70 'Cuda grill trim

[CudaSixBarrel]

Hello. I am restoring a 1970 'Cuda. I removed the trim from the grill so the grill could be painted. The bottom piece does not slope downward as it should, making the alignment with the headlight bezel trim ugly. I have seen this on other 70 'Cudas. My questions:
Is there a top and bottom trim piece, or are the identical?
Is there a right side up for each trim? Both ends seem identical.
What the secret? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[heminut]

It's always been my understanding that the top and bottom trim pieces were the same.

 

[1972 AAR Cuda]

Is it the same on both sides?
Just wondering if the headlight trim could be swapped side to side...

 

[CudaSixBarrel]

I tried swapping sides left to right, no improvement. There has to be a trick to this.

 

[Xcudame]

Looking at your photos I see a gap in the grill that is tight and gets larger towards the molding edge. That suggests it's not aligning properly and is the cause of your trim molding gap.

 

[1972 AAR Cuda]

I tried swapping sides left to right, no improvement. There has to be a trick to this.

The grill center portion has adjustment front and back- correct? It looks like the grill (or headlight bezel?) is sitting to far forward - is there more adjustment available to place the two in alignment with each other?
(Looks like XCudame has the same thought -lol. Pushed enter and saw his reply)

 

[heminut]

Have you tried flipping the trim piece end for end to see if it fits any better?

 

[Xcudame]

It could be the entire front of the driver's fender needs to be rotated clockwise when you are looking from the front.

 

[CudaSixBarrel]

I will try flipping the trim tonight. I do believe the top and bottom pieces are the same. The trim does not seem to have a right side up either. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[EW1BH27]

Mine's similar but not as bad. I think my issue is in the fender. When comparing that headlight bezel to the right side one, that left ones looks more recessed on the edge.

 

[Big Wayne]

That bezel trim should snugly fit over the grill trim. I took a small screwdriver and had to slightly open the bezel trim to get a perfect fit. I can take a photo if you’d like. Also, for sure there is a left and right bezel trim piece. Your photo looks like yours might have a poor fit? The edges and curves should be spot on. If it’s the wrong side, it’s upside down and that would explain how far off that joint is. Last thing. The mounting hardware is tricky and can help line up the bezel to grill joint. I just struggled with this and learned a lot.

 

[CudaSixBarrel]

I guess I was not clear. This post was about the bottom, center trim piece angling up toward the ceiling. In the photo I was not done aligning the headlight trim, so that is not a problem. Sorry if I was unclear. Anyway, so I figured out this trim problem, and hopefully this helps someone out in the future.

At first glance, the top and bottom trim pieces for the center of a 1970 ‘Cuda grill appear to be identical, but they are not. Thankfully, I had an original AAR grill to study. If you look closely at the ends of the trim, one is perfectly “U” shaped, and that is the TOP piece, and does not have a right side up/right side down.

Now, if you look closely at the end of the bottom piece of trim, it is slightly “J” shaped. The long leg of the “J” is the TOP of the bottom trim. This allows the bottom trim to lie at the same angle as the grill surface, and not stick up toward the ceiling. So, my bottom piece of trim was upside down.

 

[EW1BH27]

Thanks for clearing that up.