"71 Lower Door Panels
 

Where in the world can a poor guy find lower panels for this year car. I've waited for thirty years for somebody to reproduce these. I don't care if they're black, red, purple, or whatever, I gotta do something. I wonder if Just dashes repairs these? Mine are in pretty sad shape. Has anybody else been stricken with this plague. Thank God for the internet.

After many years of searching, I coined this:

i'm guessing your talking about the ones for a custom interior?

No sir. Just the standard and deluxe lower half with the arm rest and map pockets.

Just Dashes can repair those,......for a price. The uglier they are, the more it'll cost you. Used ones are occationally out there, but bring healthy money too.

Deluxe I.E. Custom Interior...

Classic Industries has the custom door panels for a 71 in Black, Dark Saddle & Sandalwood for $270 pr. If you just want the lower door panel carpet Ames has it for $25 pr.

My apology bossbirdta, you were saying it right, I was hearing it wrong. I've been reading too many catalogs. I'm about numb from all this, and trying to make sure I get it right. thanks guys for taking time to help me.

I hope I'm on the right track here: My car was 10 years old when I got it. I always assumed it had the original door panels in it. My car came with standard 201 interior. They have the same look & features as the standard that Ames has for '70 & '71, but, with the overlapping add on lower panel attachment that has a built in arm rest and the map pocket insert, that no one seems to reproduce. Also there is no carpet at the bottom of my panel, just panel to the bottom. The carpet is reserved for the custom interior.

Am I right here? Didn't the '70-'71 custom door panels also had the same arm rest / map pocket type lower door panel attachment?

What are my options guys, send my ragged lowers to Just Dashes and have them rebuilt?
Or...run the custom interior door panels, so I at least have a strap to close the door with?
I gotta have something besides a bare door. My old ones are fugly.

As I understand it,1971 standard trim doorpanels (NO pull strap) were all by themselves.

A Camero hard plastic armrest was used that had a softer (vinyl) elbow pad & no map pocket.

They did not go down to the bottom of the door but used matching color vinyl down there instead of carpet.

71 Custom (deluxe trim) used the same as ALL 1970 Firebirds & T/A's with the soft vinyl armrest,change/map pockets & carpeted bottoms.

Apparently some early build birds got the soft vinyl armrests.

71 standard interior door panels come in two flavors; early and late.
Early means 8/70 to about 3/71 and these are identical to 70 other than color. That is they use the same armrest made of vinyl vacuum formed over foam with the integral pull handle-cup and map pocket.
Late - around Feb or March of 71 PMD decided to shave a couple bucks from the standard interior and switched over to the hard plastic armrest used by the Camaro since 2nd gen production began. The door panels themselves did not change, only the armrests.
I don't have a definitive date for the change as I believe that VN and Norwood may have differed by a couple weeks and color may have made a difference with regard to date.

My 04A Norwood car w/ 201 interir has the Camaro style armrests.
FWIW I picked up a set of repro door panels and will throw them on this summer so I can drive it while my originals are at Just Dashes. The repros look decent but the blue color is too dark so I'll respray them before installation. I'll post pictures when I get there.

Sent you a PM with my phone number. I may be able help you out. I have been experimenting with how to fix these myself and am getting close to having something decent. Also, I do have an OK set of red ones that I would probably sell.

Just Dashes told me that they charge $1500!!!!!! to do a set of those door panels. In 1998, when I had a pair of 71s done, it was $700.

if you check out my gallery you'll see a pic of the door you're asking about....i think...

Nice Formula! Love the color. I can almost see the R.H. lower door pocket panel arm rest, but not clearly. Does yours have the elevated arm rest pad like on the Camaros' , or is it the early style that is one continuous molded arm rest with the pocket insert?

thanks, its the early style that is one continuous molded arm rest with the pocket

Exactly what the heck are they going to do; build them from scratch?!

This is a very nice Formula! Be sure to let us know how you restore them and post some before and after photos.

Here are a few before and after shots of the first one I did. The foam underneath was really in decent shape and the panel was pretty straight so it went pretty well. There are a few small areas I am not happy with that I want to try to fix. They are not visible in these pictures.

Here is the second one I am working on. This one was a bit worse since it had been poorly re-covered at one point. When I peeled of the old vinyl I found some had glued down a thin sheet of foam over the original which made it too puffy. When I peeled that off, the foam underneath was really torn up (lots of large pits, like the moon surface). I used my dremel with a sanding wheel to smooth down the remaining glued on chunks. Then I used some Alex Plus silicone (brilliant white) as a filler. That works really well since it stays pliable, dries pretty quick, and is somewhat sandable. Plus it is cheap, I bought a tube of it at Walmart for $2. Use the brilliant white since it doesn't hardly shrink at all. The first time I used the clear but that shrinks a lot.

I am using 3M trim adhesive to glue down the new vinyl. One problem I am having is it seems to make the vinyl a little bumpy looking when I lay it down. I don't know if I am spraying on too much or what. It is not too bad though, its just not perfect like what I am shooting for. I am using the madrid grain vinyl and will spray dye it when I am done.

Overall, That looks just fantastic. Great work, and the best thing is YOU DID IT, not your check book. Stuff like this is what our hobby should be, not writing a check to Just Dashs for $2,000. JMHO

Looks great. Congrats.