1963 Early Gas Door

[Jerry C.]

Anyone restoring early gas doors? Thanks in advance.

[Harry S.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Jerry, not that I know of. It's probably because the four tabs that bend over break when you take it apart. I seem to recall a thread on this several years back but I can' find it in the archives.

[Don H.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

might this be it?
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/archive/...p/t-86255.html

better version
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...el-filler-door

[Harry S.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

I just looked at my Judging Sheets from a Regional. I lost 1 point for the reproduction gas lid (early style). I probably would have lost 1 point on condition if I left the original on the car. The chrome and tabs on my original are fine, the emblem is faded. It's a 5 point condition line made up of chrome, bezel and emblem.

The reproduction looks better for driving around but from a $$$ perspective I could have saved $170.00 because there was no point benefit.

[Joe R.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Here's a few pics of my collection of early 63 Gas Doors.
All original backs, bezels and emblems. At one time I had a real early white face but it found it's way onto a red FI Coupe and into someones collection in NC. You know who!

JRDSCN4359.jpgDSCN4360.jpgDSCN4358.jpgDSCN4357.jpg

[Frank D.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

I saw a repaired door on a '63 roller door at Howie-in-the-Hills. Yes the tabs were broken off and all-in-all the repair was an ugly affair.
Prob a toss up whether or not to live with a faded emblem or a nice emblem with an obvious repair.

[Martin M.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Jerry Cribbs of the Northeast chapter was doing them successfully at one time.

Marty

[Tom D.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Joe Ray: At the very top of all your early '63 gas door photos, there is a notch in the part that holds the door to the body. Did this notch go away in later 1963, for the redesign that included all the other changes to make the "Late '63" version?

Except for the dimple in the middle of the back, it looks to me as if the underside redesign for late 1963 fuel door held up until 1968. Did the dimple appear in mid or late 1965? Did the number on the hinge ever change? Any other back side changes from late '63 to 1967?

Thanks

[Joe R.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Joe Ray: At the very top of all your early '63 gas door photos, there is a notch in the part that holds the door to the body. Did this notch go away in later 1963, for the redesign that included all the other changes to make the "Late '63" version?

Except for the dimple in the middle of the back, it looks to me as if the underside redesign for late 1963 fuel door held up until 1968. Did the dimple appear in mid or late 1965? Did the number on the hinge ever change? Any other back side changes from late '63 to 1967?

Thanks

Hi Tom:

The casting used for L63-67 was exacly the same, with the same casting number in the hinge area. The dimple in the backing plate apeared in early '65 and persisted through '67. The only other difference I have noted is very subtle. For '63-'64, the hinge was a stainless alloy with a dull finish, and it will stick to a magnet. For '65-'67, the stainless alloy changed to a non-magnetic type that had a bright polished surface similar to chrome.

[Tom D.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Joe - Thanks. The fuel door from 1965 number 1616 does not have a dimple.

[John D.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

The repro roller gas door is a work of art. AS Harry said its' only a one point deduction. Worth considering. One should be more worried about passing the operations check as the point deduction is high.
My 63 has one of the first repros every made in the old days. No logo or identication marks on it as it came from Long Island Corvette. Probably in the 80's. I have an assortment of used roller doors but together and apart but none would be good enough to use.

[Joe R.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Joe - Thanks. The fuel door from 1965 number 1616 does not have a dimple.

Hi Tom:

Yes, that sounds like what might be expected. My imprression is that only very early production '65 lids had the non-dimple backing plate. I have looked at perhaps 50 original '65 lids at swap meets, and have encountered only one that did not have the dimple.

I don't have a '65 JG, but I'm told that it contains language that says either style is acceptable, at least for early production.

[Tom D.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Joe: The '65 JG, on page 71, says the inner plate "obtained" a tapered dimple "early in production". Here is a photo of the one from no. 1616.
The JG goes on to state the dimensions of the dimple. I think because the "repro dimple" has a slightly different shape or size.

[Joe R.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

Joe: The '65 JG, on page 71, says the inner plate "obtained" a tapered dimple "early in production". Here is a photo of the one from no. 1616.
The JG goes on to state the dimensions of the dimple. I think because the "repro dimple" has a slightly different shape or size.

Hi Tom:

As far as I can tell (and I have studied midyear gas lids closely), the non-dimple backing plate in the early '65 lids is exactly identical to the one used for L63-64. The ones that showed up in '65 were just a carryover as the new dimpled plates were phased in.

Furthermore, the only difference in the later backing plates was the dimple itself. Everything else was the same as the non-dimpled backing plate.

I'm not sure why the dimple was added. I read somewhere the theory that GM wanted to add some support to the center of the emblem to help prevent cracking when gas station attendants closed the lid with the palm of their hand. I don't think the dimple would help much with this because it is not actually in contact with the back of the emblem. By the time the plastic insert flexes enough to touch the dimple, the insert is already cracked.

In any event, I think we have covered just about all the known differences among the L63-67 lids. The only other difference that I can think of is the screw used to retain the latch plunger. In early years they had an unthreaded portion of the screw shank just below the head, but by 1967 most of them were fully threaded. Some people claim that this change happened right at the change to the '67 model year, but I have seen a mix in original '65-'67 lids.

[Tom D.]

Re: 1963 Early Gas Door

I found a guy who says the following about the spot welds that hold the (second design gas door) latch on the back side...

"Those three spot welds are really only two spot welds. The one you guys think is a third spot (more defined than the others) is really a locater pin. Take a door apart and see the indentations that the two center spots line up with."

I have not got a door that I want to take apart. Any comments on this?