Door Panels

[eastnder]

I have a 73 with delux interior that has several cracks in the door panels in the armrest area. I'm looking for a little guidance as to what panels I should buy. My existing trim is in nice shape. After looking at some of the vendors it apears they sell three levels of door panel, Basic(stripped) Standard(door lock trim installed) and Delux(all trim installed). Everything looks pretty straightforward to change over except the door lock trim. That looks to be rivited or peened over studs, I'm not sure which. Any way has anyone changed over trim to a new panel and how much trouble is the door lock trim to change? My other question is are all the door panels created equal or are some better than others. Thanks for any and all help!

 

[eastnder]

H e l l o, Is anybody out there??????????
Nobody's ever bought a door panel?

 

[Spdfrk]

Hi

Dont know how much help this will give you but I know changing over can be a real pain the neck, I ended up buying two new deluxe panels for my 77 from ecklers they came perfect.

Try to go with a brand name company like ecklers or riks they dont cut orners on their stock and their phone people are quite helpfull too, so when you go to buy tell them about what you have and ask what they recommend.

 

[eastnder]

Thanks spdfrk. I'll give them a shout in the morning

 

[Wamp]

standard

I did the door swap last year, I went cheap! I had the standard door panels in to start with, they were cracked and were not worth trying to repair. Found some other door panels in real good shape from a 78 vette. I ordered the deluxe hardware and it just bolts right on. Trying to save your door lock trim might be a nightmare but putting the deluxe door trim on is like four or five screws in the back. Good luck on that darn window crank and door lock, what a pain!

Wamp 74'

 

[Wamp]

window guts

P.S. Why you have the buggers off i'd change out those window rollers too. I did my door panels last year and just took them back off this month to redo window guts, my rollers were toast. Had to be arnold to roll the window up and down, after a thorough cleaning of 28 year old grease, and new rollers they almost roll themselves up and down.

Wamp 74'

 

[69MyWay]

Re: window guts

P.S. Why you have the buggers off i'd change out those window rollers too. I did my door panels last year and just took them back off this month to redo window guts, my rollers were toast. Had to be arnold to roll the window up and down, after a thorough cleaning of 28 year old grease, and new rollers they almost roll themselves up and down.

Wamp 74'

Where did you get your rollers from? How did you change them........ie.. Did you grind the old studs off and replace with bolts, etc.

Thanks


As far as door panels go, I decided to bite the bullet and get them with all the trim already assembled. However, my old panels were ruined including the trim, so I had few options. It was kind of nice taking them right out of the box and installing them.

 

[eastnder]

Thanks everybody. The rollers sounds like a good idea, how did you get them off?

 

[Wamp]

rollers

Pretty sure I got all the parts from Corvette America. I did it on a 74 and only had to buy the package of 6 rollers (three rollers per window) and the window guide rollers (2 per window). I drilled them out and the new rollers need the back smashed to stay on for this i used a Craftsman screwdriver and hammer to get it split and then a punch to finish each off. I know I hate taking those door panels off and on. Good Luck....

 

[Nut]

Eastnder,
I used Eckler's for replacing (rare color Cinnabar) on my '81 and they matched it perfectly. Also used them to replace armrests and carpeting on my '72 with perfect matches. Think about joining their Restoration Club if you intend on buying more stuff in the future. Get a nice discount on this order and future orders. They did great for me.

Let us know how it turns out.

........... Nut

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Zip has them as well. This site, www.zip-corvette.com/techniclfs.htm, has the instructions.

Bob