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Preparing the trim for mounting on the car can be a daunting task. Most of the trim on 49 - 52 Plymouths is either polished stainless steel, chromed steel or chromed pot-metal.
Pot-metal that is pitted is very hard to restore. Some chrome shops try to grind the pits out before rechroming but that distorts the piece. Others fill the holes before rechroming but few are able to do a good job of it. The best thing to do is to "bite the bullet" and buy NOS parts.
Stainless steel fender/hood trim, beltline trim & grille should be polished with a buffer and stainless buffing compound. If you do not have the tools/skills to do this job, 0000 steel wool (available at a body shop supply company) will do a fair job. It will take almost all of the rust and oxydation off any stainless trim, even the grille. If your stainless is dented, it takes an artist to tap the dents out and polish the scratches out. See the "Parts Sources" page for help here if you cannot find anyone locally to do it for you.
When remounting your trim, use new clips/nuts if possible. Restoration Specialists can supply just about anything but I recommend that you send them a sample of what you want rather than try to select the right items out of their extensive catalog.
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If you have broken off some of the mounting bolts from the back side of your grille, just drill them out. You can then find the same size stove bolt and then use J-B Weld to glue the bolt in place. It will work just fine.
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When putting the rocker panel trim back on, most likely some of the original holes will be filled with body filler or missing if new rocker panels were added. Don't try to cut new "squared" holes, just drill a hole in the clip and screw it directly into the body. If you are careful, the trim itself will keep the clip straight.
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