Very nice Rosewood Speaker/door Cover Panels

https://www.ebay.com/itm/80-86-Ford-F150-F250-F350-Door-Panel-Woodgrain-Rosewood-Inserts-Speaker-Grills/164391367354?hash=item26467d32ba:g:OCoAAOSwpo9fZj2E

Those are beautiful!  And fairly rare, especially in what looks to be perfect condition.  And the price is good!

Most if not all of the tabs look to be broken so they're pretty worthless without an alternative mounting solution.

They definitely didn't design them to be removed and reinstalled easily.
Shaun - was it you that had the aluminum ones? Assume those survived better?

I really like these panels but like the ones in the listing, it's hard to find them where the crank hasn't dug into them.

kramttocs wrote

They definitely didn't design them to be removed and reinstalled easily.
Shaun - was it you that had the aluminum ones? Assume those survived better?

I really like these panels but like the ones in the listing, it's hard to find them where the crank hasn't dug into them.

Yes, and it's been a long time but I believe at least 75% of my tabs were still present as I was very careful when I removed them and installed them. I tried pulling a plastic set in the junkyard once, and that was when I learned just how brittle the plastic tabs were. Almost all of them snapped right off at the most delicate of touches.

Double sided 3m tape

TheScatch wrote

Double sided 3m tape

I agree.  With pieces that nice I'd find a way to mount them, even w/o the tabs.

I've never seen those aluminum pieces anywhere else.  Those looked amazing.  

Scott, I’ve run into the aluminum type a couple of times and I believe I may still have a beat up pair. I have quite a few of these panels that I collected with the intent to clone the brushed aluminum finish. Personally I think the plastic ones survived better, especially for crank windows. The aluminum ones are thin metal over press board. Both like to warp, but the cranks rub the woodgrain off the aluminum ones leaving big bright silver arcs where the crank rubs. The plastic ones have the woodgrain applied over brown paint, and the plastic behind that is brown or black. In general the plastic does not show scratches as bad. In general the thicker plastic ones look and feel more robust, but that may just be my bias.

On the pair for sale, note that they have been very aggressively cleaned, and probably polished with wax. The silver pin stripes are completely rubbed off. The seller probably thought this was an improvement over partial lines. The cloth over the speaker slots is also missing. I’m betting if there were any tabs left he broke them off for uniformity and trying not to draw attention to it. They are a decent price, and not badly scratched, but I would have preferred to receive them before the seller “cleaned them up”. One advantage of the aluminum ones is that the pin stripes are aluminum showing through the rosewood print so they can’t wear off...







As for mounting, many have used adhesive. This might be the best answer, but I was wanting to try to epoxy elevator bolts to the 4 corners and thin nuts on the back side of the panel (with thread locker and trim the elevator bolt flush). I still need to investigate if there is enough clearance for this.

Thanks - great info and photos. I was assuming the aluminum were a single solid piece.

kramttocs wrote

Thanks - great info and photos. I was assuming the aluminum were a single solid piece.

Unfortunately not, they are thin aluminum over press board.

That photo is perfect. I had no idea they were that different.

Also, if you get a chance - can you check out my question here? Seems like it might be something you know about.