1983-86 styling DILEMMA!!

[mustang_tbird]

Ok.. to give everyone here a little backstory, I had my car painted in the summer of 1998 the same color as '97 Tbirds and the '97 limited edition Explorers. It is Ivory pearl coat. I received a call from the body shop and they asked if I wanted to put the door mouldings back on. They looked horrible and there was no chrome left, so I had them delete them. The bumpers and quarters and fenders still have the old mouldings on there, but at the time it was livable. After the car was painted I couldn't stand the ridiculous cracked mouldings that were supposed to pass as chrome. They looked bad, but I had to live with it back then. Now, flash forward 4 years.. I called a Ford dealership the other day, and believe it or not, ordered the chrome strip that fits in the rear bumper. I replaced the strip and refinished the black impact strip. The dealer told me there were 26 of these in the entire country, and I have no. 26 on my car. The piece was shipped from LA and cost me $50.49 went I went to Westway Ford to get it. Now that it is on the car, my rear bumper looks so AWESOME! I ought to post pics to show y'all.

..So I decided to call them back for the rest of the mouldings I had on the car minus the doors of course. Every other piece has been discontinued, except the rear chrome. I am so disheartened now because I can't find any of the mouldings at any aftermarket dealer and people's eyes seem to glaze over when I ask about '83 T-bird parts.. Now that the rear bumper is done, I must, MUST find the rest of the car. To find this would help every owner of every Aerobird everywhere! So, any suggestions?!

*sorry for the really long post*

[Mickey D]

I realize it has been well over a year since you posted this request, however asuming you haven't gotten discouraged with it I know you are still in search of. If factory molding is what your looking for , you may try a place called Green Sales in Columbus, OH. They service only obsolete Ford Parts. The T-Bird is not a very popular car during this era so your choices are very limited. They nor anyone else in the world has all of the moldings. However, I had this same problem and created a solution for it. I was completely frustrated after talking to numerous rude people with no desire to help me. I made my own. I took a pice of the molding and made a fiberglass mold. With this mold I was able to duplicate the exact molding, apply a gel coat and attach to my car. BEAUTIFUL! If you still have an interest I would be more than willing to accomodate you. Mickey D