Body Chrome removal.

[OUTFXD]

Looking to Remove the Body chrome for Paint prep (1946 Plymouth  2 door). Specifically I am trying to figure out how to remove the Beltline chrome from Fenders and doors,  The rocker panel chrome.  and the long strip down the middle of the hood.  To be clear,  I am planning to put all the chrome back on so I am looking to remove  it with as little damage as possible.

 

I figure somewhere on the forum this is discussed,  but I havent found it.

 

If someone could point me in the proper direction I would appreciate it!

[Bryan]

D24 Dodge: My fenders have bolts along the inside under the chrome.  The hood middle strip pulls out the back after you take bolts on each end off. You have to take the hood off first.  The rocker chrome had two bolts up front from the inside of the fender. The rest of the rock chrome I had to pry gently from the bottom with a plastic knife, and pry it upwards. Look at my build pictures.

[bartenderfloyd]

On my 50, the front and rear fender moulding and the rocker and rock guards all unscrewed from the inside.  Almost all of my fasteners broke even though I soaked them in penetrating oil.  I think the chrome around the windows is pushed in with clips but I didn't remove it for painting.  My hood strip must be glued or something because it just didn't come off and there is nothing to unscrew.

[bartenderfloyd]

9 minutes ago, Bryan said:

D24 Dodge: My fenders have bolts along the inside under the chrome.  The hood middle strip pulls out the back after you take bolts on each end off. You have to take the hood off first.  The rocker chrome had two bolts up front from the inside of the fender. The rest of the rock chrome I had to pry gently from the bottom with a plastic knife, and pry it upwards. Look at my build pictures.

So the hood has to come off to get that moulding?!?  Yikes!

[Andydodge]

Us Dodge guys always look to make things a little more difficult..........lol........on my Oz 1940 Dodge which uses the US 1940 Plymouth 2 piece side opening hood which is what Bryan said regarding the hood removal to get that centre strip off is correct as my car(1940 Plymouth Hood) and his car both use the side opening hood.............BUT as your 1946-48 plymouth uses the front opening or "alligator" style opening hood then I'd suggest that there is probably a few nuts to undo under the hood along the centre  and that should undo the centre molding................the hood should not need to be removed.........I think........I'm only guessing here as I have only my car, which does require the hood removal and also being the ex owner of a 1941 Plymouth which used the same style of hood up to at least 1948...........from my experience over the past 50 yrs of ownership of my car and 8 yrs ownership of the 1941 Plymouth all the moldings are generally held at either end by a small bracket that uses a bolt & nut underneath to keep the ends from springing out away from the body but the rest of the molding, ie along its length and in the centre of it is usually just held with a spring clip...........if you intend to repaint the car then a small paint scraper can be used to gently "lever" the moldings away from the body after indentifying where they are located ........but all cars are different, your best bet is to take it easy when doing this, maybe spray some WD40 or similar where each bolt/nut/spring clip is located and take your time......also those spring clips that are found where you have access to the back of the panel can sometime be "helped" by a light tap to help "push" them out or come loose...........but gentleness and nice thoughts are the key...........lol............andyd 

[Andydodge]

Sometimes if the hood is pressed from 2 pieces but spot welded together and is the "alligator" style when a centre strip or molding is used the companies will leave small gaps in between the two spotwelded centre edges that allow a small clip to push down from the molding where its locked into..........once the clips tang is thru the gap between the hood pieces its then twisted enough to "lock" itself and the molding against the hood.........no bolt, or nut is used...........I don't know if this setup was ever used on Mopars but it is a common feature of various makes over the years, especially GM................andyd  

[Bryan]

2 hours ago, bartenderfloyd said:

So the hood has to come off to get that moulding?!?  Yikes!

On mine it does..just giving a suggestion. Don't know what yours looks like. On my Dodge it wasn't obvious.  ?

[allbizz49]

Pulling a hood isn't that difficult.  If you're stripping it for paint. Take your time and look carefully for nuts on the backside of panels. I usually remove the fenders, front and rear, then remove the trim. They have to come off anyways. 

[Dan Hiebert]

Beltline trim - push down on the top while pulling, or prying, out on the bottom.  There are several clips per panel.  Fender spears are bolted on from the back.  Rocker trim has bolts at the front and rear fenders.  It's clipped on like the beltline trim along the rockers.  On D24s, the beltline trim carries over to the lower outside edge of the hood, and is bolted on.  I'm drawing a blank right now whether or not P15s have that hood trim, too.  The center trim on the P15s I don't know about.