‘71 vert interior rear seat panels

Well, it has taken 2 1/2+ years of searching, but I finally located a decent set of these unobtainable ‘71 only vert. rear panels. Not perfect, but definitely restorable. Even the right colour to start. Will be a definite upgrade over my recently restored original panels, albeit they come complete with speaker hole cut outs...

I don't understand. How is 71 different??

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I don't understand. How is 71 different??

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The main difference is the seat belt allocations. '71 belts did not come up through these panels, they were located along the length of the rear seat. At some point in late '71 into the early '72 models I believe, they changed and put an insert in the actual side panel to allow the seat belt to retract back into the panel. Therefore, an additional cut insert in each panel to accomadate the seat belts sitting against them when retracted. These would not look correct on my car, even if you could find them in good shape.

Additionally, and where I bit the bullet on these panels. my car did not come with the interior decor option, so there should also be no hole in the passenger side panel for the ash tray. The panels I found have the hole, but I can live with an ash tray vs having fake speaker covers on each panel...

slit for seatbelt on the 72/73?

Mark

P.S. You are write about hard to get white convt panels! I needed a set and was at Ford Carlisle back in 2006. SOMEONE said "Oh a guy just sold a set of white ones!" Missed by minutes.

slit for seatbelt on the 72/73?

Mark

P.S.  You are write about hard to get white convt panels!  I needed a set and was at Ford Carlisle back in 2006.  SOMEONE said "Oh a guy just sold a set of white ones!"  Missed by minutes.

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I have white panels too. I painted them with SEM paint and they came well.

I have white panels too. I painted them with SEM paint and they came well.

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Nice work! My originals are painted with this product also, came out nice also.

My original 73 white panels are in my attic They have speaker holes in them but I figured one day I would fix that and recover them.

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Well, it has taken 2 1/2+ years of searching, but I finally located a decent set of these unobtainable ‘71 only vert. rear panels. Not perfect, but definitely restorable. Even the right colour to start. Will be a definite upgrade over my recently restored original panels, albeit they come complete with speaker hole cut outs...

Click to expand...

Is it the lack of seat belt holes that makes 71 panels different than 72 and 73?