Shape of door jamb at top of 63 coupe..... early vs late 63

[SolidLifters]

I'm tryin' to figure out the shape of the door jamb on my EARLY '63 coupe in the area at the top of the quarter panel. In other words, right inside the top edge of the rear fender. On my LATE 63, as well as my '65 and '67 coupes, there's an indention at this place in the jamb. On this early car, which I don't believe has been fooled with in that area it seems completely flat, or in other words, seems to be filled flush there with the black factory seam adhesive.

Does anybody know if the early cars were shaped a little differently in the top edge of the rear jamb than all the later cars were, and if so, about when that change took place?

 

[dean petrucelli]

door jamb shape

hi solid:
i dont know the exact change over, but all early cars had the seam filled. apparently, the upper roof section was never fabricated correctly (on all 63-67) cars and the first batch of 63's had the seam filled, sanded smooth and painted. GM quickly realized that no one cared if the seam wasnt filled, so thus all late 63's - 67 had the seam "open". my car is an early january car (6000) series and still has the seam filled.
hope this helps

 

[SolidLifters]

Hi Dean. Thanks for the reply. The only thing I had to compare to is another early coupe that I owned from mid 70's and sold in late '80's. I couldn't remember how it looked there, but checked it out Friday and it's filled and the owner who did the resto himself says he didn't do it.

I see you have a tan '63 fuelie. This car is tan/tan also but is 340 horse with THE original drivetrain. I'm strugglin' to make myself paint it back tan (I've always believed that ALL '63 coupes are supposed to be red/red, but apparently GM made some assembly line errors) The only tan ones I've seen were faded to flat tan, and it's not a very desirable color in that condition. A friend who went to Mecuum at Kissimmee last year said there was one there that had super nice paint and that if I'd seen it I wouldn't have the reservation. Anyway, tan it is. They're doin' the final finish and block sandin' now, so hopefully we'll be seeing color in the next 30 days or so.

 

[dean petrucelli]

solid
yes, the tan is a unique color - however, everytime i take it to a show - the people flock to it and and say, wow, what a cool color. i think everyone is tired of red cars and when they see something different - they like it. i have seen many early 63's and they all have the seam filled. mine are filled too. if you saw a well done tan paint job - i am sure you would not have doubted your decision. i wouldnt change mine for anything. hope you are happy with it. good luck.
anyway, fill it, sand it and paint it (the seam that is)

dean

 

[SolidLifters]

Thanks again.

 

[jjmish]

saddle/saddle leather here too

Read that the seams would begin to 'crack'. No structural problem but lot of customer complaints. Decided to leave the seams visible as a solution.