So, if your Jensen Healey is anything like mine you'll notice during the restoration that the stainless trim retaining pieces, be they for the door or for the body, are either missing, broken or worn out. Now all of these pieces are now NLA. So, how do you affix the trim back to the vehicle? Well, you could be like the P.O. of my blue Jensen healey and use double sided tape (which looks like crap IMHO) or you can fabricate new parts.

Here you can see a couple examples of the pieces I'm talking about. From left to right we're looking at the rear trim fastener, door panel trim pin, upper door trim pin and bolt pin for door trim.

Now, I've gone through the primary pieces (the first three) and measured out the dimensions of the head mating surface. You don't have to worry about the curvature of the head, but mainly the overall dimensions.

First thing you need to do is get some thin gauge steel. Measure out on the sheet stock a strip at the appropriate width. Then, perpendicular to that measure out the number of squares of that size you'll need. Remember that it's always easier to measure the pieces slightly oversized and trim down later.

With everything marked out go ahead and find the center of each square.

Use the drill press to drill through each point with a drill bit. I opted to use a bit that was 2/3 of the diameter of the head of the machine screw rather than the shaft. This is done to get the head to set lower in the sheetmetal.

Here you can see the sheetmetal with all the centers drilled out. While you want to have the hole directly on center if it's a little off it's no big deal.

Take your bolt and put it through the hole to test fit. Here you can see how the bolt looks from both sides.

Here you can see the bolts and sheetmetal preared for the next step. What we need to do now is to permanently bond them together.

Now, the trick to this is once it's placed dab some JB Weld on the two parts to seal them together. This way the square part of the sheetmetal will keep the screw from spinning when you try to tighten it down during assembly.

Here you can see all the pieces set and awaiting the JB Weld to dry.

Once the JB Weld on the assembly has dried to you can then use a set of aviation snips to cut the pieces. Make sure to run a file across the edges so that they're not super sharp.

Now, it's just a matter of sliding the retaining clip into the stainless trim. Here you can see the new trim retainer right next to the original one. I opted for a screw of slightly smaller diameter because it's easier to fit through the holes without having to re-drill them out after painting. There's nothing more annoying than mucking up a new paint job during the reassembly process because of a small piece of trim.

Before final reassembly zap the fasteners with a coat of rust preventative paint to protect them. Then it's a matter of aligning and fitting it to the holes and then adding a washer and nut on the back. You can even add a litte loctite to keep the assembly tightened up well.

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Page Comments

Name: Simon Landi	Page Rating: 10	Date:10/14/2008 12:24:39 AM
Nice and simple!
Jody, thanks for a useful tip to remember. I haven't needed to use these trim bits yet, but know this is useful info. for the future. Pics are clear which is great! Cheers.

Name: Frank Schwartz	Page Rating: 10	Date:10/12/2008 1:05:41 PM
Good job!
Jody, fine craftsmanship and intelligent solution to a difficult problem.

Name: Pete Bahr	Page Rating: 10	Date:10/12/2008 12:47:21 PM
Very Good
Jody, You do nice work. AND super instructions and photos.

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