reproduction door panels

[bautino95]

hi, Im changing over parts of my interior to black so its not all blue. anyways I have a 1971 and looking for black door panels. I did a search but all of the threads were saying that fitment was bad and people didnt like the plastic backing. I was wondering if the new repro door panels still suck. I was thinking about getting plain steel and painting them black. or getting completed 69 or 70-71 panels. Thanks

[bautino95]

Pic

[StingRay]

I saw this at SEMA this year. The vendor was OER and it's a proper injection molded part. It wasn't the same type of plastic as OE as far as I could tell and was probably something like ABS. This panel was painted and likely being a non olefin type plastic would take paint very well. They only have them as the base panel and not the scrolled deluxe panel. It was a very good looking piece. I can't speak for fitment but by appearance I'm guessing it'll be a good fit.

[cleszkie]

Originally Posted by StingRay

I saw this at SEMA this year. The vendor was OER and it's a proper injection molded part. It wasn't the same type of plastic as OE as far as I could tell and was probably something like ABS. This panel was painted and likely being a non olefin type plastic would take paint very well. They only have them as the base panel and not the scrolled deluxe panel. It was a very good looking piece. I can't speak for fitment but by appearance I'm guessing it'll be a good fit.

That is a 72 year only door panel. I think bautino95 is looking for 71 door panels. Either way, its good to know that someone else is reproducing the 72 door panels. The ones that are currently being repopped are complete junk.

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by cleszkie

That is a 72 year only door panel. I think bautino95 is looking for 71 door panels. Either way, its good to know that someone else is reproducing the 72 door panels. The ones that are currently being repopped are complete junk.

I was thinking he was talking this style because of the plastic reference. Are the earlier repops on plastic? Scary. I actually had a late 71 that was definitely not a 72 with this style panel. It didn't have the screw holes the 72's have to keep them from popping off when the door is slammed.

[custom10nut]

I have a 70, and was in the same boat. Buy new or repair old. What I did, "just to be a little different", was repair a set of deluxe panels from a 68 CST. The bottoms were starting to rust out, but the vinyl is in very good shape, so I carefully peeled it back rebuilt the bottom edge, and painted the metal with rust inhibitor. Then I painted the vinyl to match my interior. Not show winner quality, but look pretty good. I also repaired my originals back to "pretty good". I thought about doing this with the metal panels too, but couldn't find two good ones to use.

[coreyjhen]

Originally Posted by custom10nut

I have a 70, and was in the same boat. Buy new or repair old. What I did, "just to be a little different", was repair a set of deluxe panels from a 68 CST. The bottoms were starting to rust out, but the vinyl is in very good shape, so I carefully peeled it back rebuilt the bottom edge, and painted the metal with rust inhibitor. Then I painted the vinyl to match my interior. Not show winner quality, but look pretty good. I also repaired my originals back to "pretty good". I thought about doing this with the metal panels too, but couldn't find two good ones to use.

So, are you saying that you put the vinyl directly over stock metal panels? I ask because my truck has good metal panels, and I want to put in vinyl. I see that Brothers offers the vinyl covers without the backing, and I'd like to put them over my metal.

[bautino95]

Is it only the 72 repro that's junk or all 67-72 panels. I'm looking to change my 71 blue panel to a 69 black panel. I don't like the fake wood strip along the top of the 71. I was looking a classic industries and thought about getting the complete 69 panel. Or just new steel panel with new black vinyl and rewraping it myself.

[LongBox]

The more I read about the problems with repop parts, the more I just scratch my head. Why don't they make them right?

Another thought: I have a base model 69 GMC. The door panels are cheap tin stampings. They don't deteriorate much, and they are easy to repair: just work the dents, sand, and paint them.