1969 Roadrunner Door Panel Questions (A12) (pics inside)

In the process of restoring the black interior of my 69.5 A12 Roadrunner.

Like most of the A12's my car had the most basic interior, sometimes referred to as "taxi cab interior". My car came to me with the original back seat, and what I believe are the original door panels.

I ordered the basic roadrunner door panels from YearOne, which I believe are made by PUI.

I have some questions:

Did I buy the correct door panels? (rear panels pictured)







As you can see the pattern is not identical to the original, although it's very close. Also the new panels seem to have some plushness to them where as the originals are very flat, although I suppose they could have become that way over time.

Did ALL A12 Roadrunners (coupes and hardtops) have rear armrests?

When my car arrived the door panels were off, and I found that there were NO Holes punctured through what I believe to be the original door panels, yet, like the new door panels, they are pre-marked where the screws would go through so that the arm rest can be secured to the door frame.


Original Front Door Panel -Front


Original Front Door Panel -Back (not punctured)


Original Rear Interior Panel -Back (not punctured)

I've never seen a B body without arm rests, but I thought with the absence of these puncture holes I better ask in case it's an A12 thing.

If the rear panels don't use an arm rest, how are they secured? They don't appear to use clips like the front panels.




Thanks in advance!

While I don't have an original A12 car I can say the new panels are padded and the original are not. Just patterned vynil over hardoard.

The armrest thing is interesting though.

Nice thing about the padded style, if the vinyl is in good shape you can carefully peel it iff a bad backer and cut a new backer glue it back together. Does not work for unpadded.

You will have armrests but there are no window cranks on a coupe. I don’t think there are holes for the armrests except for (2) screw holes. Of course, they should be pre-located to make it easy to attach the armrests?

Base interior was Reed grain seat inserts, unpleated for most if not all of '68 run.
Seat inserts changed to the VW-Beetle-like pattern for '69 (and maybe some late '68s, as the flat Reed inserts were prone to stretching out and may have become a warranty annoyance)
The trim panel photos show both grains, the Reed being the "basketweave" type.
I'm not sure that the base trim panels actually changed from Reed to match the seats for '69, as I recall a couple of original base '69s that had Reed trim but the later seat inserts. Chrysler was cheap!
Rear armrests were optional for base coupe interiors for '68, & I think also '69; check the dealer order / option info on the Hamtramck Historical site.
Aftermarket trim cars have had slightly thicker padding than OEM for a long time, difference in appearance aggravated by the aging of the OEM panels.
Generally speaking, Legendary is more accurate than PUI.
Love base trim coupes, I've owned 3.

PUI does not have a good match for the Reed Grain, this is what the Reed grain looks like from Legendary.
69 Road Runner Door Panel

PUI is using more of a Rosette grain which is what the seat covers would have used.

As far as the rear panels, they use 3 clips each.

Are you a member here?

A12 Registry

As Dante mentioned Legendary are a way better choice for your door panels.

Your car has the M2 interior which means your car was ordered without the A87 Decor Package. So no rear armrest, no bright armrest pad bases, no stainless trim that holds in the top of your doorpanel, no chrome "post" on the outside...your car would remain bodycolour as it is now in your pics.

I've been using velcro to attach my doorpanels...you may laugh but it keeps them really flat, very secure, yet easy as pie to remove without damaging your panels. They sell it in black at Home Depot. I've used it on my front and rear panels. I also used that House Brand sound deadener that Summit sells....doors sound awesome when they close

Dave

Just to clarify, my pics are of my H2 car with the Decor Package. I was just trying to show how they look with the velcro attaching method.

Dave

Thank you to all who have taken the time to respond so far.

Ok, so Legendary over, PUI. I do like how the PUI panels match the insert/design of the seat covers that I have, which are from Legendary btw. But in the name of accuracy, the reed grain panels are correct. I'm not sure why I didn't consider getting the panels from legendary, since that's where I sourced my covers. I guess I figured they would all be very similar.

Dave, I have no issue using velcro, I've used it before on other projects, and it works well. Thank you for confirming that it also works well for this application.

You mentioned the A87 interior package. Did all A12 come this way? Would this code be on my fender tag? I cannot find a A87 on my fender tag, and the car came to me with the chrome post cover on the outside of the car, but of course I don't know if it was there since new.

This particular A12 was a very early unit (one of the first 20 cars built) and was not sold through a dealership. It was a test car used at Chrysler's Chelsea proving grounds before being sold as a factory backed race car - whcih has been confirmed. I have no idea if the atypical history of this specific car would potentially give it atypical features for an A12 car. It also had a early style K frame, but again, maybe it wasn't the one the car came with.

The A87 won't be on a Lynch Rd tag, but your interior code will be M2X.

If your car had the Decor Package it would be H2X.

The majority of A12 Road Runner Coupes will have the Decor Package, but there are known non decor cars.

