84 GMC K-1500 undergoing complete restoration - side trim kit question

[rainman15]

Well my body man finally got started last week, so far about 2 months behind schedule. During the initial disassembly he found previously unknown rust issues under the cowl so I had to go back to the vendor for another round of parts ordering.  So far in sheet metal and trim alone I have over $2500 in this project, not counting the $2k in repair shop bills on things I had to get right in the drivetrain before it went to the painter.  This thing has already been a total money pit, but considering the history of the truck I still think its worth it!

Anyway, my question is has anyone used the pre-cut side trim kits from competitor?  If so is that long piece in the top of the illustration for the center of the tailgate?  From the picture it looks like that piece but the guy at competitor couldn't answer that question and my body guy needs to know if I'm going to delete that rear portion of the molding or keep it.

[Swims350]

yea it's tailgate, guy should look closer it's common sense if he knew anything about a truck. The front shorts go on the fender behind the tire, then the door, cab corner really little pieces for the corners, then front of bed in front of tires, then rear bed behind tires.

Only problem I see if do you have to bend the back corners yourself and hope it stays or do you reuse the stock corners on back of the bed? They had bolts or clips that hold them on and are metal and prebent to the contour of the back corner.

[rainman15]

I think you are right. The corners under the brake lights are metal and I didn't want to order them unless I knew for sure that I'd have the tailgate piece in this kit, and I couldn't find a part # for the tailgate section.  I'm going to order those corner pieces too now that I know the tailgate section is included in the kit.