70 RR Guys, What Do You Make Of This?

[cosgig]

Howdy people, I’m working on my 70 Roadrunner, and I got a nice clean eyebrow moulding in a batch of parts, so I thought I would replace the pitted up on on the passenger side. Until I saw this, that is!.....

seems there is a rivet, where no hole exists in the replacement piece. This rivet passes through the fender lip, so I would have to drill it out to change the piece. Funny that I thought for a minute that it was drilled in by the original owner for some reason, but there is also one on the drivers side. Same place. I’m doubting that the original owner ever had the grille out, there seems to be no evidence of that, so my question to you all now is...

What the heck is going on? Is there a different moulding for Satellite, GTX and Belvedere that is not the same as RR that has a hole there? I’m confused, and now will probably just leave the pitted one one, it kinda belongs there anyway, but of course I can’t leave well enough alone! What do you say?? Any input is appreciated!

 

[HawkRod]

My 70 Road Runner simply had a screw that lines up with the slot. I haven't ever seen a rivet there (although I can't say I've dug into lots of 70 Road Runners before...)

 

[Hemirunner]

You can see the hole where the original screw was and it lines up with the slot. Someone has added the rivets for whatever reason.

 

[cosgig]

Word on the street is that it’s factory, and has shown up on a number of cars. I believe it to be a solution to either the trim piece not being secure enough with the slotted screw holes, or some other reason. There are more examples given to me with the rivet in place, including another survivor GTX. I’m leaving the trim in place and moving on!

 

[Joske2]

Mine is with screws only, no rivets.

 

[Photon440]

Mine has the rivet as well, however unlike your first picture my car trim wasn't riveted in place, rather the slot in the trim slid around the rivet for alignment. I can't say it's factory original, but it has been that way since I got the car in 1977. My car was built at Lynch Road.

 

[QuickBpBp]

They were riveted in from the factory not screwed on. The rivet had a large round head....

 

[Chargerjase]

Why not just drill the rivet out and replace the pitted trim for new? Then replace the rivet?

 

[cosgig]

Why not just drill the rivet out and replace the pitted trim for new? Then replace the rivet?

A big part of it to me is to keep it as original as possible, and I would need to drill the new piece and find the rivet. It’s not that big of a deal really, I was just surprised to see something not removable to change this out!

 

[QuickBpBp]

A big part of it to me is to keep it as original as possible, and I would need to drill the new piece and find the rivet. It’s not that big of a deal really, I was just surprised to see something not removable to change this out!

If you mean keeping what was on it when you got it, Understood. If you mean Factory original that is not how they were installed...

 

[cosgig]

If you mean keeping what was on it when you got it, Understood. If you mean Factory original that is not how they were installed...

My goal is to keep it as close to the way it came as possible. I’ll ask the original owner, and I know he’ll tell me he never had the grille apart. Here is a picture of a broken fin in the center of the grille, and I asked him about it and he told me the story...

He was pulling into his friends house and his friend was backing out his fishing boat. He couldn’t stop in time and his friend didn’t see him. The prop of the motor broke out one tooth, dented the hood moulding and broke the emblem. When I got the car, the emblem was still broken, the dent is still there, and he had not fixed the missing fin. It was his daily driver up u til 1976, when he put it into the garage and never drove it again. I’m doubting he did the rivet, but I’ll ask him.