Door panels

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ojobojo
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:18 am
Location: Madison, WI

Door panels

Post by ojobojo »

I replaced the lower panel on my doors this weekend and I wanted to share the result. I've been looking for used panels for a year but being a 63 there just isn't any chance. $1300 for a pair of repro panels just isn't in the budget. I finally decided to do this while looking at old Fords at the Iola Car Show a couple weeks ago. Galaxies and Fairlanes of this era all seemed to have carpet kick panels and frankly, I think using plastic on the tbird was a really bad idea. Plus, the Monaco had carpet, so, I finally justified the modification to myself. I wasn't planning to enter it for judging anyway. Cost me $7 in carpet.

Image

Doing the work has prompted a couple questions:

1. The 63 interior door pull has 2 screws inside it. It would make sense for them to hold the panel to something on the door but my door doesn't seem to have anything for them to screw to. Am I missing a part?

2. I was planning to tilt my door lever up at a 38* angle as was discussed on a recent thread, but, I keep seeing Ford pictures in advertising and even in the service manual showing the handle at 90* degrees so I stuck with where it was when I took it off. Where did the 38* idea come from and why wouldn't the service manual show the handle in the factory installed position?

3. My door handle still needs some work. Somebody once suggested to me to cut the permanently attached 63 handle off and replace it with a 61 or 2 handle. Has anybody ever done that and does it actually work?

Thanks, great Forum! I spend more time here learning about my car than anywhere else on the Web.

I wanted to say thank you to whomever suggested using a rag instead of the tool to remove the clip off the door lever and window crank. I have the tool but will never use it again. Great trick!
Last edited by ojobojo on Sun Jul 26, 2015 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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60fore
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Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Re: Door panels

Post by 60fore »

Re: Your point #2 above - the 38 degree angle of installation is specified in the body/trim assembly manual. This manual was essentially the assembly instructions for the line workers at Wixom, so that is how the handles were installed when the cars were built. Having them at that angle actually works better in practice, too. They are easier to grab and operate when you are in a seated position than they would be if mounted horizontally.

The picture below shows the door handle as installed on "wklink's" 12,000 mile survivor car. The handle has most likely never been removed in the car's life:


Image
Currently Birdless....we'll see how long that lasts!

Past Birds: 1962 Hardtop Corinthian White "The Survivor"
1964 Hardtop Gunmetal Gray "60Fore"
1986 Turbo Coupe Regatta Blue
ojobojo
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:18 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Door panels

Post by ojobojo »

Thanks for the reply 60fore. What a gorgeous car that is. I bet you miss it a lot. Do they salt the roads up there like they do here in Wisconsin? We call a 10 year old car w/out rust a survivor around here.

It came from the assembly manual. I see. Makes sense about it being easier to use. I was just confused when I saw it at 90* in the service manual. I don't have the manual with me but it was pictured with the door lever removal tool in the 1963 supplement part.

Obviously, with my recent departure from a stock kick panel I'm not trying to impress anybody with my factory fresh accuracy anyway.
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60fore
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Re: Door panels

Post by 60fore »

Yes, that car was tough to part with but as you know we sometimes have to make hard choices and family always comes first...

The use of salt on winter roads is not nearly as prevalent as it was when the Survivor was built. Luckily a previous owner (likely the original owner) of the car had it heavily undercoated. It was originally sold in Montreal and that region was notorious for heavily salting their roads due to the frequent winter ice storms they experience. So you either undercoated your car, or had it dissolve into rust within three years. :shock:

It also helped that the car spent the majority of its life parked covered in a garage.
Currently Birdless....we'll see how long that lasts!

Past Birds: 1962 Hardtop Corinthian White "The Survivor"
1964 Hardtop Gunmetal Gray "60Fore"
1986 Turbo Coupe Regatta Blue
novanutcase
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Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:58 am

Re: Door panels

Post by novanutcase »

I like what you did Ojobojo. Clean.

John
Professional Pic Whore

Image
John M.
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Location: Stillwater, OK.

Re: Door panels

Post by John M. »

I think it looks great! Can you provide any details about how you installed the carpet to the panel? Maybe provide a write-up?
ojobojo
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:18 am
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Door panels

Post by ojobojo »

Thanks guys.

I don't want to post too many details about a modification here, but, I'll take some pictures this weekend and post them to the mod forum next week.
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stove
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Re: Door panels

Post by stove »

ojobojo wrote:$1300 for a pair of repro panels just isn't in the budget.
Where were you going (or rather, not, going to) to source these?
1963 HT, Corinthian White / Pearl Beige
1966 Convertible, Sauterne Gold / Parchment leather/Ivy Gold (428 A/C)
1967 Tudor Landau, Raven Black / Black (428)
1970 Five Window Landau Brougham, Ginger Met. Poly / Ginger Hopsack
ojobojo
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Re: Door panels

Post by ojobojo »

I looked at these a year ago

http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_thund ... -1963.html

On rereading I now notice the price says $683.95 pr. The description didn't mention that it was for a pair. That's a lot less expensive than I remember. Still a lot of money I'd rather spend somewhere else. Plus, I'm tall and kick the panel nearly every time I get out of the car. If they're plastic I'm sure I'd ruin these too.
Peddller
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Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:26 pm
Location: Bel Air, MD

Re: Door panels

Post by Peddller »

