Wheel well trim for 70 Cuda

[B5fourspeed]

My Yearone reproduction wheel well trim for my 70 Cuda was so bad I returned them.What company offers a good fitting trim for the wheel wells?Thanks

[anlauto]

I like the ones from Dales Cuda shop.....no idea where to get them now, maybe from David at Roseville....

[Shane Kelley]

I haven't found any that fit nice including Dales.  The issue is that lower body line and the bend not being sharp enough on the molding. It wants to dig into the paint right on that line. The rest can be worked into place if you take your time. You can make the bend sharper using a metal shrinker on the inside flat. The other issue is that none of the different brands have the holes in the same place. So if you already have holes drilled the new ones won't line up. Frustrating for sure since they look really nice on the car.

[anlauto]

Even NOS originals don't fit worth a dam...

[Jim AAR]

Even NOS original don't fit worth a dam...

I bought NOS ones before they were discontinued in the early 80's and they still had to be manipulated to get a perfect fit....

[B5fourspeed]

The ones I bought 10 years ago for my last Cuda fit nice for being repros.I can't remember where I got then from.The trim from  yearone is 4 inches off the fender at the break on the lower body line on both sides.I think one of the problems is people are not sending stuff made like this back.If you don't send it back the vendor thinks everything is cool with them.I sent mine back because he said he would test fit it on a car.I refuse to slice the trim to made it fit.Has anyone tried the one's made by OER.Summit and Classic Industries sells this brand.I don't mind manipulating a little to make them fit but these were way off.

[Shane Kelley]

OER's suck just like the others. The reason they don't make them nice is because they don't care on the manufacturing end of it. The vendors care but really don't have much influence.
They make lots of things that are decent but just about everything needs some sort of manipulation. I look at it this way. At least somebody is making the stuff. Think about what it would be like without them. NOS stuff is higher than hell already. Imagine what it would be without any other option. A lot of these cars are missing lots of stuff so there not even a option of restoring existing parts for most people. 

[realn96]

I have 3 nos wheel moldings and was looking for the fourth for a long time until I gave up and bought the last one I needed from Classic Industries. Like other have mentioned,they took some work to get them to fit right. To be honest the repo one I put on wasn't any harder to  install then the other three nos. You have to clamp it as you go to get them to fit " right"..  the repo didn't have the holes like shane mentioned, but I was able to scribe the marks from the inside fender well. I was actually expecting the nos to fit better and the repo to fit worse. At the end of the day I was happy enough. I should mention that the repo molding went on an original oem fender not a repo fender.nos went on repo quarter panels and 1 oem fender.

[Claudia]

My Yearone reproduction wheel well trim for my 70 Cuda was so bad I returned them.What company offers a good fitting trim for the wheel wells?Thanks

I agree with most of the comments here on this one.  I bought a set of reproduction wheel well trim (I don't remember who's).  Not one of the trim pieces fit even close.  Modifications were needed on all four pieces.  I actually ended up having to cut about an inch of the new wheel well trim off on my rears.  IMO this is one of those things that really make the car look good but it's one of those things that you have to live with because you can never get them perfect.  If you can't live with a little imperfection, I would suggest not putting the trim on at all.

[MoparDave]

Only 2 manufactures that I know of. Metro and DCS.  Metro is still supplying Classic/OER and DCS was/is supplying everyone else.

we have the OER/Metro and they will ALL need massaging to fit to some extent. when it comes down to fitment is it the panel that has issues or is it the molding. since these are extruded aluminum and a big PIA to fit most blame the moldings. When in reality it could be the panel all along. Plus if you did not test fit the moldings prior to body works that's another issue.

unless it is a stamped molding like the B Body or Challengers you will have to work these to make them fit. And most likely with 4 hands and possibly extra screws. 

[B5fourspeed]

Since most people are  saying that the moulding do not fit their car correctly I do not think the panels are the issue.Yes, I did test fit the moulding to new AMD fenders and new AMD quarter panels.I know sometimes you will have to add filler to the panel sometimes to make the moulding fit tight to the wheel well but to have to use 2 or 3 people ,a bunch of clamps, extra screws, cutting off some of the length does not seem right.I guess my point is why should it be a PITA.

[MoparDave]

if these were fitted against an OEM panel then I would say its the molding on fitment.
The PITA factor is the magical question?  these were formed off one panel years ago. they are difficult to manipulate for sure. AMD or any rep panels are not perfect and neither are these moldings.

[Lloyd Lind]

I have restored several cudas for a customer over the last ten years and he wanted moldings on each car that came with them. I found that the trick was to screw them in to place as tight as possible and then take a big dead blow hammer with lots of tape over the head and just beat in in tight to the car, in some places I used a block of wood wrapped in a couple of rags to widen the blows but that was risky so I limited that to the ends only. It worked great and did not dent the moldings at all. In fact, I did one car after the paint was on and it did not even chip the paint. I would suggest though that you put a layer of masking tape on the paint under the molding and mount the molding over the tape until you have fitted it to your fender or quarter and then remove the molding to get the tape off. I did use some of the composite clamps To force the molding in tight for the screws to mount but believe it or not the hammer would move the moldings in tight in a very satisfying way as I went along them and they looked like they were o.e.m. when I was done, other than the ends being cut kind of ugly they always looked great.  A warning, the anodizing can crack on the end where you really have to force it to move in a lot but not every time.

[RUNCHARGER]

Good tip LLoyd: You are stretching the molding in to make a tight fit. I'm glad the prefitting thing came up as well. That is a very important step in these old cars.

[nsmall]

@B5fourspeed

Tried OER from classic and gave up.  Im glad I did as I have decided I like the look without them. 

As for the screws, I have a whole set, never used.  PM me your address and if you want them, I will mail them to you for FREE.  I love this site and try to "pay if forward" when I can.  Good luck as I do think they look nice if you can get them on there correctly.