thing you do not want to do is to fill the holes with filler like bondo or icing . That stuff is porous and will allow moisture to travel in from the back side and rust the panel. the holes must be sealed with braze, lead solder or something similar. I used solder as I was preping to paint. You are going to find that the selection of 240Z are going to be limited and as time goes on even more so. First and foremost look for a Z that is the most rust free and complete as you can find. With a good car to start with the rest will be MUCH less costly and easier to work with . On a scale of 1 to10 the side molding is a 1 on difficulty . In the over all picture not a big deal compared to the rest of the project on even a vary clean 240. Gary

Thank you Gary, that is very useful advice. I'm definitely going to be watching out for rust. I was first thinking to get one a little run down and cheaper, but have since decided to spend a little more and get an easier start. And that only seems the smart thing to do since this will be my first one. If I get a good one to start with, I'll be able to learn more about them before diving into something way over my head.