Remove galvanized trim before repaint?

[Acerostone]

I'm tearing down my Series IIA to the chassis to restore everything including repainting the body panels. For those of you who have repainted, is it worth removing the galvanized trim before painting? I really don't want to spend the time removing/reinstalling the rivets. If I did remove the trim, I would have the pieces galvanized again. My trim is in decent shape but I'm not sure how it would look with new painted panels. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[jp-]

I've done it both ways. If you don't remove it, you'll have a lot of time in masking it all off. So it's pretty much a wash removing it, vs not. I love the look of a newly painted truck with freshly galvanized trim. That's my preference. It looks a little off with new paint and old trim. However, you're also going to have work to do to the newly galvanized pieces too. That will include, opening up holes, removing excess zinc, re-tapping any threaded holes, etc.

[Acerostone]

Which method did you use to remove the rivets in the trim? Hammer/chisel, drill, air chisel? Also, do you regalvanize the trim or buy new? Thanks.

[jp-]

I drill out the pop rivets with a 3/16" drill. Once the head pops off, the body usually follows, but occasionally requires a light punch to drive them out. I use an air chisel on the solid rivets, where possible, but do not use the air chisel against an aluminum panel, as you can/will damage it. You can also drill these out, by first making a punch mark on them, but this is a lot of trouble. Alternatively on the solid rivets, you can sand off the back sides and drive them out with a punch, just be careful not to sand into the panel you're working on.

You always want to reuse your original trim if at all possible, because nothing will fit better (panel alignment, hole alignment, etc.) than the originals. I only use replacements if a trim piece is very badly damaged and can't be repaired as easily as getting a new one.

Regalvanizing the originals is no problem for the galvanizers.

[Acerostone]

I drill out the pop rivets with a 3/16" drill. Once the head pops off, the body usually follows, but occasionally requires a light punch to drive them out. I use an air chisel on the solid rivets, where possible, but do not use the air chisel against an aluminum panel, as you can/will damage it. You can also drill these out, by first making a punch park on them, but this is a lot of trouble. Alternatively on the solid rivets, you can sand off the back sides and drive them out with a punch, just be careful not to sand into the panel you're working on.

You always want to reuse your original trim if at all possible, because nothing will fit better (panel alignment, hole alignment, etc.) than the originals. I only use replacements if a trim piece is very badly damaged and can't be repaired as easily as getting a new one.

Regalvanizing the originals is no problem for the galvanizers.

Thanks. This is just the kind of info I was looking for!

[roverp480]

One thing I would be careful about is refitting the capping and other parts that use the solid rivets to painted panels , such as around the door handles , as it is easy to damage the paint. I made a special Rivet Snap with a slightly convex face so there are no edges to dig in.