1941 fender spears and other trim

[andynjoy99]

Are there supposed to be any rubber or padding between the fender spears and the body? dont want to scratch up the paint but didn't see anything specific for them from steele. Also what about the big chrome piece that goes in front on the lower part of the hood. Seems like there should be something between the piece and the paint.  Thanks

[Andrew Armitage]

There wasn't on mine for either of the pieces your referring to and I don't recall ever seeing any on any other '41s that I've seen.  Just chrome against paint.

[andynjoy99]

Last night I did notice some cut to fit rubber that is 1/16 that steele sales. Has anyone used that?

[kkarrer]

Andy,
      I didn't put anything between my spears and the fenders when I installed those pieces on my 41 and in looking at other 41's I've never seen anything there.  As long as your spears are smooth on the underside I don't see any advantage to putting something there.  Also there was no gasket between the chrome lip that goes on the underside of the leading edge of the hood on my car and I didn't make one.  What I think you do want to be careful about is being sure that your clear coat has "cured" before you install any attachments.  If you're using one of the more expensive high solids clears they tend to set up a bit faster and harder than some of the less expensive Nason clears, but either way you want to err on the side of more time rather than less. Lower temps really do have an impact on the curing times of glazes, paints, and clear coats.
Ken Karrer 1941 6227D coupe

[Doug Houston]

I've taken quite a few '41 Cadillacs apart over the 56 years I've had them, and there has never been gasketing between paint and moldings. As mentoned previously, let new paint harden before installing trimming items.

Lemme say here, about the fender spears on all '41 Cadillacs, except the 60S.  On the last one I had painted, I bought a set of the spears from McVey's for it (The convertible coupe). The original ones from production could never have been better than McVey's. They are magnificent, and fitted the holes perfectly. My painter should have put the black paint in the grooves, but must have forgotten, so I'll have to do it on some nice summer day.  The set was 700 bucks, and I seriously doubt if the originals could ever be stripped and replated for that price......and come out so perfectly.

I plan on getting 2 more sets for the other two series 62 cars.