1979 vet   installing new door panel  from corvette central    very niece but they are a pain in the a--   don't seem to fit right  gap at latch area is about 1 1/2 wide   there are only 5 screws that hold this on,i have looked in resro  book and they show gap  but its small  has  anywon had problem,when I get seats back[been there 6 months] they will look at this  but has no iders?  any help  dwa

dwa - any chance you could post some pics of the gap and installation ?? From my memory of 78 to 82 door panels, I count 7 screws. One at each top corner by the weatherstrip, three at the door pull/arm rest and two down low in the carpeted area, one by the storage pocket and one back towards the bottom corner. Do you have your old door panels to compare to ??

yes I have both door panesl from when car was new. the new panel look like old panels,i took to up shop and had holes cut as the old ones.there are 6 only one screw on top over by to door latch,i did  some measuredment   new one seem to be longer  but is tough to make  measurments.note door panel are made buy only one company but all catalog guys sell them. they a pain in the a-- I don,t know.pics I now have camara and now have photobucket  but  still don,t know how to get them to this site by we will nt give up  I send pics when I know how  what happen to the old days  send a pic in the mail,dwa  note!  old door panels have date they wear installed.

dwa - if your gap is on the latch end of the doors then the two screws on that end (one up by the handle and the other down in the carpet area) along with the farthest one back on the armrest are going to be the ones pulling in the panel. The only other thing I can think of is there any part on the backside of the new panel that is hitting on the door or the mechanisms that is keeping the panel pushed out ?? When you put the panel on, press in near the gap and along the panel to see if anything is binding on the backside. Also look for anything that is making an indentation on the back of the new panel, perhaps something needs to be cored out on the backside to give extra clearance.

My 82 Collector has carpet on the bottom.  I just put in a couple of extra screws.  I wanted the panel to be tight.  If it did not have carpet I think I would have used some type of screws that looked like they could be factory and put them in a flopping door panel sucks.