Upper tail gate trim on fleet side restricting handle

[zellway]

Did some digging on other threads but didn’t find Much info. On my 67 I have had the chrome trim that fits over the tail gate latch in the glove box the 25 years I have owned it. I’m looking into getting the truck painted and I wanted to reinstall all the original trim. I put the rear chrome back on but when it’s in place I can’t open the tail gate because it restricts the handle movement. I recall my uncle taking it off because of this. With the trim off the latch works fine. Before I do anything crazy I wanted to see if anyone had come up with a simple adjustment? It looks like I would have to knock almost 1/4” off the trim to clear the space needed. The latch looks to be bent a small amount so I wanted to try and straiten that out first.

[zellway]

I had a bit of time today to try and figure out the latch problem, ended up breaking the old trim in the process. It’s working a little better but still hangs up bad. I have tried to get it to line up as best I could and knocked a little metal off the top of the latch. Any tips or advice on what to try next would be appreciated.

[GMCPaul]

Try placing washers between tailgate handle and the inside of tailgate where mounting screws install to space it outward slightly to gain the clearance needed.
Paul Jr @ GMCPauls

[zellway]

Originally Posted by GMCPaul

Try placing washers between tailgate handle and the inside of tailgate where mounting screws install to space it outward slightly to gain the clearance needed.
Paul Jr @ GMCPauls

That’s a good idea. I got the screws free on hope of some adjustment but I didn’t have any. I have plenty of washers. I will try that. Thanks for the info I’m willing to try anything.

[toolboxchev]

Originally Posted by zellway

That’s a good idea. I got the screws free on hope of some adjustment but I didn’t have any. I have plenty of washers. I will try that. Thanks for the info I’m willing to try anything.

GMC Pauls is top notch!