Using old tech to fix new tech

[thatdarncat]

My 1996 Lincoln Mk VIII was missing a piece of trim on the front side marker light since I bought it. The metal trim is attached to the light by a strip of plastic that is inserted into the channel then crimped in place and finally the post is melted to the light body. With age the plastic breaks and the trim falls off. The trim is not serviced separately from Ford but only as a light assembly. I was able to get another trim strip from a southwestern salvage yard, but the problem was how to attach it since it also had broken plastic posts. I considered double sided body tape but the trim has a channel and there is a rubber gasket between it and the light and I was worried it wouldn't get a good contact and stay attached. I found some small metal trim attaching studs at the auto parts store and was able to feed them into the channel. One had to be trimmed slightly and the end one needed all of the flange trimmed off. I then drilled matching holes into the light body and after trimming the end of the studs off with the cutoff wheel I was done. There was enough clearance behind the light that the studs would not contact the body of the car. These type of trim studs were used on our '60's & '70's Fords but the holes in the sheetmetal they required were a great place for rust to start. The nice thing about this repair was the holes were only in the plastic light.

[cammerfe]

Hey 'cat---

Do you ever visit LVC, the Lincoln/Cadillac forum? Lotsa good stuff there!

KS

[thatdarncat]

There was a forum I checked out quite a bit before I bought the car, was very helpfull in issues to watch for - don't remember off hand if that was it. Internet is great for sharing info.