December
2001
In part 1 of "Cab
Interior: Doors" I mentioned the problem I had when
Copyright
©
2001-2006 by Johnny M. Patterson
Classic Parts
sent the wrong color door panels. I also said that I was pleased
with the way they handled the problem. Well, I'm still pleased
with the way they handled the problem, but I'm less than pleased with
the quality of the door panels they supplied.
I didn't really pay much attention
to the door panels when I first received them. On first view
they appeared to be good replicas of the original panels. The
only real difference I saw was that the replacement panels did not
have holes drilled in the panel to install the chrome trim around the
woodgrain panel inserts. I didn't think this was a big
deal. I
would just drill the holes myself. It sort of made sense that
they would not come pre-drilled because a lot of pickups didn't come
with the
woodgrain panel inserts. But, as I was soon to learn,
there were more differences than just not having pre-drilled holes.
When I began fitting the new
woodgrain panel inserts to the new door panels, in preparation for
drilling the holes, I discovered
the first problem. As you can see in this photo, the original
panel had a recessed groove molded into the panel to accept the
woodgrain panel inserts. The new panels did not have this recessed
groove. The new panels did have a recessed area (of sorts) but it
did not match the new
woodgrain panel inserts very well.
I think the problem may be that I
did not order the door panels and the woodgrain trim panels from the
same supplier. I ordered the door panels from
Copyright
©
2001-2006 by Johnny M. Patterson
Classic Parts. The only
woodgrain panel inserts they sold were replacements made of
plastic. I wanted the original metal woodgrain trim panels, so I
ordered them from C.A.R.S. INC.
The
woodgrain panel inserts were dead-on perfect replicas of the
original. About the only thing that can be said of the door
panels is that they are "reasonably" similar to the
originals.
I should have tried to return the
door panels when I first realized they were not very good
replicas. But, for whatever reason, I proceeded to try and make
them work.
When the
woodgrain panel inserts were positioned so that they fit reasonably
well in the new door panel "recess" area, the holes for
the door handles did not align properly, as you can see in this
photo. I decided it would be better for the handle holes to be slightly
off than for the whole
woodgrain panel insert to not be aligned within the recess area of the new panels. When I was satisfied with the
fit (which I never was entirely) I drilled the holes for the chrome trim.
Drilling the holes is when I
discovered the second problem with
the doors. On the original panels the areas that held the
plastic door clips used to attach the panel to the door are molded
into the
panel itself. On the new panels, these areas are molded
separately and then glued to the panels. The glue must not have
been too strong because (as shown in the photo), when I drilled the
holes for the chrome trim, these molded strips came unglued in several
areas. Well, having drilled holes in the panels, I was past the
point
of no return (literally), and so I was left with no choice but
to repair the strips. I mixed up a little epoxy and re-glued the
strip. I'm positive the epoxied areas will hold but I'm a little
worried about the parts of the strips that I didn't epoxy. I
guess time will tell.
After much tweaking, adjusting,
gluing, and cussing I got the
woodgrain panel inserts and the chrome
trim installed on the new
door
panels. I'm not entirely pleased with the results and I'm a
little
miffed at myself for not returning the door panels when I
discovered they were less than a desirable repro-
ductions. But,
all-in-all, they don't look too bad. If I don't mention the
poor fit of the
woodgrain panel inserts to anyone I doubt they will notice.
While I am not totally pleased with
how the door panels came out, I'm going to let it go for now.
Sometime in the future I may see if my original door panels will clean
up well enough to use them instead.
My wife just informed me that one
of the tires on Maych is flat, so I guess my next
project is to tackle the wheels. . .
While I was doing the doors, I
decided I might as well work on the door sills. I originally thought I would
replace the door sill plates. They
are one of the few trim items that aren't too terribly
expensive. But the more I thought about it, the more it occurred
to me that these were items that were going to be awfully hard to keep
looking like
new.
Oh, I guess
you could tell everyone getting in and out of
the truck to not step on the sill plate, but I don't think that
would work. So, I did the 0000 steel
wool trick and they shined up pretty good. Still lots of
scratches, but they didn't look to bad.
I did
decide to paint the insides. They were fairly rusted and I
didn't won't the rust on my new carpet or paint job. I did the
same painting routine as with the other trim items -- wash, mask, wipe
with lacquer thinner, two coats primer, two coats silver enamel.
To finish them off, I polished with Autosol.
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