Powder coating the door upper moldings - reinstalling the squeegee

[Roberts280Z]

I am having all the bright bits powder-coated, including the door upper moldings, which are the strips that mount on the exterior of the door tops. These moldings originally have a rubber squeegee strip facing the glass.

My question is, has anyone successfully reinstalled the squeegee strip? They were originally stapled on, which looks impossible to do again.

Thanks as always

 

[jfa.series1]

I used pop-rivets to install new squeegee strips as well as fuzzy strips to the door panels. They were 1/8" dia. X 1/8" grip depth steel rivets, spaced about 4" apart. Worked perfectly. Aluminum rivets can pop "prematurely" leaving a longer shank on the inside. This will interfere with reinstalling the door moldings.

Edited June 13, 2021 by jfa.series1

[Roberts280Z]

Thanks Jim. I didn't even know that steel pop-rivets existed. This also suggests the possibility of precise-length bolt with nut, if the bolt head is shallow enough so as not to gouge the glass.

Fortunately my door panels and fuzzies are in reasonable condition. But for that I see that Motorsports suggests that an upholstery shop can perform the stapling as original.

[jfa.series1]

The steel rivets will pull down to about 1/16" thick on the back side, adequate clearance to not hit the top edge of the door panel. Anything thicker will likely have a problem. A buddy used aluminum rivets that finished out with about a 1/8" shank backside, would not clear to install on the door and had to be trimmed.