Hi guys I am new to the forum. I am looking for some info on my interior restoration. When I first bought the car 4 years ago I thought I would keep it all original, but due to engine problems I had to replace the 357 stock with a Blue Print 350. The guy that replaced it did a great job; ceramic headers, shored up driveway train, radiator, basically everything under the hood.
Now my son and I are finally turning our attention to the red interior. We have decided to do a two tone with black and red.
Having said all that I have a question about door panels. I am wondering if the door panels from a a 1970 or 72 would mount easily on the 68 or would it need modification.

 

Welcome to the Forum!

The panels themselves will I believe, but they're not a direct bolt on. The 68 door doesn't have provision for attaching the 69-77 door pulls, and if you leave the pulls off you'll have no way to pull the door closed from the inside. Also, the inner wipes used on 68 doors are different and install differently than 69-77, and if I remember right the 68 door is a little different at the top because of the 68 only inner (and outer) wipes, which might necessitate some mods to the top of the door to hang the panels?

I think your best bet would be to try and find a used 69-77 panel to see what would need to be done to hang the later panels.

 

Thanks for the insight. I didn’t realize the door pulls bolted to the door frame.
I was considering later model door panels because of the insert on the panel. I would like to two tone the panel black with red inserts. I guess I will need to figure out a different method.

 

I think putting later door panels on your '68 would be an improvement...but it would take some modification of the inner door structure (as mentioned above). I had a '68 many years ago. I could live with the fact it had 'weird' fingertip door pulls, but it was a PITA most of the time. If you have decent DIY skills, you could modify your inner door structure to accept later panels. Otherwise, you will have to go with refurbished or new '68 door panels.

 

Hello there jtdabbs@yahoo.com

I have a early 1968 model as well and it was made in the first week of October of 1967.

There are several nice Interior parts that are all from the same company. Al Knoch Interiors is located in Texas but they have the very best interior parts, carpeting, dash panels and much more. The people at alknochinteriors.com will help you as they sell the original style parts for your interior. I have one of their Carpeting kits along with Leather Seat Covers, Convertible top replacement, dash panels and more. When I bought my top I got a DVD with "How to Install your new Top" on it.

If new parts are not available then Al and company could likely fix your originals better than new. Al makes parts that are NCRS approved and is a man with a great deal of dignity. He stands behind his parts and is a great guy to boot! The door panels do make the interior a bit tighter for some folks comfort. It is pure 1968 with no pockets in the dash board or soft door pulls in our cars. To me it just looks cleaner without the extra parts.

The 1968 is such a unique Corvette for the C3 series that it deserves extra attention to keep them that way. Be sure to save your 327 block that came with your Corvette. Those 327's are amazing engines and bound to pop up in value at some point.

Enjoy your 1968 Corvette!

 

Thanks for the heads up about Al Knoch.
I have been scouring any corvette sight I can find for parts; ie.,, seats, carpet, door panels, A pillars.
I noticed my turn signal still blinking after ignition turned off! I suspect I may need a new turn signal harness. Horn not working either.

 

There is another tool that I highly recommend for Corvette owners. Since we have a plastic car with few grounding surfaces we have had issues with electrical parts since the early days. Being able to effectively repair the electrical system is a great thing to be able to do ourselves.

The tool is called a Power Probe and it is one of the most commonly used tools on my Corvettes. I really love using the Power Probe 3 because when I find a loose wire in my C3 I can check for voltage or even apply voltage or ground to the wire to see what it activates. I am able to troubleshoot power windows by applying power directly to the motor first and then apply it further down line to find the problem in the wiring.

This is from the Power Probe website and it describes the features of the PP 3:

"The original Power Probe 3 uses a 20' cable which attaches to the vehicle’s battery, allowing the user to perform an electrical test anywhere in, or around the vehicle. The PP3 is a Voltmeter and Continuity Tester, with Audible & Visual indicators along with two LED headlights to light up your work area. This circuit tester also supplies Battery Voltage or Ground to activate components. This powerful time-saver tool is perfect for every level of technician".

Power Probe makes more complicated versions of the Power Probe for other applications. I also have a Power Probe 4 which is nice because it can also graph as well. The PP 4 is oriented towards EFI system maintenance where the PP 3 is perfect for the C3's. The PP3 is also less expensive than the PP 4.

Before going too far along be sure to speak with Al Knoch or one of his staff about what they can offer you. They can package parts and fix a lot of issues in the seats. I bought a set of seat covers from Al Knoch interiors and we struggled to get them on. A year and a half later, a thread broke on the front of the drivers seat. I showed Al at a Corvettes@Carlisle show and he asked me to return both seats to his shop. I sent them back and when they returned the two seats looked brand new. They cleaned the base and polished the hardware, then they installed new foam and new leather seat covers. The backs on my seats were not in the best shape originally, but when they returned, they looked like new. They had completely overhauled my two seats and made them "better than new". It cost me nothing because AL KNOCH is a Man of Integrity and he refused to charge me for the work done to fix my seats. Not only does he make some great parts but he stands behind his products. I am now a Customer for Life with Al Knoch interiors and will be until I am no more.

By the way, the people who make the Power Probe are now making devices to track down Parasitic drains. They just introduced a new device called a

Power Probe PPDRAW Parasitic Drain Monitor

It plugs into the OBD connector and monitors any drains on the electrical system. It sounds like something that could be quite useful even though it is $230. It will even graph the parasitic drains that you are dealing with. Check out the Power probe website at the following link:

https://www.powerprobe.com/

 

Are door panels for early or late '77? Do 1978 panels fit?

 

Checked with Al Knoch and bought carpet. As for the door panels they don’t come with door pulls installed. Since early 68 has the fingertip pulls does anyone know where to get them?

 

If you 'dry fit' the later door panels to your '68 door frame, you can mark where the bolts need to go for the later door pulls. They need to go in at an angle for all to fit well, But I think you could build up a bit of JB Weld stick-type epoxy between the door panel and the metal door substrate, then drill the proper sized hole thru the epoxy AND the substrate so all would fit together well when the bolts were installed. You will need to verify that the bolt lengths are such that no window mechanism or glass would interfere; but I think it won't be a problem to do that.

Good luck with your project.

P.S. to make the epoxy stick well to the substrate, you might drill a couple of small holes a bit away from where the bolt will fit, so that epoxy can fill them and get a good hold on the surface.

 

You can get the fingertip pulls at the normal Corvette retailers. Just search for "1968 Corvette Door Pull Insert" or "1968 Corvette Door handle Insert".