Rear bumper filler bezels on a 1976 Cadillac

[Jeff Moffo]

Good Morning and Happy New Year.

I already know the answer to this...but I thought MAYBE someone might have some ideas.
I own a wonderful, never-been-in-the-rain-snow, 1976 Cadillac in pretty much all original condition EXCEPT the bumper fillers were replaced about 4 years ago by the previous owner.

They replaced the chrome edge molding that ran along the fillers - horizontally and vetically - with the new plastic edging that comes with the new ABD fillers.  I HATE IT, and I am hoping some company would make a reproduction edge that MATCHED the original with its proper angles and flatter, squared-off profile.

Would anyone know a source to get older ones even if they have to be pieced together?  Or maybe would anyone know if a company is working on the proper edge?  It really does make a difference on the rear of the car...especially for us 75 and 76 Cadillac enthusiasts!
Thanks

[Barry]

I have hoped for so long someone would make either an aluminum or stainless steel trim for these. There seems to be no other alternative. The sharp bends can somewhat be achieved by scoring the underside of the plastic trim allowing it to better follow the shape of the filler. Was fortunate enough to use my original plastic trim on the Bicentennial, but will not have that option on the Talisman. I think the market would support a quality reproduction on this ! Barry Norman

[76eldo]

It's hard to make the door edge plastic stuff look correct.
I can't see anyone spending the money to tool up for these either.
The original plastic parts were an extrusion with the notches punched in them. GM probably spent tons of money on the tooling or subbed it out to a 3rd party company.

I have a few NOS trims for Eldo and possibly one for a DeVille that was shipped to me by someone who thought it was an Eldo piece. They are different.

I'm keeping a set for my 76 Eldo but may be willing to part with some of these.

Last set that was sold went for $275.00 which is a lot for what these are. They were probably $30 a pair back when the dealers stocked them.

The other problem is that the fillers are a little different than he original pliable material and its just a huge pain to get these looking right.  Even low mileage originals are not immune to these falling apart and breaking the plastic edge trim in half.

Brian

[Paul Tesone]

 Brian - could you or someone else post a picture of an original filler trim piece ? Is the trim one piece or two that abutt each other at the top ? Thanks , Paul Tesone CLC #6876

[76eldo]

One piece.

I'm snowed in at the moment, ill get to the garage tomorrow.

Brian

[kevinanderson]

I found "chrome" edging at NAPA that was just a bit more narrow than the original strips. I cut out sections of the back side/underside of the chrome stripping and it laid out well. Split  a small length to run up the filler along license plates. I must admit it looks original. BUT, for all the hours I spent sanding and filling in to make it all fit near perfect. Not to mention all of the tiny washers I used to space everything into alignment. And I filled in imperfections in the rub strips with  JB weld(messed up edging-compression dents), wet sanded out and then vinyl spray painted. Turned out really well.

[Jeff Moffo]

Would you have a link to that website's item?