[L79Fan]

My '70SS finally left to get new quarters so I took a picture of the side trim before the issue came up at the shop. I knew that it would come up & it did. This is an experienced father/son/grandson shop that does a lot of hot rods. We both think that it may have been a factory or dealer installed paint protection type option. Does anyone know if there is an option number on the cowl tag for it? Or is it a later installed item.

 

[Mr. Nickey Nova]

What a great color F-Blue is. My 70 SS is the same color and has the same trim your Nova does. I'm sure that was factory installed. Look at your trim tag and see if you have A 2 stamped. I believe the 2 is the number of exterior trim you should have, which would be your side trim and the chrome trim around your side windows. I think the A is for the color black interior, if you have black interior.

 

[Dave B.]

L79fan - Your car appears to be equipped with RPO ZJ5 - the "Exterior Decor Package". This was a very popular package on 3rd gen Novas since it only added $51.00 (1970 dollars) to the sticker and gave the coupe front fender louvers, as well as both the full-length body side moldings and the bright window moldings. It included bright drip rail moldings on the sedan, but not on the coupe.

The side moldings from the ZJ5 package were, of course, also available as a dealer-installed accessory.

Since SS models came with a double pin-stripe on each side, very few SS Novas were optioned with the ZJ5 package.

EDIT: SS coupes were more often optioned with the ZJ2 "Custom Exterior" package. This cost $97.95 and also included the bright window moldings, but not the body side moldings. ZJ2 also included simulated front fender louvers, rear trim plate, lower body and rear fender moldings. The bright drip rail moldings have always puzzled me. They are listed as being a part of the ZJ5 Exterior Decor Package, but only for sedans (4 doors). They were part of the vinyl top package for coupes, but not listed anywhere else that I can find, even though I seem to remember seeing them on some coupes without vinyl tops - another small mystery!

BTW, there was also a bit of overlap between the ZJ2, ZJ5 and SS packages. Even without either of the "ZJ" packages, the SS came standard with front fender louvers (with bright louver edges on the SS) and a rear trim plate (black on the SS, bright accents on all others).

EDIT #2: I'm not aware of any "selected option" codes on the 1970 cowl tags.

 

[Twinshadows]

Hi Mike …. good to see your Nova .

My 69 is just like yours --- side trim molding & NO window 'Bright Trim' .


#1 -- "Twinshadows - White 69 Nova" & "Poindexter's Blue 74 Nova"



#2 ---




and,

Dave B --- Thanks for the "RPO Codes" --- I was looking at those codes a few weeks ago …. and, now I couldn't find that page again.


from : HOT & Sunny Chino Valley, Arizona ---- jim

 

[YENKO DEUCE REG]

The moldings could be ordered individually as well as in a group - such as ZJ5 which included the drip rail, door frame and body side like on my son's Nova (we added the vinyl top to complete the look....). So, the moldings on your FB '70 are indeed factory, and you should have an 'A 2' on the bottom row of the Trim Tag. The body side molding option will have holes in the fenders to attach the fender moldings, but 'pins' spot welded to the doors and quarters to attach those moldings. The doors will have holes at each end for a screw attachment,
and the quarters will have a hole just at the tail light end for a stud.

 

[CdnL79 Registry]

The exterior trim packages were made for confusion. The items within the packages even differed between sedans and coupes. The ZJ5 package gave you bright window moldings on the coupe, but no bright roof drip moldings which only came on the sedan. However, if you ordered a vinyl roof for your coupe you got bright roof drip moldings. The ZJ2 option provided side louvers with bright edge accents, but the SS already had that as standard and on and on.

Bob

 

[YENKO DEUCE REG]

LoL!! Yep, and on, and on, and on.....

 

[L79Fan]

What a great color F-Blue is. My 70 SS is the same color and has the same trim your Nova does. I'm sure that was factory installed. Look at your trim tag and see if you have A 2 stamped. I believe the 2 is the number of exterior trim you should have, which would be your side trim and the chrome trim around your side windows. I think the A is for the color black interior, if you have black interior.

