Headrest replacement chrome bands

[JimShine]

I bought a set of the 2nd generation Charger headrest chrome and I must admit, I am very disappointed. The old band was very hard to remove and the new one just had trim tape on it. I ended up using plstic weld to get it to stay on.

Quick tip I figured out after the nightmare of replacing one headrests chrome. You can do a very good job with aluminum tape. I cut a strip 1/2" wide, slowly applied it all aroound being careful not get any creases, smoothed with Q-tip and some pressure, trimmed the excess with a blade, then polished. It looks good. Not as mirror like as the chrome, but froma  foot or two it is very close.

[Chatt69chgr]

I bought some of that stuff from Crusinmoons but have not installed it yet.  I have read that the old trim is pretty hard to get off.  And I know that the stuff Crusinmoons sold me is only attached with a gum layer that is exposed when you pull off some protective paper.  Has anyone got any words of wisdom about replacing this chrome band?  How to successfully get the old one off---would heat from, say, a hair dryer help?.  How to successfully install the replacements----perhaps a 3M adhesive product would be in order here? 

[Needa68]

JimShine & Chatt69Charger,

This link from our 68 Coronet Restoration Site should help. Restoring headrests, particularly redoing the chrome strip is tricky but it can be done. We redid ours at minimal cost and are very happy with the results

Enjoy the link, have a spin around the site:

http://www.geocities.com/robertmitchell32000/headrests.html

Here is the link to the Home Page: www.geocities.com/robertmitchell32000

[JimShine]

I took great care in cleaning my vinyl. In my 70 degree house the band kept coming undone at the bottoms and curled up, trying to flatten out.

Yeah, removal of the old band was a pain. The original was shaped kind of like a T. The leg sat in the slot of the vinyl and looked to almost be heat seared to the vinyl.

[JrJohnston]

 I have used 3M wheather strip adhesive in the past with good results,use the black stuff it seems to hold alittle better.

[JimShine]

These came with the black 3M trim adhesive tape on the back. Not sure if you used cement.

Again, this was a mod that was not worth it in my opinion. The idea is flawed as the flat bottomed strip doesn't want to tape down to the T shaped slot on the headrest (assuming you get the trim out in one piece). This makes it pop up in some curved areas. You need to get within a foot to even tell the aluminum tape from the chrome. It was far easier to do and cheaper, but the cheap part is purely coincidental.