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Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? #1624706
05/25/14 10:37 AM
05/25/14 10:37 AM
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,526
North Carolina
cjskotni Offline OP
pro stock
cjskotni  Offline OP
pro stock

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,526
North Carolina
Guys,

This fall, if funds permit, I may try to get my front door panels put together and finish this darn car up.

I know there are quite a few poor quality reproduction molded door panels out there. Who makes the best ones? I always heard that you want 'injection molded' IIRC?

I will be needing the seat backs and lower front door panels for my 1973 Charger. Who makes the best ones?

Thanks!

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: cjskotni] #1624707
05/25/14 09:53 PM
05/25/14 09:53 PM
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,454
Morristown Tn.
7
71birdJ68 Offline
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71birdJ68  Offline
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Posts: 4,454
Morristown Tn.
I'm not sure who makes the best door panels, I think metro does, but I just bought some seat backs from Year one, that are excellent, and they are cheaper than anybody else's.

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: 71birdJ68] #1624708
05/25/14 11:37 PM
05/25/14 11:37 PM
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 201
Waterford, MI
J
JAK Offline
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JAK  Offline
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Posts: 201
Waterford, MI
To my knowledge nobody reproduces a good 71 and later b body lower door panel. You would be better off trying to locate a nice original set.

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: JAK] #1624709
05/25/14 11:43 PM
05/25/14 11:43 PM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 118
Conyers, Georgia
7
72chargerz Offline
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72chargerz  Offline
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Posts: 118
Conyers, Georgia
JAK is correct. There are no good lower panels reproduced for these cars.

They are all terrible.

PALCO may be slightly better than Accuform, but that is not saying much...and most certainly is not an endorsement.

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: 72chargerz] #1624710
05/26/14 08:59 AM
05/26/14 08:59 AM
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,526
North Carolina
cjskotni Offline OP
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cjskotni  Offline OP
pro stock

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,526
North Carolina
Quote:

JAK is correct. There are no good lower panels reproduced for these cars.

They are all terrible.

PALCO may be slightly better than Accuform, but that is not saying much...and most certainly is not an endorsement.




Yeah that's what I was afraid of.

Well I have never seen a decent set of the original panels I am going to spend the $$$ on. They all seem chalky and I have a white interior so they are yellowed and don't match the new stuff. Unless NOS just falls into my lap, I have to go aftermarket. I know you can paint them but whatever these are made of doesn't seem to be in too good of shape after 40+ years when you can run your nail over them and they turn to dust.

I just will need to settle for now for the 'best' of what the aftermarket has. I can always swap them later if better panels come my way.

Who sells the PALCO? Would you go direct or does YearOne or Legendary sell those?

Thanks!

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: cjskotni] #1624711
05/26/14 09:52 AM
05/26/14 09:52 AM
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 201
Waterford, MI
J
JAK Offline
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JAK  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 201
Waterford, MI
If I remember correctly the palco panels have a smoother and a glossy appearance and wont match the rest of your interior. I would try and find some good originals in any color and paint them to match your interior.

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: JAK] #1624712
05/26/14 11:44 AM
05/26/14 11:44 AM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,112
sw michigan
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TB3CUDA Offline
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TB3CUDA  Offline
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sw michigan
bought a set of the palco panels for a 73 cuda i had,they are not very nice,they have more plastic in them and do not fit correctly,the drivers side chipped and cracked.the pass side did not fit at all.the original panels have more rubber and are flexable,the repos kinda remind me of model car plastic,and are not flexable at all.i have 3 sets of white door panels front and back that are pretty nice,if you dont find decent repops.and i almost forgot,i paid $700.00 for them cheap plastic cuda panels.only reason i bought them is the car had a blue interior and it came from out west so the panels had all the grain worn off,and turned green.

Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: TB3CUDA] #1624713
05/26/14 12:24 PM
05/26/14 12:24 PM
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 892
MA
steve70 Offline
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steve70  Offline
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MA
There's a set in the "parts for sale" section here http://www.71chargerrtregistry.com/


1970 Challenger T/A 4 speed
Re: Best 1971-1974 B-body Lower Door Panels? [Re: steve70] #1624714
05/27/14 12:51 AM
05/27/14 12:51 AM
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 118
Conyers, Georgia
7
72chargerz Offline
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72chargerz  Offline
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 118
Conyers, Georgia
Bottom line is that if you want to keep a white interior, you don't have any good options. NONE. Good used ones are basically non existent.

Personally, I chose to ditch my white interior, switch to black and use used panels, freshened up with a very light dusting of SEMS Landau black. Look like new, with correct texture.

Buy the repro's...and you will end up with a Hodge-podge of panel grains and shades of white.

If I absolutely had to keep the interior white, I would buy the lightest color lower panels I could find (probably a light tan/gold set) that were not chaulky...and dye them to match, knowing that they will have to be "touched" up with some regularity. This route is both the cheapest and best looking, but will require maintenance.







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