55/56 Ford station wagon Belt line molding replacement

[steve fritz]

Has anybody had any experience in replacing the belt line moldings on the 55/56 Fords? Can the original clips be replaced by t-bolt style clips? That is with a stud and nut , rather than the original style press in spade type?
Are the original clips even available to buy?
The "belt line" moldings would be those at the very top of the side sheet metal, and top of the doors , running all the way around the car.
Thanks for any input from those who have done this in the past.
Steve

[paul2748]

Change

[steve fritz]

paul2748.....change to T bolts ?
Steve

[paul2748]

No - poor choice of a word - I thought you were talking about the side molding, not the belt. Answered as if the side molding when I realized that I was wrong and just erased my answer using that word.


Based on my 54 Ford, I don't think the T bolt will work, but then I never tried it.

Originally Posted by steve fritz

paul2748.....change to T bolts ?
Steve

[steve fritz]

Anybody else replace the BELT mouldings on a 54-56 Ford ? Were you able to use T-bolt style clips? Any experience to share would be helpful.
Thanks!
Steve

[56sedandelivery]

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Confused. I googled belt line molding and it came back with links to side molding. I am having a time visualizing what you are referring to.

[Daves55Sedan]

The '55 Ford full size sedans and wagons all had belt moulding around the base of the top (at bottom of windows). T-bolts will NOT work. They require a special clip that has a bend at to top and installed from the exterior using a pair of channel-locks.
I just looked at Mac's, Dennis Carpenter and Obsolete & Classic Auto Parts catalogs and they no longer sell the belt moulding clips. Concours Parts used to sell them but I don't have their catalog anymore.
Back in the '90's, there used to be a couple of big vendors that sold just about any piece of trim for any make and year car, but they may be gone now.
I still have a few new and good used belt moulding clips in my arsenal here, but they wouldn't get you very far.
For the door trim pieces at the front and back end, I manufactured my own because they are different than the ones in the middle. They worked out quite well. Those use a pan-head machine screw, so I went and got stainless-steel ones of thread and length to match original. Drilled a small hole and punched it out, then tapped it with a die tap.
As a last resort, you might want to get a Hemmings Motor news issue and look through it for some of this stuff.
None of the '56 sedans had belt moulding, but I think some of the wagon models did.

[poolplayer1]

Classicautoparts.com has clips that are listed as side molding clips for 55/56.The OEM part # is B6A-21066-70A and their part # is P21-41025-002. I think this are clips that you are looking for.If not,they have other clips for side moldings. Hope thiis helps you.

[frank long island]

try restoration hardware