Fill gaps between shaker trim ring and hood?

[miketyler 15]

I'm painting hood and decklid stripes on my 70 Mach 1 today and have a detail question. My shaker trim ring is an original and is a decent fit on the repo hood but does have a few gaps. I don't want to overthink this but what would you guys use there to fill those?

 

The gaps can vary and the largest one might be as much as 1/8". I don't want to permanently bond it to the hood. What do you think about strip caulk? It would need to be paintable but it needs to stay in the cracks and not shrink up. If I cant come up with anything I'm going to remove it and paint under it and paint the ring separately.

 

Your thoughts?

[miketyler 15]

In the interest of time, I decided to wing it with no putty. I finished the stripes up today and I'll try to do some hand forming on the ring to get it to lay down better.

 

Thanks anyway.

[jmlay 80]

Is it the trim ring or the hood? Did you have the brackets bolted to the underside of the hood, I would think they would straiten the hood if it was out of shape? Be VERY cautious if you are trying to bend the trim, as I recall it is pot metal & may not bend without cracking.

[prayers1 153]

Sorry I don't have a direct answer for you. Mine is only secured with the brackets on the underside of the hood. IMO, I don't think any of them had a perfect fit and once you install the trim you would be the only one who would notice it.

 

BTW, nice job on the stripe!

[miketyler 15]

Jmlay - its the ring as it lays on the hood. I have the two stiffeners installed on the bottom side and its still a bit wavy. The trim is a delicate part and can be bent easily. I probably just need to spend a bit more time with it to get the large gaps closed up.

 

Prayers - You may be right. I am my own critic when it comes to the little things. I am just stoked that I am finally finished with the exterior of the car. I hope I made the right choice going with the SEM Hot Rod Black product.

[prayers1 153]

I believe you'll be very happy with the Hot Rod Black, thats what I used on the hood, trunk lid and tail panel. Cleans up nice, even had wax on it when waxing the paint and it came off with no residue. However, I do NOT wax the black, just soap and water.

 

I've been watching your build and your car is looking Great! Next sunny day, grab a few pictures for us.

[mustangstofear 608]

I use the SEM hot rod black and works fine.

[miketyler 15]

Now that its all back together the gaps don't seem to bother me as much as I thought they would. The SEM product looks great. The louvers, rear spoiler, scoop and stripes all look smooth and uniform.

 

I had rebuilt my PS pump but the cheap Gates kit didn't include the main shaft bushing. It was very noisy, leaked, and wasn't doing much work at all. I may as well have had manual steering. I installed a parts store replacement (Cardone 20-6167) and it's very quiet and drives like a new car.

 

With the exception of some fine tuning for the AOD I really consider the car finished. Here are some pics I took today.

[LoneWolf2U 136]

:punk:.... Yours is the first I have seen with the wheelwell trim other than mine. Looking very good, but no eng bay pic?

[mustangstofear 608]

Turned out very nice.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

nice job mike!

[FordRacing 10]

Mike;

 

Really nice, love the stance :)

[RPM 1,190]

Looks very very nice. Love the stance!

 

Bob

[jmlay 80]

Mike,

 

It looks great. Want to paint another one? ;-)

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Looks good Mike.

[prayers1 153]

Looks GREAT! Like the stance.

[det0326 179]

It is a beautiful car, You did a wonderful build. Hope mine turns out this great.

[mustangmike6996 34]

Looks excellent!

 

I have installed a 2003/2004 shaker on the K&N filter which fits inside of it with the filter top. I have some fabricated brackets to the filter base with the hood seal installed. I have the repop trim ring installed and it fits "OK" compared to new car standards but looks like all of factory 69s I have seen.

 

Not much of a help but just make sure you install the brackets to help it maintain a uniform shape.

[miketyler 15]

Thanks guys. My trim ring is an original and just needed some gentle massaging. They are so flimsy. It really doesn't look too bad now. I have decided to rework some things under the hood.

 

My idea on clear powder coating the painted/polished valve covers worked great for the Cuda but not for the Mustang. I had a different shop do the work on the Ford Racing valve covers and after a short time it clouded and started cracking when it got cold. I started stripping the powder coating last weekend and am going to go bare polished with painted inset area.

 

My painted export brace wasn't anywhere near a close match to the engine bay color so I am stripping it and am thinking on leaving it bare chrome. Am undecided for now on this. Will post up pics when its done.