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MG MGB Technical - BGT Door moulding question.

I don't want to blunder ahead without checking: nice clean paint job and ready to fit the moulding strips. One internet "How to" says pop the moulding over the rivet caps with the palm of your sensitive, finely-tuned hand. Another printed document says slide the strips along one rivet cap at a time, inserting the threaded plate into the last hole to secure the last portion of the strip.

So far, I've nervously slid a tiny section of moulding over one rivet, and I can see that there is a high risk of scratching the fully-cured paint. Not ideal.

But what of the "pop it over the rivet cap" theory? - does it work, and what is the risk of damage to rivet cap and loss of grip!

All experience gratefully received. Regards, John.

J P Hall

The pop over works, but if the rivets or the molding is new, popping it over can be a bit hard to get it to snap over the rivet. I have not had a lot of luck with sliding it over the rivets. I also worry about scratching paint moving the molding along the car.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

Sorry Bruce, I should have clarified: brand new rivets in place, and brand new moulding strips waiting to be attached! John.
J P Hall

JP,
The finely tuned palm, pushing rather than impact, has always worked for me, new or old, sliding never. I'm a serial user of waxoyl too, which probably helps the process! The secret is to make sure the top recess of the moulding, is really pressed down behind the rivet head before you start pushing the bottom in.
Allan Reeling

Very good info Allan, thank you. At this stage I'm leaning heavily towards your approach ... definitely no impact; and I appreciate the detail you've included. I can't get waxoyl here, but have applied copper grease behind the trim strips and was thinking of either more of that or lanolin spray over the rivets before I proceed. I shall nervously have a go this weekend and report back in the hope that it helps others. Thanks to you and Bruce. Regards, John.
J P Hall

JP,
Meant to say the screw plate is no problem to locate as the moulding is more or less lined up before you start "pushing". On the door it goes in the centre. If nervous use masking tape to protect your paint job.
Allan Reeling

On mine never had screw plate in middle of door, just the rivets. Don't want to be 'glass half empty', but what can happen is that the paint chips a little as you tap it home - the trim taking a lump of the paint, before it bounces back the the few thou to its rightful secure position. Happened to me on cheapo two pack blow over, so might be a function of too thick a paint over original substrate.
P A Allen

X2 with everything Allen sez, although I daubed the holes with Waxoyl before fitting the clips, and the backs of the strips. I also used washers behind the panels where the holes were large or irregular, and changed the pop-rivets for long-reach where the panels were double-thickness. If the rivet only expands inside the hole and not behind it will probably come loose.
paulh4

Interesting development today. I'll try to keep it brief.

(1) Curiosity got the better of me. I set up a test panel and spare moulding rivet; greased everything up and tried the Firm But Gentle Persuasion With Palm Of Hand approach. Not much luck - evidence of the moulding bending the edge of the rivet cap instead of popping over it; and, in the case of the door skin especially, my concern about denting a panel.

(2) The provision of a cutout in the underside of each moulding strip at its "leading edge" (direction of travel when being installed by the sliding method) i.e. at the OPPOSITE end to the cutout and hole for the threaded plate, suggests to me that the intended method might be to place the "leading edge cutout" over the first rivet cap, push to engage the rivet cap while sliding the moulding along towards the next rivet cap ... and so on. Towards the end of the strip's travel, making sure the threaded plate is located in the strip, ready to insert into the hole as the last fixing on that strip.

(3) Of course this would only work if certain precautions were taken: generous lubrication on the underside edges of the strip, plus some for good measure along the body surface as well; and generous lubrication daubed on the top and bottom edges of each rivet cap; also checking to determine the best direction of movement of the moulding strip. My first effort was the d/side rear corner, so direction of travel was from rear towards the front rivet, so that the threaded plate was fixed last.( I removed the rear light lens for better access).
This presumably means the front mouldings would be fitted in the opposite direction, as the threaded plate is to the front edge.
That leaves the doorskin mouldings: there is supposed to be a threaded plate near the centre of the door; it should be possible to fit the centre plate (and eventually locate it in the hole provided) without tightening it, so that the moulding will slide along the rivets and the plate until it finds its final position on the door skin. Only then will it be appropriate to tighten fully the threaded plate.