The replacement one O put on my 63 are a lot tougher than the originals. It is a pretty big job that you need to take your time with but the replacements look good in my opinion.
Bill Clark
Bel Air, Maryland
1957 F code
2005 50th anniversary
1963 Avanti R2
1956 GMC Suburban Carrier pickup
1966 Corvair Corsa Turbo
Prior Birds
1963 M code SR
1964 Convertable
1965 convertible
ckrivin
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Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2014 12:17 am

Re: Door panels

Post by ckrivin »

Hey All
I am trying to acknowledge my budget but my 62 coupe door panels are like too far gone. I found this: "The ACCU-Form(TM) door panel covers go over your cracked, damaged or unsightly doors, restoring it to a like new appearance" Its a formed plastic cover similar to a coverlay dash cover. The fit is quite good, but I'm struggling to remove the original little chrome parts along the bottom of the door, similar problem to an earlier poster to finally resorted to carpet on the bottom of the door. Does anyone know how to remove the plastic chrome, or if any suppliers sell these small parts?

ALSO - the tip of the iceburg that started this project is the driver door outside button to open the door - fell in the door. I got a replacement, but also wondering if any of you experts have done that project before and are there any tricks (Other than what is in the shop manual...)

Thanks!
Craig Krivin
PHX (haven't posted in a long time)
'62 coupe Corinthian white/ red interior w/ factory AC, pw, p seat.
stevegintn
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Re: Door panels

Post by stevegintn »

ojobojo wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:55 am I looked at these a year ago

http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_thund ... -1963.html

On rereading I now notice the price says $683.95 pr. The description didn't mention that it was for a pair. That's a lot less expensive than I remember. Still a lot of money I'd rather spend somewhere else. Plus, I'm tall and kick the panel nearly every time I get out of the car. If they're plastic I'm sure I'd ruin these too.
I just followed that Macs link, then did a full search there - they have only BLACK or WHITE, so I guess you would buy white, and try to spray-dye them? I tried that with white back seats I took out of a white 61 parts car, into a now red 62, with less than satisfactory results.
Steve G.
'62 TBird HT
'61 TBird HT (parts car)
'88 Ranger XLT
'02 Sportrac 4x4
2012 Dodge RAM 4x4
'49 Ford 8N
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Jim Wulf
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Re: Door panels

Post by Jim Wulf »

ckrivin wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 7:23 pm Hey All
I am trying to acknowledge my budget but my 62 coupe door panels are like too far gone. I found this: "The ACCU-Form(TM) door panel covers go over your cracked, damaged or unsightly doors, restoring it to a like new appearance" Its a formed plastic cover similar to a coverlay dash cover. The fit is quite good, but I'm struggling to remove the original little chrome parts along the bottom of the door, similar problem to an earlier poster to finally resorted to carpet on the bottom of the door. Does anyone know how to remove the plastic chrome, or if any suppliers sell these small parts?

ALSO - the tip of the iceburg that started this project is the driver door outside button to open the door - fell in the door. I got a replacement, but also wondering if any of you experts have done that project before and are there any tricks (Other than what is in the shop manual...)

Thanks!
Craig Krivin
PHX (haven't posted in a long time)
'62 coupe Corinthian white/ red interior w/ factory AC, pw, p seat.
The plastic chrome strips can be removed by prying/chiseling them off with a plastic putty kife. It helps to leave the panel in the sun first to help soften things up. Not many of these original strips are in very good condition after nearly sixty years and you will probably want to replace them. They're included on new door panels, but if your using one of the caps, you'll need to reuse the ones you have or order new. After many years of waiting, these strips/bars are now available in reproduction from Mac's. https://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_thun ... r-pan.html

As far as replacing the wayward lock button, there's a forum thread on a couple of different ways to successfully accomplish this very difficult task.

viewtopic.php?t=11264

Haven't heard from you in a long time, Craig!
Jim W, VTCI 1961-1963 Technical Editor
62 SR Red/Black
63 CV Black/Red
67 MGB Roadster
38 MG TA Tickford Drophead Coupe
39 Lea-Francis Corsica Super Sports
Past Birds:
63 MSR Red/Pearl Beige
66 CV Red/Red
63 CV P. Green/Pearl Beige
61 HT White/Pearl Beige
GeoffInCarlsbad
Posts: 249
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 1:18 am

Re: Door panels

Post by GeoffInCarlsbad »

I am working on replacing my door panel on my 61 convertible. all the vinyl has cracked and the lower portion looks really crappy. going to be fun. I will post pics as I make progress.
Geoff in Carlsbad CA
1961 T-Bird Convertible (in progress)
Love it! ::?
Hadders
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2017 12:48 pm

Re: Door panels

Post by Hadders »

Just finished refurbing mine. The original interior was red and initially looked in good condition when I first viewed the car prior to buying, the car was recently imported to the UK but had been sat since 82 ''barn find''. When the car was dropped off the tyres were collapsed as was the suspension, all the rubber parts had perished and then I discovered the interior crumbled when touched nice!
Money rules so not having any I needed to work a solution to repairing the split dash top as well as the door panels. After stripping the whole interior including the dash and centre console, I used body filler to repair the cracks and holes and armed with a tin of spray adhesive and a roll of vinyl, covered everything. On the door panel lower sections, I used that chrome plastic stuff they sell to stick on your car for pretend body trim, I cut into sections, rounded the ends and glued into place. Dash was very tricky and I used a heat gun to make the vinyl stretch but it only goes so far. I vinyl painted the rear seats, head liner and had to replace the front seats which I'm going to dye the same colour.
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