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The sill moulding is by far the biggest rust trap of all of them and undoubtedly responsible for the early demise of many a Sprint sill. The only reason my car still carries them is because the shell was Ziebarted from new and is still on it's original unwelded sills. Welding up the clip holes, which I originally intended to do, would burn the Ziebart off and actually render the so far solid sills MORE liable to attack from the tinworms. So I sealed the clips in carefully and kept the moulding!
The sill moulding is closely followed by the "sacrificial" aluminium/black plastic rubbing strips fitted just below the lower swage line on post 76 cars (Toledos didn't have this one either) I have deliberately and happily dispensed with these on my own 78 car. Though the first supermarket trolley dent may give me pause for thought!
The stainless moulding below the window line doesn't seem to cause anything like the damage of the other 2, of many cars I have stripped for paint or repair, it's extremely unlikely to find any corrosion around the clip holes for this upper waistline moulding. I think you may safely keep these!
Steve
I am similarly glad that I don't have superfluous trim on the gutter rail and the B-pillar, which after the deteriorating, peeling, textured, black vinyl, was removed from the roof and the rear-quarter C-pillar, I painted with
hammered-finish, Finnigans' black Hammerite paint, which looks so much better and complements the car's unique appearance.
Ideally, when I replace the ageing front windscreen seal, I can somewhere find a substitute seal which lacks a groove for the chromium-plated plastic-trim insert, which was always more trouble than it was worth.
I'm so glad the rear window seal is a plain one which lacks a groove for the chromium-plated plastic-trim insert!
A few decades ago (probably the early-1980s, but I forget exactly when), I removed
ALL of the Toledo's stainless-steel brightwork (it's all still up in the loft somewhere; assuming my father didn't throw it out during one of his unannounced clear-outs!), because of the rust that was forming around the mounting clips. Rust was also forming around the mounting holes for the driver's door-mounted TEX mirror. The worst area for rust, was around the push-on metal spring-clips, which held the < - section trim around the rear window and the upper, rear edge of the boot lid and adjacent rear lights area.
My father had an ex-demonstrator, 1977 Honda Civic 1500 Automatic (with dealership-fitted,
12 inch Cosmic alloy wheels), which had been
Ziebart treated. Before it was three years old, there was a massive area of bubbling rust on the offside front wing, which became a large hole when I attempted to scrape off the rust with a screwdriver!
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering, for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
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Upgraded 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 (Toledo / Dolomite HL / Sprint hybrid)
Onetime member + magazine editor & technical editor of Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club