Should I remove my deluxe trim?

Adventurewagen · Post by **Adventurewagen** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:43 am

The trim on my 71 deluxe is in bad shape. I've polished it up over the years, but now that I'm working on the body and cleaning it up and the trim is becoming more of an eyesore at this point. It's bent, scratched and dented. The pieces don't align anymore and the back corner ones are thrashed and held on by visible rusty screws from the outside! all pieces are thrashed except for maybe one or two!

I'm not totally in love with the trim and thought that maybe instead of trying to find an buy a NOS set for 200+ bucks, I could just start removing the pieces and sand the belt line down, bondo the holes and repaint the bus two tone like it once was without the trim and just not worry about it anymore?

Any thoughts or feelings on this?

Post by **Amskeptic** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:02 am

Adventurewagen wrote: Any thoughts or feelings on this?

If it is a bone-stock exterior with the white interior and white above the belt line, I would plan to get the trim at some point. It will only get more expensive. It is a critical aesthetic contribution to the early deluxe bay.
Is too. Well it is, you know.
Colin $\:D/$

Adventurewagen · Post by **Adventurewagen** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:12 am

My bus is anything but stock.

It has large drilled on side mirrors, a huge herpe of a high top on it with a spoiler, I mean solar panel, on top. The front seats are from a later bay (blue/green plaid), the interior is a total custom job from Adventurewagen themselves back in the day.

I'm not worried about keeping it stock, just wondering if I'll be mad when i pull it and cover the holes. maybe I should pull all the trip and see how it looks first, then decide if i want to keep the trim.

DurocShark · Post by **DurocShark** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:16 am

I think it looks outstanding when matched with the window rubber trim and all shiny.

And if you remove it, you have lots of little holes to deal with... Ugh.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:23 am

Adventurewagen wrote: I'm not worried about keeping it stock, just wondering if I'll be mad when i pull it and cover the holes.

If it is the avatar bus, I vote no trim.
Colin

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:24 am

Adventurewagen wrote:My bus is anything but stock. It has large drilled on side mirrors, a huge herpe of a high top on it with a spoiler, I mean solar panel, on top. The front seats are from a later bay (blue/green plaid), the interior is a total custom job from Adventurewagen themselves back in the day.

I'm not worried about keeping it stock, just wondering if I'll be mad when i pull it and cover the holes. maybe I should pull all the trip and see how it looks first, then decide if i want to keep the trim.

less holes=less rust in my book. I could go either way on the trim, it looks nice but not hundreds of $$$ nice...IMHO.

Adventurewagen · Post by **Adventurewagen** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:45 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Adventurewagen wrote: I'm not worried about keeping it stock, just wondering if I'll be mad when i pull it and cover the holes.
If it is the avatar bus, I vote no trim.
Colin

Yes, the avatar is my bus. Here is another picture of it. kind of a funny one from a while ago, but you can see the trim and the funky mirrors and the top and the panel ;) My bus "Bert" is the left of the two images. hehehe

Birdibus · Post by **Birdibus** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:38 am

You are missing the trim around the front grill/vent, but you already knew that.

Adventurewagen · Post by **Adventurewagen** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:43 am

Birdibus wrote:You are missing the trim around the front grill/vent, but you already knew that.

It dissapeared long ago when the bust got the front smashed in. I'm also missing window seal trim on both windows on the drivers side.

tedebare · Post by **tedebare** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:56 pm

Do not bondo the holes. In about a year, the bondo will sink and you will see every hole outlined under the paint. Weld the holes, grind, and sand and your ride will look a lot better, longer.

Adventurewagen · Post by **Adventurewagen** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:26 pm

tedebare wrote:Do not bondo the holes. In about a year, the bondo will sink and you will see every hole outlined under the paint. Weld the holes, grind, and sand and your ride will look a lot better, longer.

I never thought about that. I guess i have seen though where Bondo has changed over the years. Maybe I will just keep the trim for a while until I have a welder and can touch it up the first time the right way.

thanks for the input.

covelo · Post by **covelo** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 3:20 pm

I would keep the trim. I think it looks nice, even if unpolished.

vdubyah73 · Post by **vdubyah73** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:46 pm

Since you already have the screw holes, with rusty screws, and have decided to keep it. Try stainless screws from your local hardware store. They are cheap enough. It will look a little better until you have resources to do it right.

Bill

LiveonJG · Post by **LiveonJG** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:24 pm

My .02, keep it, clean it up as best you can, and replace sections as you can find them. It was a premium item when your bus was new and it looks good too, even in the pic you posted.
-John

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Should I remove my deluxe trim?

Should I remove the deluxe trim, bondo the holes and paint it two tone.

Should I remove my deluxe trim?

Re: Should I remove my deluxe trim?