On this shoebox, the hardtop chop made for a simpler job of the garnish moldings. We ended up with only one opening on each side of the car, which simplifies things a bit. We're really only making one big window surround that has one section of it free to move with the top of the door. Another benefit was that because there were no longer any B-pillars, we had plenty of unused metal for which to make filler pieces. More often than not we found a piece that fit with little or no alteration.
The piece needed to be shortened...
The piece needed to be shortened about 10 inches as the roof had moved forward in relation to its original position.
As the forward end you can...
As the forward end you can see how the garnish molding relates to the body where the original B-pillar was removed. The top of the pillar will eventually get capped for strength, but jay was more interested in filling the big hole in the molding where the vertical pillar piece was cut off.
In another example of "waste...
In another example of "waste not want not," Jay simply took the piece he trimmed off the rear of the piece and, after a little more trimming and tweaking, he used it to fill a gap.
A little welding and grinding...
A little welding and grinding and the piece looks like it was born there.
Moving up the rear roof piece,...
Moving up the rear roof piece, Jay held the molding up and moved it around until he found a section that matched the curve of the roof the best.
He then cut it off at the...
He then cut it off at the back to meet the lower molding and drilled some new holes to mount it to the roof to hold it in place while he tacked it to the lower trim.
Once Jay had the lower and...
Once Jay had the lower and roof pieces in place, he had to complete the puzzle by filling the gap between the front and rear top pieces where the B-pillar had once been. He had to look no further than the trusty B-pillar discards. once it was trimmed to fit, it was tack welded in place, creating one long piece.
The temporary welds that were...
The temporary welds that were holding the front top piece to the roof were ground so the entire molding could be removed. The last job was the finesse where the top meets the bottom at the rear. A small extension was called for. Using some of the discarded material, a piece was cut and welded in place.
Here's the finished driver-side...
Here's the finished driver-side molding along with the stock passenger-side moldings.