[hottrodd]

Did the 66-67 vinyl top option car's have any type of metal or plastic trim that went on top of the vinyl on the inside of the drip rail gutter??? I not asking about the outer drip rail trim.
I have a set of nos aluminum/ or possibly s.s. Trim,. That was in a original gm box that was falling apart & mice had chewed up, there was no part # I could find on the remaining box, I did find a piece of tape on the trim stating it was" inner driprail trim/ 66-67 vinyl top Gto".
I have layer it in the , it fits fine, looks like u would lay this trim on top of the vinyl in the driprail, then when u installed the outer driprail trim it locked the inner driprail trim in place?????
Does anyone know or have any documented info on this?
Or anyone have a non-restored 66-67 Gto, lemans, tempest with the original vinyl roof with the original trim , do they have any trim in the inner gutter laying on top of the vinyl trim????
Thanks

[Andre]

I distinctly remember this on my friends low mileage 67 Lemans that he got back in 1980.
It was a beaded piece that was made of plastic. Might have been clear originally, but by then it was starting to shrink and turn white.
It seemed like it was put in last, and was a friction fit with the aluminum drip rail trim.
I don't know what the purpose would have been for. Maybe on vinyl top cars, the aluminum drip rail fitted ont top of the vinyl cause the edge to cut your fingers, so this prevented that? I can't be the only one that remembers this.

[400 4spd.]

You aren't. Mine had the same piece, kind of translucent white.

[Ducks Goat]

My '67 still has small sections of the plastic filler trim on it, it appears to be silver or clear at one time.

[60sstuff]

Originally Posted by Ducks Goat

My '67 still has small sections of the plastic filler trim on it, it appears to be silver or clear at one time.

The 66 Reef Turquoise Survivor with Black Vinyl Top that sold a few months back on ebay (Colin's Classic Automobiles) had a perfect pic of the "Silver" colored plastic strip that pushes down into the gutter run. I have seen these in various conditions on Original Vinyl top cars.

[67 LeMans 326]

I have a friend who has an all original 67 LeMans vinyl top car and his car does in fact have these pieces as well. In fact I too was going to take pics and post them and inquire about this as I had never seen this before...

[oldgoat16]

hottrrod, I also had a 66 that was a factory vinyl roof car and when we stripped the top off that insert was impossible to remove without destroying it, it was made of either stainless or aluminum if i remember correctly, I would say those are rare pieces to find for someone..

[jd66]

my 66 GTO that i bought as a demo in oct. 66 came from the factory with a vinyle top and yes it had the small stainless strips inside the drip edge on the top, my body man re-installed these for me with the new top and paint job, look pretty good but not as good as the original install from the factory, he said they where a bear to install, if you have a car that has these and you want to put on a new top remove the aluminum rails and lightly tap the metal strip on the top outward to release the stainless strips i've removed a couple sets like this in the past. jd grim

[Andre]

So were these stainless, plastic, or both, and what purpose did they serve. I distinctly remembe the plastic ones getting loose and flopping around.

[Ducks Goat]

I think some of you guys are talking about two different things. Vinyl top cars had stainless trim along the driprail just like painted roof cars. Now what the OP was discussing was the plastic trim that filled in between the stainless and the vinyl top material. This was on '67 and earlier models only I think, I believe the '68 up cars had vinyl wrapped over the driprail so the filler wasn't needed. I'll snap a pic of mine and post up.

[Ducks Goat]

See if these help. Sould be a continuous strip, but mine have broken up over the years. I'd love to have a set of these if any of you guys have some to get rid of.

[hottrodd]

Jd 66, you r exactly talking about the pieces I have, they look like the pics " ducks goat" posted, but they are stainless steel, I'll try to post pics of the pieces, I'm not go at posting pics, I'll send them to old goat 67, se if he'll post them for me tonight.
Jd66, in the metal sets you removed & installed, were they glued to the vinyl, or just pressure fit??
Thanks for all the info so far,

[Old Goat 67]

Waiting.....

[Old Goat 67]

My originals were plastic.... long gone, came out in pieces.
Would love to find a source.

Charles

[hottrodd]

Charlie, just put the pics in the dropbox file, I try to get as good of pics that I could, I layed one in the gutter to show what it looked like installed, & a few closeup of the trim

[Old Goat 67]

Here are the pics J sent me.

How this guy keeps coming up with parts I can't possibly find, I just don't know!

Charles

[Jerry H.]

Originally Posted by Old Goat 67

Here are the pics J sent me.

How this guy keeps coming up with parts I can't possibly find, I just don't know!

Charles

Wow, I've never seen any that have come out that well. In my experience, 64 & 65 were the stainless pieces, (like those pictured) and 66 & 67 were the hard plastic. Evidently they were used to hold the vinyl top down in the gutter; to keep it from 'curling' up. Over the years when these vinyl tops were replaced these pieces were just thrown away.

These may have even been discontinued in 68 and newer. I know that I've got a 71 El Camino with the original vinyl top that does NOT have these pieces. (The vinyl top is curling up in the gutter on the drivers side!) Maybe someone with a 68-9 with an original vinyl top will chime in.

[hottrodd]

Thanks Charlie, I didn't press the trim down into the gutter channel, afraid I won't be able to get to out without damaging it, the piece are straight, but very flexible , they easily conform to the driprail shape.
They are 55" long, 1/4" wide.
So what do u guys think?????
Could they have used s.s. In early 66, then switched to plastic?
Or did some plants use s.s trim, others use plastic??
Would really like to know if they are correct ?????

[hottrodd]

Originally Posted by Jerry H.

Wow, I've never seen any that have come out that well. In my experience, 64 & 65 were the stainless pieces, (like those pictured) and 66 & 67 were the hard plastic. Evidently they were used to hold the vinyl top down in the gutter; to keep it from 'curling' up. Over the years when these vinyl tops were replaced these pieces were just thrown away.

These may have even been discontinued in 68 and newer. I know that I've got a 71 El Camino with the original vinyl top that does NOT have these pieces. (The vinyl top is curling up in the gutter on the drivers side!) Maybe someone with a 68-9 with an original vinyl top will chime in.

So you think this trim was actually used in 64-65???
If that is the case, wonder if there was a switch over in 66 or 67 , & they used up remaining s.s. Trim then went to cheaper plastic????

[Jerry H.]

Originally Posted by hottrodd

So you think this trim was actually used in 64-65???
If that is the case, wonder if there was a switch over in 66 or 67 , & they used up remaining s.s. Trim then went to cheaper plastic????

Oh yes. I distinctly remember pulling the stainless trim out of the gutter on a 65 that I restored back in 1981! It took me forever to get it out and I really made a mess of it!

And I would say your theory is a good guess. Or maybe one plant used stainless and others used the hard plastic. I know the one we did a couple of years ago was built in Kansas City IIRC. and it had the hard plastic.