(4) So I decided to try the theory, in view of my lack of success with the "popping" trial.

I've only done one strip today, and of course the first attempt is always the longest. I used graphite grease as a lubricant, and slid the strip along a few inches at a time using a two-handed controlled pressure. Once about half the strip was in place over rivet caps, it was easy to gently tap the end of the moulding with a rubber mallet. Result? - after just over one hour, the first strip was completely fitted; no wrinkles, no panel damage; nice snug fit along the body metal; and absolutely secure.

A couple of negatives: one rivet came away from its hole; I was able to retrieve it and replace it with a longer throw rivet, using the original cap. The threaded stud on the plate - ironically, the last fixing on the moulding strip - was poorly manufactured and separated; it started turning as I tightened the nut. That was overcome and the job finished.

Sorry this is a bit long, but I thought it might be of interest to someone contemplating their options. I've gone against my original thinking, and the advice of far more experienced BBS commentators, but managed a really good result using the sliding method.

I hope to attach a couple of photos. Regards, John.


J P Hall

Second photo shows graphite grease lubricant. This is near the end of travel of this strip; the grease makes a mess, but does make the trim slide easily, and cleans up in 5 minutes. Worth the trouble.

J P Hall

To all,
The "mouldings" are manufactured from pressed out Stainless steel. All those who have installed SS kitchen sinks will know how lethal to hands the raw edges are. As a consequence of one trip to A & E for several stitches anything I use now, made from SS, is thoroughly de-burred, including these strips.
Whichever way you choose to fit them, taking the burr off both sides of the "raw" edge with a needle file and emery (wrapped round a file NOT your finger) can only help the job and help preserve your paintwork.
Allan Reeling

Ouch ... good advice, Allan. I see why you advocate the Popping Method. My skill set was not up to yours and thus my foray into the dark side of sliding 'em on - but I strongly second your recommendation that the raw edge should be smoothed as much as possible, whatever method is chosen. I will add that to my preparation today when I fit some more strips. John.
J P Hall

JP,
The "popping" method has never failed for me and if you look at the rivet heads, they are slightly conical to help the clipping process.
The removal process, by the way, is the reverse of this pushing method. A strip of masking tape above the moulding, a small piece of wood and a mallet. The simple act of tapping the moulding down releases it from the clip.
Allan Reeling

One more update, and a particular thanks to Allan Reeling: Allan, I bow and scrape before you ... today I fitted 2 more strips by the "slide 'em on" method; it took at least half an hour per strip, and more rivets came adrift along the way. Then I tried the recommended "pop on" method - taking care to fully engage the top half of the strip on the rivet before popping the lower half on. The whole operation took 10 minutes per strip - no mess, no damage, and just as good a finish!

So I guess it's an individual choice - either method can certainly be made to work; the slide-on method puts more sideways pressure on the rivets and I would not attempt it again without longer-throw rivets. The pop-on method still throws up the odd recalcitrant rivet, but on the whole is far quicker.

I hope this helps someone. Regards, John.
J P Hall

A quick update on the use of fixings for the side strips - specifically for the doors.
On the 2 new doorskins, I opted to use three of the threaded posts (centre, front and rear edges); and put one of the special rivets in the spaces between them. The threaded posts were done up loosely to locate the strips, and to draw them nearer the rivet caps. Then as Allan pointed out earlier, it's easy to engage the strip over one half of the rivet cap, press and pop it on with a reassuring "click".
This combination of alternating posts and rivets has given me a nice firm attachment, which I figured could be an advantage over just rivets, with the opening and shutting of doors. Also, easy to remove the door strips later if necessary.
Access for the nuts & washers (inside the door) was easy with the quarterlight mechanism in place and loosely attached; but the front post would be difficult to reach inside the door if the quarterlight was fully tightened. So you need to do this job before you fully tighten your quarterlights! Don't ask me how I know this.
Also, don't ask me how many times I've tightened and loosened ...and tightened and loosened ... my quarterlight assemblies to put in spacers to adjust the gap at the top!
I hope this helps. Regards, John.
J P Hall

This thread was discussed between 27/05/2016 and 23/06/2016

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