[3tas4me]

Originally Posted by keith k

In my experience, most if not all of the early '70 cars had the black bezels (no chrome), so if your car is an early one I'm not surprised they're black. Sometime in the middle of the model year they switched to the chrome, then back to black sometime after the start of the '71 model year.

You can chrome the black plastic ones, then very carefully paint back the black plastic inner bezel area.

Anybody know when the changeover from black to chrome was? My '70 was built third week of Feb, 1970 and still has the square stamping in the door jambs.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by 3tas4me

Anybody know when the changeover from black to chrome was? My '70 was built third week of Feb, 1970 and still has the square stamping in the door jambs.

As best I can tell after looking through all of my notes/pictures on '70 T/As, Norwood cars started getting the chrome rings beginning around 03D body dates, and Van Nuys cars were later -- seems like around 05C-ish for those. So I would expect a February 1970 car to have the black rings regardless of which plant it came from.

Originally Posted by FunctionalShaker

But here's an early, said to be unrestored original, car with both! I've also noticed that non A/C cars can have the bezel bird in two different locations as well.

Interestingly, the car built ~10 units ahead of the one you posted the picture of (both are Van Nuys car in the L1030XX range) was built exactly the same way. Picture of it is below. They are the only ones I've ever seen that way. Too much of a coincidence for them not to have been built that way. It's anybody's guess why....