Other factory door panels?

[bennylava]

I was wondering if anyone knows of any trucks where someone was able to make other factory door panels fit on a 73-87. As in, factory door panels off of a different vehicle. Likely a different truck. Any pics would be greatly appreciated.

Aside from that, I'd also like to see any alternative door panel pics you may have, of panels that may not come from a different truck, but are still not factory. Aftermarket door panels where silverado trim was fitted to them. I'm trying to figure out the best thing to do to refurbish or replace my 87 Silverado door panels. There are pretty much no correctly embossed panels out there. Not that I've been able to find anyway. I'm even having some difficulty finding factory silverado panels, that are used but in good enough condition to even be restored.

Most of them are wavy on top from the heat. As are mine. But I was thinking that maybe I could find some old panels (perhaps from a northern state) and have them covered in vinyl if they simply meet the not-heat warped requirement. So pics of vinyl covered factory panels would also be appreciated. Thanks

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by bennylava

I was wondering if anyone knows of any trucks where someone was able to make other factory door panels fit on a 73-87. As in, factory door panels off of a different vehicle. Likely a different truck. Any pics would be greatly appreciated.

Aside from that, I'd also like to see any alternative door panel pics you may have, of panels that may not come from a different truck, but are still not factory. Aftermarket door panels where silverado trim was fitted to them. I'm trying to figure out the best thing to do to refurbish or replace my 87 Silverado door panels. There are pretty much no correctly embossed panels out there. Not that I've been able to find anyway. I'm even having some difficulty finding factory silverado panels, that are used but in good enough condition to even be restored.

Most of them are wavy on top from the heat. As are mine. But I was thinking that maybe I could find some old panels (perhaps from a northern state) and have them covered in vinyl if they simply meet the not-heat warped requirement. So pics of vinyl covered factory panels would also be appreciated. Thanks

Door panels from a Suburban will work. What color are you looking for? I have some over in the parts section for sale, they are in great condition, especially if your wanting to restore them. Here's a link for them:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=747935

As far as aftermarket, I used LMC. And all the trim panels fit. Here's a pic of mine.

[D13]

Rod Doors makes a custom,.
Lots of non-warped panels. Issue here is chalking on the top.

I've managed to pick up good used non-power panels pretty easily. Been toying with cutting the power switch hoes then putting a plug in the wiper holes. On the list of stuff to get to some day.

[mongocanfly]

I used coverlay panels on mine...http://coverlaymfg.com/

[bennylava]

Anybody ever seen a set of vinyl covered panels? Not sure how it would work out. But if you could do it, you wouldn't have to worry much about the panels being scratched/faded/ugly.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by bennylava

Anybody ever seen a set of vinyl covered panels? Not sure how it would work out. But if you could do it, you wouldn't have to worry much about the panels being scratched/faded/ugly.

I have seen these before, just can't remember where.

[TKCR]

Here's a few

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=Interior+pics

[bennylava]

Thanks for the link! Kind of looks like my options are limited though. Might have to just go with LMC panels and then look forward to hacking them up to make the silverado trim fit on them. You don't have to do much if you have a scottsdale. But if you've got a silverado and you want oem look, well nobody sells correctly embossed panels new.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by bennylava

Thanks for the link! Kind of looks like my options are limited though. Might have to just go with LMC panels and then look forward to hacking them up to make the silverado trim fit on them. You don't have to do much if you have a scottsdale. But if you've got a silverado and you want oem look, well nobody sells correctly embossed panels new.

Dont buy LMC panels. They are junk. Search for factory panels and redye them.

[RotaryRocketeer]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Dont buy LMC panels. They are junk. Search for factory panels and redye them.

Take this for what it's worth, but I recently put LMC panels in my '76 and think they are pretty fine pieces. The fit was spot on and they came with everything needed to get them installed. Not trying to start any arguments, just providing feedback.

[TKCR]

I agree, I really like my LMC panels and I don’t believe that they are junk, by any means.

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Dont buy LMC panels. They are junk. Search for factory panels and redye them.

I'd like to hear why exactly you don't like them. I'm very particular about what I put on my truck, and I want to know if there is anything about the LMC panels that I should be aware of.

[85/Silverado]

My LMC panels are holding up pretty good. This is what they look like after 5 years.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by bennylava

Thanks for the link! Kind of looks like my options are limited though. Might have to just go with LMC panels and then look forward to hacking them up to make the silverado trim fit on them. You don't have to do much if you have a scottsdale. But if you've got a silverado and you want oem look, well nobody sells correctly embossed panels new.

I don't believe you'll have to hack them up, I didn't have to do anything to mine. The only thing I didn't use was the pull strap and map pocket. I like the panels better without all that extra stuff.