Is your car on the A12 Registry? If you don't want to post your fender tag here you could send it to me at liftoffregistry at hotmail

I am curious as to how it was confirmed as a test car?

The K-frames were changing during the A12 run...with a few different variations being used.

Dave

Yep the very first few A12 Road Runners came without the A87 decor option and then it became a mandatory option for all RM21 A12 cars. Steering wheel should be the base non horn ring version too? Head on over to the A12 Playground and hang out......warning someone will ask for more photos

MikeR

My car is not on the registry yet, but as I get close to finishing it, I'd very much like it to be. I've owned it for about 6 years.

At this time I cannot confirm the proving grounds information, but I've spoken to the car's 2nd owner, as well as his race partner of many years who eventually became the car's unofficial third owner, and collected a great deal of information on the car. This information was told to me AFTER the purchase, which is why I believe it to be true. I just thought I was buying an A12 and had no idea about it's race history. Both individuals who collectively owned the car for nearly 30 years, provided the same (or very similar) details on how the original owner acquired the car from Chrysler, it's factory backed race car status, where it was delivered to, and the impressive number of well known guys who were involved in setting this specific car up for competition.

I'd be happy to send you the details of the fender tag. I'll do that here shortly. If you'd like I can also provide you information about the car's history, and what I've been told, if true, it's pretty amazing.

At the end of the day, the car is what it is, an A12. I'm always happy to learn more about it, no matter what that may be.

Yup, standard nothing fancy steering wheel.

I thought the non decor package Road Runners had rear armrests just no bright bezels or rear armrest ashtrays? Do your front armrests have the chrome plastic bezels or black ones? The stainless B pillar trim would seem to indicate it came the A87 Decor package? It would be nice to see a photo of the steering wheel. Lot more help if you go on the A12 website...

Just how many A12 RM21 cars came without the decor option?

FWIW I checked a number of 1969 Lynch Rd. Road Runner broadcast sheets:

all RM21s with M2_ DO NOT have C23 (rear arm rests) coded
all RM21s with M6_ have A87 (décor package), C55 (bucket seats) & C23 coded
all RM21s with H2_ have A87 & C23 coded

all RM23s have C23 coded

I also show RM21 A12 cars with the base M2_ interior built at least into the first week of June

I know someone with an A12 with H2X and it doesn't have the chrome pillar trim. I don't know what all else it has for decor package wise, but he said it never had them. His horn was also mounted lower than the other RR's for some reason. It was never removed from what he remembers. It has the chrome behind the front armrests, Half horn ring, remote mirror, and fender turn signals. It was also missing the bird decal on the dash.

Here are two pictures of my A12's steering wheel, very basic. I'm nearly 100% it is original to the car, although it was painted. As previously mentioned, this is a very early A12 car. It's been several years since I've spoken with him, but I'm nearly certain that Dave Watt believed this car to be the first 97 Rallye Green A12 car.





I'm aware the shifter handle and knob are not correct for the car.

The K-frame date would be most interesting. Are there any dates on the door panels? I guess I need to go back and re-read the thread again


MikeR

The "original" doors panels in your picture are not original. Those are early reproductions.
Unpadded, crude an missing holes, no Chrysler date stamp.
From my experience the PUI panels and upholstery just don't look right either.

FYI, My RM21M9A is an early car with M2T original interior side panels. I'm doing some work on the car and have the front panel off and the rear one is still in. My car has no rear arm rests. And the base for the fronts are not chrome. Here they are...

Interesting, thank you. This would make sense because they were off the car, and the front door panels were not punctured which was part of my confusion. I appreciate your insight.

Thank you for the pictures. Although I do like that the PUI panels match my Legendary seat covers, I'm going to send the PUI panels back and get the more accurate Legendary panels that are similar in appearance to the original with the reed insert pattern. I also need to get the standard arm rest bases as well.

My RR has the same panels as your stock one's. My car does not have rear armrests and like the previous poster, my fronts are not chromed. My car is a base model RR, not an A12 car.

Yup, armrest bases molded in color for base Bel/RR coupe interior.
Funny thing is my '68 base interior RR had the polished stainless trim panel retainer moldings, had its original interior. Amusing because it probably cost Chrysler more to have painted ones in the 3 different colors than to run the stainless in all.
So, it looks like the painted retainer moldings were a '69 deal, unless my car was an anomaly - 9/30/67 St Louis car - but that's a topic for a separate thread.
None of my base trim coupes had the exterior B-pillar stainless center molding, but all of my Decor coupes did.

I am really interested in the velcro solution to holding panels in place. How do you attach the velcro to the back of the fiberboard panels? Which Glue? Same with attachment to the metal door?

Additionally, I can not see a thing on the pictures, black velcro, black paint; it all blends together on the picture.

Is there a reference site to get more information on this?

Thanks!

You can buy velcro with attaches like two sided tape, basically you pull off the paper and stick it down. You may want to look around and get the thinnest possible stuff. I will try and find what I used and post up a pic for you.

Dave