The rear interior panel of my 67 GT500 has been cut for speakers. This is the piece that has the round interior lights. The cutout is in the rounded area near the door striker. I want to replace the panels but don't know what they are called or where to get them. Please help with advise.
Walt Weems
Fiberglass or metal panels? The speakers are usually mounted in the trap door ( The door all the way to the rear) or the quarter trim ( on the side of the fold down seats where the roll bar comes though.) They are both available from several sources like NPD, but they are different than the OE parts.
-Keith
The side panels are plastic/fiberglass and as stated the aftermarket one I'm aware of are plastic and not acceptable to me. Maybe that has changed?
Need to find good used NOT easy to do or there is a guy that repairs them, not sure about the trap door. Others have use him and maybe they will post that info again.
agree with keith buy the ones the vendors have for now, then find originals off a donor car. good luck in your search
Quote from: 1967 eight barrel on January 20, 2019, 06:55:13 AM
Fiberglass or metal panels? The speakers are usually mounted in the trap door ( The door all the way to the rear) or the quarter trim ( on the side of the fold down seats where the roll bar comes though.) They are both available from several sources like NPD, but they are different than the OE parts.
-Keith
I call them "Interior rear side panels". And, just so eveyone knows this: The very early cars did not have removable rear seat latch covers. Sometime in December or January Fomoco added the removable covers so the latch could be adjusted without taking the car apart. You need to know which ones you need, early or late.
It would take time but maybe you can trade your "speakered" panels to someone who is about to get the saw out on theirs to install some speakers.
I have a December vehicle with the removable latch covers.
Larry Zobeck 586-904-0007 did both my quarter and seat trim panels. He's done these panels for some other forum members as well. Quality work at a reasonable price - I don't get to say that very often these days.
If you need I can PM his email address.
Larry repaired the speaker holes in my quarter panels as well and did an amazing job.
Larry is well worth the money.
Anyone know how I can tell if my interior rear side panels are original or repro?
Walt Weems
There will be a part number on the back. It is hard to miss and starts C7ZB-63xxxxxxx.
Here are the early (left) and later (right) seat latch areas that "roddster" was referring to.
Also here is the back side of a panel and close-up of the part info molded into it.
Any one care to more closer pin down the early/late break point. Might have been an early December thing. I'm sure Fomoco got pinched in a couple of warranty claims with the early cars.
Rod, That may be why it's hard to pin down a date. Even those with the metal latch cover are often damaged. It may be many were replaced under warranty by Ford for the two piece style.
-Keith
Quote from: roddster on January 22, 2019, 10:06:04 AM
Any one care to more closer pin down the early/late break point. Might have been an early December thing. I'm sure Fomoco got pinched in a couple of warranty claims with the early cars.
IMHO this is one of those details that we should turn to non-Shelbys for assistance since there are allot more examples of those and in turn less of them that have been changed out for the more common version over the years ;)
Thinking out loud I wounder if the guy that repairs them could convert a later version into the earlier, more difficult to find, version. Sure would help a fair number of owners
Jeff: If he had an example in hand there's no reason he couldn't make a mold of the area for conversion. He obviously has the ability to replicate the texture and replace holes the size of 6X9 speakers. Perhaps someone should contact him and query.
-Keith
Yeah, I wonder what he can do for sanded down interior rear quarter panels?
Does he re-texture the whole panel? My 65 has suffered this "sanding" fate.
Quote from: 1967 eight barrel on January 22, 2019, 05:32:25 PM
Jeff: If he had an example in hand there's no reason he couldn't make a mold of the area for conversion. ..
That's what I was thinking
Think asking for the ability to retexture the whole surface might be a big ask Bill but doesn't hurt to ask
There is one for sale C8ZB-6331112-A - it has the FORD logo. Supposed to be for 67-68 Mustang and Shelby. Anyone know if this looks OK.
Walt Weems
67 panels are different if memory serves correctly.
In regards to the rear quarter panels. How are most people restoring these panels. 1. Prep and cleaning for the initial finish ? 2. Has anyone tried staining or vinyl paint? Thanks Steve
clean and light coat of black or very dark gray primer then paint if doing the charcoal metallic "black" ('67 black interior on the fiber-plastic and metal surfaces - but not the seat backs or lower trim pieces) does not cover well and needs a base.
JD , Thanks. My panels appear to have been painted at sometime. Someone had recommended using Easy Off oven cleaner to remove the previous paint. Does that sound like the proper method? Thanks
Yes, Easy off works great as long as it's OE paint. You have to use the yellow can. The blue can will not work. If it was re-sprayed you may have to have them plastic media blasted at low pressure.
-Keith
Steve Z, I used Easy Off on my interior panels to strip the paint and it worked very well - meaning the paint came off but the texture of the panel remained unharmed. A couple of tips: 1) you must use the Heavy Duty Easy Off in the yellow can, the blue can does not remove the paint 2) buy some sheet plastic from the local hardware store. After coating the entire panel with Easy Off, cover with the sheet plastic to slow evaporation. I let mine sit overnight 3) after the Easy Off has had time to work and you have removed the plastic, use a pressure nozzle on the end of a garden hose to help remove the paint 4) you may need to repeat this process several times until all the paint is removed. I had to repeat this process four times letting them soak overnight each time. The Easy Off is not an aggressive paint remover, but that is why it works well on these panels and does not remove the grain. A close up of the interior quarter panel near the roll bar is attached.
Note, many years ago I tried the Aircraft Paint Stripper sold at auto parts stores. That was a BIG mistake on these panels as I found it melted the panel and all texture was gone.
Jeff
Aircraft Stripper makes a Fiberglass/ Plastic compatible stripper. However, the Easy Off in the yellow can as I had mentioned above is available everywhere and reasonable price wise. Be SURE if you decided to leave it over night that you do NOT let it dry. It becomes difficult to get off. I actually used a plastic Bondo spreader to scrape off the majority. I sent my spousal unit to the mall shopping and I washed them off in the shower. I had to purchase a couple of other panels which wound up having to be blasted with plastic media. The texture does stay in tact.
-Keith
Quote from: JWH on February 08, 2019, 04:04:03 PM
Steve Z, I used Easy Off on my interior panels to strip the paint and it worked very well - meaning the paint came off but the texture of the panel remained unharmed.......
+1 Used this technique for years and have been happy with the results
Never had to leave it over night but yes it can evaporate requiring the sheeting or multiple applications. Also since this is airborne lye protect your eyes and exposed skin and spray down wind ;)
I forgot to warn him to wear gloves. It burns skin too. Good catch, Jeff!
-Keith
I started to use the easy off and really like it . Yes it is important to use the the yellow can that has lye in it .I had to do multiple coats . I would apply let it do it's thing scrub with a plastic brush and water then re apply and do it all again . Depending on what is on the interior panels will determine how many applications you will have to do. I had one set that had 3 different colors (layers)and it took 4 times before it was all off but they looked nice and clean once done.
Thank you for the information. It really helps to learn from other peoples knowledge. That was on of my concerns with the Easy Off is not to hurt the original grain texture. Thank you Steve