Door Panel Judging Questions

[Rick R.]

My 67 coupe has original door panels. The driver's side is excellent, the passenger side is very nice, with the exception being the often seen split in the vinyl at the very aft end of the arm rest trim. This does bug me, and I plan to replace that panel with a new Al Knoch piece. My questions are these: As far as judging goes, am I better off presenting the car with the repo panel, or the original panel with the defect? Which one would take the biggest deduction? My understanding is that the grain is slightly different in the repo panels, and that they get an originality deductions for that. I also have heard of possible deductions for wrinkling/fit of the vinyl on repos, particularly in the arm rest area. Thanks.

Rick

[Brian M.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

I'd go with the original door panels.

[Gary J.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

Go with the original, take the conditions points and move on...

[Donald H.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

I can tell you from experience that the Al Knoch door panels do not fit very well. At the Altoona Regional I got a 7 point (40%) Originality deduct for FIT and Heavy Grain.

If your originals are in good shape other than a small split you may only get a 3 point deduct (20%) for condition.

Regarding reproduction door panel fit, I have two friends who have Corvette America door panels, one 66 coupe and one 67 convertible, and theirs fit much better than my 66 coupe Al Knoch panels.

Don

[Rick R.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

I can tell you from experience that the Al Knoch door panels do not fit very well. At the Altoona Regional I got a 7 point (40%) Originality deduct for FIT and Heavy Grain.

If your originals are in good shape other than a small split you may only get a 3 point deduct (20%) for condition.

Regarding reproduction door panel fit, I have two friends who have Corvette America door panels, one 66 coupe and one 67 convertible, and theirs fit much better than my 66 coupe Al Knoch panels.

Don

Don, this is exactly the kind of input I was looking for. Thanks for posting.

Rick.

[Keith B.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

beside most judges would rather see original parts installed and be more forgiving on condition. with that said the newer CA panels fit better then the old AK panels but it took a bit of work to make them fit fine. still not as good as original. keep what you have

[Michael M.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

You can have the split in the panel repaired. You might have to search to find someone but I know of people that do repair the panels.

[Larry M.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

You can have the split in the panel repaired. You might have to search to find someone but I know of people that do repair the panels.

Agree. Talk to local car club members and New/Used Car Dealers in your area and find out who they use for vinyl and leather repairs. There is almost always someone in the area that can do this.

Also search "auto vinyl trim repair" on the web for your area.

Larry

[Phillip M.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

Rick,
Gene Manno wrote an extensive article in the last edition of Corvette Restorer, Volume 44, Number 3, on restoring door panels. He suggests using "Super Glue" to repair tears in the vinyl - check it out.
Phil

[Rick R.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

Great info. Thanks for your posts. Much appreciated!
Rick

[Peter L.]

Re: Door Panel Judging Questions

Donald - I agree with everyone about keeping the original panels & follow up on Michael's suggestion & find someone who can repair the panels.
FYI, I had the driver's side door panel on our '67 repaired 20 or so years ago at the back of the arm rest when we lived Illinois & it has held up. Of course the real secret is to not use arm rests, but since we didn't buy the car originally when we bought it in 1983 it came equipt with the damaged
but original door panel. Pete