[bennylava]

If you look at that picture of the black panel above, you can see where the padding is just sort of sitting on top of the panel. Its supposed to be slightly recessed. Also, I can't be sure but it looks like you can't use the factory silverado metal trim that is near the top of the panel. Maybe I'm wrong about that though.

At least the map pockets won't be a problem. Looks like you can just put those in the old spot after you make a few holes.

[85/Silverado]

The padding above the armrests is Velcro,ed on.. yes it is setting on the face of the panel (not Recessed) If I remember correctly you can get different metal top trim but you have to pay allot more for the emblems.
My truck is in the shop getting the steering column fixed so I can't go look. Sorry

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by RotaryRocketeer

Take this for what it's worth, but I recently put LMC panels in my '76 and think they are pretty fine pieces. The fit was spot on and they came with everything needed to get them installed. Not trying to start any arguments, just providing feedback.

Originally Posted by TKCR

I agree, I really like my LMC panels and I don’t believe that they are junk, by any means.

Not sure if they are the same but I would not recommend them myself. Then again, i must say that I have an extreme bias with LMC product and service.

[77BBGMC]

I bought a set of LMC door panels, not as thick as OEM and somewhat flimsy but not as bad as expected. I have a set of NOS panels but until the interior redo the LMC product will have to do.
As N2TRUX stated if you can find a set of originals and redye them I think you would be happier.

[bennylava]

Originally Posted by 77BBGMC

I bought a set of LMC door panels, not as thick as OEM and somewhat flimsy but not as bad as expected. I have a set of NOS panels but until the interior redo the LMC product will have to do.
As N2TRUX stated if you can find a set of originals and redye them I think you would be happier.

My only problem with painting them (like with SEM) is color matching. By the time I'm done my interior will be 15 different shades of tan lol. Probably why people just generally have their interiors redone at a shop.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by bennylava

My only problem with painting them (like with SEM) is color matching. By the time I'm done my interior will be 15 different shades of tan lol. Probably why people just generally have their interiors redone at a shop.

i did my own painting, I think all my stuff came out pretty good.

[bennylava]

Yeah but then you've got the headliner, the seat fabric color, and the carpet. Plus those metal trim pieces around the top, are supposed to be the same color as the door panels and the rest of the plastic trim.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think SEM is for metal. Thus you'd have to use something different which would come out to be a different color. That would bug me a lot, as I'm trying to get it as close to factory consistency as I can. There was of course some slight variation even from the factory, but they had it where it wasn't really noticeable. I am not sure of my ability to do the same with off the shelf paints.

Not inside of any kind of reasonable budget, anyway. I could do it, but I'd need to be able to test a lot of different spray cans in order to find the right color that would match the SEM for the plastics. A shop can get pretty close to matching the carpets, seats, and headliners. And I suspect that if its a full-on auto interior shop, they could match all the plastics and metal trim pretty closely as well.

If there are any holes in my logic please point them out, as I'd love to be able to do it myself and achieve my goals of having it match close enough to at least be up to factory standards.

[TKCR]

Well what I did was a lot of research and got lots of swatches for the headliner fabric and carpet. The seat was done with the same fabric and colors of the OEM seat. So with the seat, I used all the sample swatches and picked my carpet & headliner. I actually recovered my own headliner.
Then I moved onto the paint, I used Charcoal and painted all the plastic & metal pieces. I haven't had any issues with doing that. Also did the dash pad with the same paint.
The only thing I have changed since, is I bought and replaced the door panels, with the LMC panels. And the LMC panels were actually better than the one I had, so I'm happy with them.
My biggest challenge was the seatbelts. It was almost impossible to find a nice set of OEM charcoal belts, so I had to opt for aftermarket belts. But even those, I was able to find a pretty good match with the color. Don't get me wrong, it took a lot of time to finally find everything thing.

Check out my build thread, the link is there at the bottom of the page under the pics. You can see all the stages of my interior color change. It was maroon, but I changed it to charcoal. Here's just a before & after pic, but the build thread has more info & pics of the different areas of the truck.

[bennylava]

Looks good, is that carpet on the kick panel in the lower pic? Never thought about doing that but I like it. Does it interfere with anything in any way? Like closing the door or something?

[85/Silverado]

Where did you find the Chevrolet Floor mat?

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by bennylava

Looks good, is that carpet on the kick panel in the lower pic? Never thought about doing that but I like it. Does it interfere with anything in any way? Like closing the door or something?

Yes there is carpet on the kickpanels and they do not interfere with anything. You can buy them precut. I believe I got them from LMC and the carpet came from Trim Parts, but the colors match.

The pic is sideways, but when it came to the paint, I painted my speaker covers too with that same color.