1947 Plymouth P15 trim

[larryconnors]

Back when I was still a pup I drove a 1948 Plymouth 2 door sedan. I was told at the time that the trim still looked so good on my then 18 year old car because it's nickel plated rather than chrome. Is that true? The 1947 2 door P15 I have now also has excellent trim with the exception of a few dents in it. Can I remove these dented trim pieces, pound out the dents carefully and reinstall them or will this be less than satisfactory? The tail lights, trunk stop light, trunk latch and license plate light assembly, and the hood ornament and hood front decoration all are pitted leading me the think they are pot metal that was chromed. The options for these would be sanding filling and rechroming or replacement with better ones. Seeing recently what rechroming costs, I think I should be looking for replacements. Also I'm wondering what the availability of clips is for reinstalling any trim that I remove. Comments?

[Plymouthy Adams]

except for the medailion, hood ornament, thrid light and stop bezels, windshield divider and door handles..you are stainless...yes these can be removed and gently bumped into shape, filed and sanded as needed and polished to a high lustre..it is time consuming and you need some smooth tools to bump with that have no sharp edges anywhere to dink the stainless further..

[michael.warshaw]

all the trim vcan be buffed to a chrome like finish or you can simply buy new trim, dent free. its cheapr to go about it this way. if yiou need any trim private message me or email me mwarsh1@gmail.com

[47heaven]

Larry....unless you have experience in stainless steel repair and polishing, I suggest you leave it to those who do, if you want professional results. Just my take. Also, be careful with those clips that are attached to the interior trim because they are only meant to be bent back and forth so many times before they will break off, which I have found from experience.

Edited May 26, 2012 by 47heaven

[BobT-47P15]

I asked a local fellow who said he could take some dings and a foot long

scratch out of my rear quarter stainless on the convertible.....how much

will you charge me? He said it would take him a while and so it would be

about $150 to $175. So I said, "thanks" and kept my trim in my hand.

Will replace it with another piece in better condition.

[yourpc48]

I asked a local fellow who said he could take some dings and a foot long

scratch out of my rear quarter stainless on the convertible.....how much

will you charge me? He said it would take him a while and so it would be

about $150 to $175. So I said, "thanks" and kept my trim in my hand.

Will replace it with another piece in better condition.

Just a note here. I have polished stainless and last summer did my grill before installing it. I had well over 12 hours into all the parts that make up the stainless from headlight to headlight. I did not do the side fender trim. So yes if you do a nice job it can take a lot of time to do right. I dont have the better equipment that the big shops have. That would speed things up a bit but it is still a time consuming process. If you can find a piece that is nice and ready to go I would get it. The problem you might find is that once you get a different part on there you can find a difference in lustre due to the fact that the part did not go through all the wear and weather the other parts on your car have. Often you will find that you end up getting the other stainless polished after the fact unless your parts are super nice already.

Just a thought.

[Plymouthy Adams]

as stated by sme..it is very time consuming..if you are a tinker and have time on your hand and enjoy the work and such..go for it, spend your cash on things that are say out of your skill level or above your shop/tool inventory. doing it yourself is the most rewarding part of these old cars in my opinion..

[47heaven]

as stated by sme..it is very time consuming..if you are a tinker and have time on your hand and enjoy the work and such..go for it, spend your cash on things that are say out of your skill level or above your shop/tool inventory. doing it yourself is the most rewarding part of these old cars in my opinion..

Yes, but sometimes doing it yourself, when you don't have the experience, can make you later wish that you had taken it to a professional or to someone who had better knowledge, especially when you've added more damage than what was there originally. Also, having to replace parts that you've "attempted" on your own can become more costly to replace than just having it done by the more experienced person, and replacement stainless isn't actually falling off of trees. Another thing, not all of us are "miracle workers" nor do we have the proper tools, working space or knowledge to work with stainless. Fortunately, I have a friend who polishes and works with metals of all kinds, so I didn't have to shell out that much cash all.

[Plymouthy Adams]

somehow you reply gives me the mental image of the gorilla snd the Samsonite suitcase..

[47heaven]

somehow you reply gives me the mental image of the gorilla snd the Samsonite suitcase..

[Niel Hoback]

Have you been peeking into my garage? I bet I can fire a piece of trim across the garage without hitting too much valuable stuff on the way.

[Plymouthy Adams]

all I am saying..pick up a piece, lend your hand at it..if you don't have a knack..send it out..but at least try a bit..90% of the time there is that piece that will need replaced as it is..play with that..see if you can work any magic..I am not professional grade but I have fun and I am happy..the more you do the better you will get..I do not have any special bought tools..just a couple anvils of different shapes and a few tappers..sometimes this alone is very relaxing..

[Don Coatney]

Can I remove these dented trim pieces, pound out the dents carefully and reinstall them or will this be less than satisfactory? . Comments?

Satisfactory to Whom? What is your objective?

[BobT-47P15]

One time, I bought a box of used stainless trim on ebay for about

$25. It had scratches and dings in it, as well as overspray from a

paint job. The point was, it was good for a lot of practice time and

if I damaged it further, then no big loss. Did not find that box of

stuff after the tornado. And, I had not practiced much with it yet.

[Young Ed]

I bought a buffer and stand from harbor freight and spent an hour or so with a guy in our club who had done all the trim for his 55 belvedere convertible. I was able to make all the pieces of my grill shine quite nicely. I only had a few minor dings and I was able to get them tapped out to almost perfect. If you look close they are still there but with everything installed and shiny one just sees the bigger picture.

[yourpc48]

I bought a buffer and stand from harbor freight and spent an hour or so with a guy in our club who had done all the trim for his 55 belvedere convertible. I was able to make all the pieces of my grill shine quite nicely. I only had a few minor dings and I was able to get them tapped out to almost perfect. If you look close they are still there but with everything installed and shiny one just sees the bigger picture.

My grille mentioned in an earlier post still has some minor imperfections as well as a couple of new ones but like stated above, its so dang bright when its fully polished to mirror finish that you cant stand to look at it long enough to see them. You could go blind its so bright in the sun.

[47heaven]

My grille mentioned in an earlier post still has some minor imperfections as well as a couple of new ones but like stated above, its so dang bright when its fully polished to mirror finish that you cant stand to look at it long enough to see them. You could go blind its so bright in the sun.

Mine was polished so bright that people actually thought it was chrome. The polisher I know does it all the old-fashioned way and is a miracle worker when it comes to straightening and smoothing out dents in stainless and chrome. The option is yours...you can do it yourself or have a experienced person do it. It just depends how nice you want it to look.

[Don Coatney]

when it comes to straightening and smoothing out dents in stainless and chrome.

Stanless I understand. How does he do Chrome?

[47heaven]

Stanless I understand. How does he do Chrome?

He had his brother do that, who has a chrome shop. My guy just prepped everything that needed chroming.