Hi Brian,
All the trim around the glass on your 78 car is stainless steel. Assuming it is still attached to the car, you will have to remove the windscreen in order to get it out. Dont make the mistake of pulling the trim out of the rubber with the windscreen still in the car. This will bend the end of the trim and then when you go to reinstall it you will find it will not sit down tight in the corners. Once the whole thing is out of the car, you should be able to get the trim out quite easily. If you have trouble, sacrifice the rubber with a knife.
If your trim is already bent, there is only one way to straighten it. Cut little slits into the inner lip (the bit that goes into the rubber) with a 1mm thick cutting disc and then weld it. It is not possible to do it with a mechanical shrinker because there is a folded lip to hold it into the rubber.
To put the screen back in you put the rubber onto the glass and then put the trim into the rubber and install it as one piece. Dont try to install the trim after the screen is in the car.
Now for the trim surrounding the door frame. There are 2 ways of doing this, one is to paint it while it is still attached to the door frame. This is a pain in the ass because it requires masking off the entire car. The other is to drill out the little rivets and very carefully pop the trims on the frame (this is how I did it).
The rear quater light windows will also have to be removed much like the windscreen. These come out of the rubber without much trouble.
The grills behind the rear quater lights are held in place by one 6mm bolt and pins pressed into plastic receptacles. Once the nut is off, you will be able to pull or prise it off.
I do not recommend powder coating for any of these parts. Mainly because is it lumpy and thick looking, and it's hard to find a powder coater that can create a true satin finish. They normally end up glossy.
I always use a satin black cellulose (nitro-cellulose lacquer) shot with an HVLP gun. I add a bit of matting agent if it looks to shiny. We can still buy cellulose over here, but I am sure you can't in the USA.
It is possible to achieve a true satin finish with a 2 part paint, but I do not know who would supply this in the US. Someone on this forum will probably know.
I block sanded between coats to get it completely flat. I also made a mini sanding block to sand between the ribs on the grills. You may not want to go this far.
You can strip the original paint with paint stripper and then scuff it up with 400 grit paper. Or have it lightly media blasted. I lightly blasted mine and then used an acid etch 2 part primer. This is essential to stick to the stainless.
Johnny
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