Re: 55 caribbean on ebay

Posted by BH On 2014/2/28 9:56:17
Quote:
I do have a pair of the chrome-plated trim castings that go from the base of the antennas down to the horizontal trim strip, particular to the Caribbeans.

It should be noted, here, that the design of the LH molding differs between 55 and 56. See Gr. 30.7925 in the parts book; look for the moldings described as "EXTENDS VERTICAL FROM UPPER MLDG TO TOP MLDG" for 5588 and 5697-99 applications.

The 55 molding (P/N 469507) has something of a notch on its leading end that lets you get a finger under the trailing end of the gas door molding (P/N 469508) to open it. For 55, the Carib was the only model where the line of any side molding ran through the gas door.

They reworked the tooling to eliminate that notch from the molding (P/N 6478581) for 56. This was concurrent with the addition of a finger cover to the underside to the gas door molding (P/N 6478202), which was now used on all Senior models - including the Exec.

The RH molding (P/N 469506) is unaffected by all this - hence, same part for both years.

I learned this the hard way when I purchased a nice used LH molding, but didn't notice that little difference until I compared the part to what was on my 56 Carib Hardtop. The part I bought is actually for a 55.

Now, I've never removed those moldings from my 56, but judging from the texture on the reverse of this 55 part and it's relative weight, I'm guessing that the base metal is bronze (as I've found with a few other parts from early production 55 cars). Trim parts that are cast in bronze are much easier to replate; replacements are not likely needed, except for a missing or badly broken part.

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