Was lucky enough to find some side molding pieces to replace the cracked and broken ones, Is their any way to rejuvinat them so they wont crack so easy before I install them.

Steven M

 

Rejuvenate I doubt any will do that.

These are about the best you can get http://www.303products.com/shop303/i...d-detailer.cfm and this http://www.303products.com/shop303/i...protectant.cfm

 

If there is an area they commonly break you could always reinforce that area from behind so they might be less prone to breaking in the future.

That hard ABS plastic gets brittle with age.

 

Old is old. Man, this stuff is 20 plus years old. And if it WERE ABS it would probably be in BETTER condition. I bought N.O.S. interior trim for a Diplomat (don't ask!) COP car I was restoring, I bought this stuff in 1993 and stored it. It is now "crispy". Granted, it was stored in a dry, hot (in the summer, but not in the Sun) place, but it has still "decomposed" I have boxes of trim for the inside of these trucks, and it is all warped, and cracked around the screw holes. So, the problem is that most N.O.S. parts will now split when installed.
As far as locating "perfect" parts that are not warped, or will split upon assembly, good luck!

It is just the nature of these parts. Thin, hard plastic parts that have not become warped and brittle? Good luck. (perhaps in the rust belt, however, most of those trucks were lost long ago!)


No one will ever reproduce these parts as there is no demand. Almost all the first gen trucks left are Cummins powered, and that was a low production number, at best.

I gave up trying to come up with enough good parts to do my Crew Cab (which requires modified rear parts) in ANY color.

I think I am going to use a custom trim edge for the edges of my headliner (A standard cab front panel mated to a Club Cab rear portion)

Sorry to sound like such a downer, but I have been picking these parts up for years, and most are just unuseable.

 

Thunderhog, Can you share some pics of the trim you are creating for your crewcab. I'm in the process of a ctd crew conversion and am curious as to your interior progress and ideas. Thanx, Ron

 

"Progress" would be nice! I have been talking with a local upholstery shop about is a a "finishing edge" for the OEM "fiber" headliners. Basically what I intend to do is put a std cab front one and a club cab rear one together to make a one piece headliner (remembering that it has to fit through the door opening) plus the headliner has to be held up with something. Sooooo... the consensus has been to make a strip, about an inch and a half wide, that fits into a channel that is screwed to the inner roof panel. This is where I have a problem. I REALLY don't want to drill holes in my pristine cab. I KNOW I would have to drill for the factory parts, but at least it would LOOK factory!
That said, I know some Dynamat, and a headliner would be a HUGE improvement, (it was on my 71 Crew cab) however, if I am going to "hack" my baby, I want it to look seamless. So far EVERYTHING I have been shown looks like crude, cheap, motorhome crap.
I may just buy a roof section from a Crew and use it as a mold to cast up something that looks "factory" I think there were 2 reasons Dodge never made a factory headliner fort Crews, 1, 90% were sold to the Government, and you 2, cannot get a 1 piece headliner to fit through the door. So, that means a 2 piece headliner with a seam side to side behind the driver seat (more holes). NOW I realize I have a Crew Cab, and most do not, soooooo, the Factory stuff will work, IF you can find good ones. Go out and look at Van conversions, this is basically all that can be done.

 

In short, No, not really. You can use some epoxy or w/e to help shore up the mounting areas, that's probably about it.




1) How about using an adhesive for mounting the channel to the inner roof or something for the channel to be screwed into? (thereby NOT causing irreversible damage to the cab.)

2) As for making the side to side split look factory, I know in Ram Chargers, they used a trim strip between the front and rear sections. Like stainless / chrome with an interior color matched insert. That could be a nice part to hunt down. hmmm... it might even fit

 

I got a set of new old moldings. My thoughts are to put a layer of fiberglass matting and resin on the back to reinforce everything. I think that would be a good fix...but even if it still cracks from the front side, it won't crack all the way through or come apart!

 

2) As for making the side to side split look factory, I know in Ram Chargers, they used a trim strip between the front and rear sections. Like stainless / chrome with an interior color matched insert. That could be a nice part to hunt down. hmmm... it might even fit [/QUOTE]

That is the FIRST thing i thioght of, however, the Ramcharger narrows down at just the wrong place. We have self service wrecking yards out here and the stuff is CHEAP! so I just buy it and if it doesent work, into storage it goes!
I didnt even buy the Rammy stuff as it was painfully obvious it would not work (however, I did buy the fuel tank and hacked off the rear frame for an aux tank!)

I dont mind drilling the holes, if I know I will be happy with the results! I have found some gray adhesive sound deadner (like Dynamat) My cab is gray, and Burgundy cloth so I might just stick it to the inner cab and finish it with an adhesive trim molding. I just put shoulder harnesses (factory fronts) in the rear and now the Mrs wants it quieter. (She just cannot accept it will NOT be as quiet as her new POS.)
I am a bit **** about the truck as my friend bought it brand new (ordered it special) and we all thought he would be buried in it. So I really dont want to hack it much. I thougt he was gonna puke when I showed up with a Diesel in it. Until I took him for a ride. He is now a believer (He bought a 2011 Ram Diesel) However, his mileage SUCKS!!!! Mine is great!

 

I have some pieces on my interior that have cracked and broke and I've decided to see what I can do with some fiberglass. Worst case I have to find replacement parts, best case it looks like new again and will be stronger than anything Dodge ever put in them. Thinking about maybe even making some door panel pockets (with cup holders) and a 3 pillar pod. I'll start a new thread should I ever break out the fiberglass.

 

I just took mine out head liner and all. now it looks like a 1970s truck. Really though it doesn't look bad at all.

 

Probably a lot louder though isn't it? I just put my headliner back in last week and noticed it's much quieter now. I like the bare look, but the acoustics are unbearable for me.

 

I know nothing regarding the subject of 3D printers, so I probably shouldn't be chiming in -- but is using a 3D printer to reproduce a long skinny strip of plastic molding a realistic possibility?

 

I've used epoxy on the back sides for reinforcing and repairing small cracks. It's worked very well. Also made pieces for the side of a crew cab with club cab front and reg cab rear corners

 

I think it most certainly is. I was listing to a tech program one night and they were talking about how you can take pictures with your phone of an item, with a certain APP, some measurements, and it will convert it to the 3D printer programing. Friggin amazing!!

I'll talk to a friend of mine who works for a big commercial fiberglass shop. They have a big 3D printer. Maybe he can have a trim piece scanned and reproduced for me?