OK, so I let this get away from me after the first couple of days. But I just got an email from PJ at the body shop wanting to know if I have made a decision on the side moldings. Some great, albeit confusing, information from you guys on the exterior options. I do not have an original build sheet for the car but it has B 2 (not A 2) stamped in the middle of the last line of the cowl tag.

 

[Mr. Nickey Nova]

I would leave the side trim on your car. Read above what Marlin said about the pins or studs that were spot welded at the factory. If your Nova has these studs, then they are factory. My Nova has a (A2) on my trim tag, but I have black interior, with the same exterior trim you have. What color interior do you have?? Maybe Blue??

 

[YENKO DEUCE REG]

Yes, a 'B 2' on the trim tag typically indicates a blue interior - my bad, I assumed it had a black interior.

The '2' indicates 2 of the 4 possible exterior moldings. I can pretty much tell they are factory just by looking at how straight they are, and its a personal preference as to whether or not you want to keep them. If you are getting new quarters, they can either spot weld the pins back on or use the tiny screws made for that purpose - the only downside of the screws (on quarters) is that you can see them in the trunk. As long as the doors are original and properly aligned, setting the pins / screws onto the quarters is relatively easy - everything keys off the doors.... If they are only replacing the bottom half of the quarters then perhaps they can make the weld line below the pins.

 

[L79Fan]

I would have preferred them on but they are not in the best shape & I am well aware of what happens when you put sketchy looking trim back onto a car with fresh paint. But someone did mention a factory pin stripe that I would like to add if I can get some info on those.

 

[YENKO DEUCE REG]

The side pin stripe also looks classy.....

 

[CdnL79 Registry]

The factory pin stripe on the '70 Nova was at the top of the fenders/doors per the brochure picture below.

Bob

 

[YENKO DEUCE REG]

The factory pin stripe on the '70 Nova was at the top of the fenders/doors per the brochure picture below.

Bob

Absolutely true, had to find a Nova with the pin stripe down the side so he could see the look! But, to be factory correct for a '70, the pin stripe would need to be higher as CdnL79 states....

 

[CdnL79 Registry]

Absolutely true, had to find a Nova with the pin stripe down the side so he could see the look! But, to be factory correct for a '70, the pin stripe would need to be higher as CdnL79 states....

The factory SS pin stripe was not very common even back in the day. It's even rarer to see one today, because many cars have been repainted and the pin stripe not re-applied.

Bob

 

[L79Fan]

The side pin stripe also looks classy.....

That triple black car is really good looking. While I was thinking of the stripe being up higher like the one in Bob's factory picture, I think that something like the lower stripe on the black car may work better as this car did not have factory rocker mouldings on it & now will not have the side trim either.

 

[Twinshadows]

Let me be the 1st …… too speak-up …..


Keep your side trim molding ……….. I'd BE INTRESTED ….. buddy


If & when you may want to let it go …………. jim

 

[L79Fan]

Let me be the 1st …… too speak-up …..


Keep your side trim molding ……….. I'd BE INTRESTED ….. buddy


If & when you may want to let it go …………. jim

I will keep you at the top of my list Jim.

 

[L79Fan]

The moldings could be ordered individually as well as in a group - such as ZJ5 which included the drip rail, door frame and body side like on my son's Nova (we added the vinyl top to complete the look....). So, the moldings on your FB '70 are indeed factory, and you should have an 'A 2' on the bottom row of the Trim Tag. The body side molding option will have holes in the fenders to attach the fender moldings, but 'pins' spot welded to the doors and quarters to attach those moldings. The doors will have holes at each end for a screw attachment,
and the quarters will have a hole just at the tail light end for a stud.

You added the vinyl top? Did you use the aftermarket trim in back or were you able to find original trim for it? And can you correctly install it after paint or did you need to weld something like the pins onto it.?

 

[YENKO DEUCE REG]

Yes, we added the v/t. We used original sail panel moldings that I bought on ebay 15+ years ago and polished them - they fit perfectly with the small screws that are installed in lieu of the factory studs that would have been welded.

We also reused the factory original drip rail moldings, just wet sanded and polished them - I removed the dings as best I could. Even with the blemishes, there was no way we were going to use the repro drip rail / sail panel moldings - we heard far too many horror stories!!