1960-1965 Kick Panel Replacement

1960-1965 Kick Panel Replacement
By Dick Harrington
Forty plus years takes its toll on plastic parts.
Plastic parts warp, get brittle, scratched or just
plain break. If the kick panels on your 1960
through 1965 Falcon are still original, they more
than likely could use replacing. As discussed in a
previous article, there are a few options, New Old
Stock (NOS), original ones (check ebay) or New
Reproduction. Many of the Falcon vendors offer
reproductions. I decided to install a new pair of
reproduction kick panels on my 1963 Falcon
Sprint hardtop. Whenever new parts arrive, it is a
good idea to compare them to your old parts first.
Check to see if they are similar in size, color
match, screw holes align, etc.
Dearborn Classics supplied the kick panels for this project. When comparing the
reproductions to the originals, the texture was a little different when compared to a 1963
kick panel, but the texture was very close when compared to a 1964 kick panel. The
size was a little bigger than the original at the upper portion where it meets the dash
board. As it turns out, the extra material is there to be an exact match to the 1964-65
kick panels. No big deal, a little trimming with a die grinder made for a nice fit at the
dash board. I spent a lot of time using masking tape and a Sharpie marker to mark
what was to be trimmed. A purposely cut to the waste side and snuck up on the
trimming until a near perfect fit was achieved.
Note interferenceNote
at the
lower
corner
area
to be
trimmed, a diamond
of the dash board.
Thisand
is not
a
wheel
a pneumatic
die grinder
problem on 1964was
& 65my
Falcons.
tool of choice.
This kick panel is trimmed and ready
for installation.
The Dearborn Classics kick panel
(black) compared to an original 1964
kick panel (blue).
The Dearborn Classic kick panel is flatter
than the old original panel. To get the new
kick panel to fit correctly at the scuff plate,
the carpet needed to be trimmed to fit within
the dog leg. The old kick panel had so much
distortion in it, that the extra carpet did not
hinder the fit.
The new Dearborn Classic kick panel has
had some improvements. There had been
some complaints about fit at the bottom just
above the scuff plate. The new mold has
added some additional material to cover the
gap that the older kick panels had.
Interestingly, the original Ford piece also had
that same gap.
Be sure to trim the carpet to the
outline of the dog leg to insure a good
fit at the scuff plate.
nal.
The new kick panels created a couple additional issues. A minor issue required drilling a new
Noone
Gap
new
Dearborn
Classic
hole for
of on
the the
panel
retaining
screw.
The original factory hole was to far away from the
kick
panel
hole in the new kick panel. On the passenger side, one of the flanges on the hinge port hole was
sticking out and not allowing the kick panel to lay flat. A couple of hits with a soft faced
hammer fixed that issue. The last issue is that the inner door panels hit the lip of the kick panels.
The old kick panels were cracked at this meeting point, so the interference worked. With the
new kick panels, the door panels will need to be removed and shortened about ¼” on the front
edge.
Dearborn Classics listens to its customers experiences and when possible they try to improve the
products they offer. The new mold on their kick panels is an excellent example of trying to keep
the customer happy.
The new kick panels look great and the fit is better than the original. The installation did not
happen as quickly as planned, but with a little patients and a little trimming the end result was
worth the effort.
Update: December 2012
1965 Falcons and Comets had the fuse panel moved from the light switch to the area above the
driver's side kick panel. The new location creates two issues: 1. the top of the kick panel needs
to be trimmed to clear the fuse block and 2. the replacement panel is stiffer and does not want to
conform around the wiring harness that exits the bottom of the fuse block. Expect your new
panel to not sit flush.
When the factory was originally installing your Falcons kick panel, the employee that screwed
the kick panel in place was using a powered screwdriver along with self drilling screws. Screws
were placed randomly depending on the employees individual technique. When installing a kick
panel be prepared to search for the original screw holes. They may or may not align well with
the new kick panels even though the new kick panels have the holes in the same location as the
originals.
The Top panel (red) is from a
1960-63. A 1964-5 kick panel
is on the bottom (black).
The 65 Falcon requires a notch for the
fuse block on the driver's side.