INTERIOR
All commercial models used tar impregnated/oil hardened pressboard panels through 67. The panels were black and painted grey on the face. This includes the ceiling, door panels and kick panels. They were all held to the body using panel screws and finish washers. Pre Mar55 models used pressboard door pockets that were stapled together to form a square. Mar55- Mar61 used pre-formed pockets of the same material as well. Apr61 the pockets were discontinued and the church key was mounted to the kick panel. In Dec of 63 the screws were discontinued in favor of snaps to hold the panels to the doors. Screws were still used in other locations.
Headliner-
Single cabs used a 3 piece roof card assembly with 2 metal
strips (they were painted grey) to bridge the gap on each side of the fresh air
vent assembly.
Double cabs used a 4 piece roof card assembly but instead used 4 ceiling panel strips to cover all the gaps in between.
| Panel reproductions | |||||
| Clara makes excellent fitting panels for all applications and wood panels as well. She carries all years of headliner panels, kick panels, and door panels. The only drawback is they are not textured as original. | |||||
| Their panels are
a little thin and will warp in humidity, but the fit is pretty nice. There
is a slight texture to be seen but not as defined as originals. Make sure you coat the back of the panels with
something (try por-15 or a wood
weatherproof sealer of some sort) before installation, and on the doors attach
a sheet of plastic to the back and have it hang down inside the bottom of the door for
drainage like panels were originally.
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| 'Repop Ronnie' carry's
some
very nice panels. Closest texture/thickness to original I've seen so far. (not on his website - call) I recently picked up a set of these....here they are.. Realize that this is 1:1 scale (laid them both on the scanner) and one is nice and shiny paint, while one is old worn out paint. When you are standing back 3 feet, they look pretty close and definitely nicer then using plain hardboard. These panels are also fiberglass impregnated which means they will never warp.
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MAKE YOUR OWN |
Go down to
Home Depot or equivalent store and buy a 4x8 sheet of 1/8 hardboard which cost about 8
bucks and a can of grey spray paint. Get old panels as templates if possible. If not get
some construction paper and make patterns. If your truck takes snaps for the doors,
you'll have to sand the back side thinner so the snaps will hold. If it is the screw
kind (pre 64) it won't matter. Also you have to sand the edges of the roof panels so they
will fit the slots as well.. |
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