When it comes to automotive fitness, there are a lot of areas to consider. Sure, you want your car's engine to be running strong and its driveline to be in good shape, but visual health is also important-especially on Tri-five Chevys. After all, it's those infamous lines that made these cars classics in the first place, right?
For most Tri-five owners, an important element in their car's visual appeal is the abundance of chrome and stainless steel brightwork. These trim parts can really make or break a nice Tri-five, so it's important that they're in good condition and properly installed. That's a lesson that wasn't lost on Dale Kirk when he got his '56 210 sedan back from the paint shop. In fact, he wanted to make it look better than ever by adding some optional brightwork that the car never had-parts like the rocker panel moldings, gravel guards, door handle guards and other shiny accessories. He also needed to replace a few missing and damaged trim pieces, and he needed all the fasteners to hold everything together.
The Bel Air-style two-tone...
The Bel Air-style two-tone paint looked nice, but Dale Kirk's '56 Chevy 210 was sure lacking something without all the brightwork in place. Polished and replated original trim-combined with many new trim pieces and a host of fasteners from Danchuk-helped whip it into shape.
Finding the needed parts was easy enough-a search through the Danchuk catalog found him the new parts he needed. And a trip to the chrome plating shop was all that was necessary to recondition the plated parts that Dale already had on hand. Now it was just a matter of putting everything together, a task that Dale handed over to Dominic Conti at Conti Automotive Developments.
The following photos and captions chronicle the re-trimming of Dale's '56 Chevy. For the most part, installing the trim pieces was pretty straightforward, but it's always important to take your time and use caution when working with a freshly painted car. Dominic also pointed out a few tips regarding trim fasteners and installation. So take a look and see what you can learn.
 Here's a handful of the parts...  Here's a handful of the parts that Dale got from Danchuk. As you see, rocker moldings, gravel shields, hood and decklid emblems, parking lights and lenses, door handles and guards, "Chevrolet" scripts and lots of fasteners were included. Not shown are a handful of other miscellaneous parts, like taillight lenses and such. |  Dominic began the re-trimming...  Dominic began the re-trimming up front by installing the chrome parking light base, which ties together the fender and lower pan. |  Finishing off the corner can...  Finishing off the corner can be a little tricky. The easiest approach is to loosely install the hood bar extension, then loosely install the fender extension (remembering to put the support in place first), and then install the bumper bracket (which uses fasteners that also tie into the fender extension). Once everything is in place, all the fasteners can tightened. |
 After the corner trim pieces...  After the corner trim pieces were aligned and secured, the reproduction parking light bezel and lens could be installed, finishing this front corner off. |  Installing the reproduction...  Installing the reproduction hood emblem was simple-merely a matter of setting it in place and bolting on the thread-cutting nut. |  The rechromed grille and bumper...  The rechromed grille and bumper also went on in straightforward fashion. The bumper installation went easier thanks to new hardware from Danchuk. |