Weekend project results - Panther armrests and door pulls on Fox Body Granada

[ToferCali]

Some purists may not appreciate this but I've decided to build a car that could have existed but doesn't... an '81 Granada Ghia.

Basically I'm using period Ford/Lincoln parts from the same era to dress up the little Granada project car. The doors were quite plain so I've added power windows/locks as well as the armrests and door pulls from a Crown Victoria from the same time period. Again, I know some may prefer to keep things 100% stock but this particular project is something I'm having a lot of fun with. Making things look as though they always existed.

To fill in the original door handle opening and arm rest mount position in the wood-look trim, I inserted black vinyl and Ghia badges. The original arm rest mounting hole was filled with an accent light repurposed from a rear seat reading light from an early 80's Lincoln.

I dyed the armrests and door pulls to match (thanks APS Tower Paint Co!) and I think the results are pretty amazing considering how rare this interior color was/is. Details such as the wood grain pattern on the armrests were an easy match thanks to the fact Ford used the same patterns on both fox/panther platforms. The lights/windows/ and wiring all function as they should (after a LOT of wiring).

The power mirror hole in the switch panel was filled in with a period radio knob and I attached it to a dimmer to control brightness of the green accent lights. I've looked into adding power/remote mirrors but that is a project for another time.

Original door panels...



After updates...

[ToferCali]

Rear door in progress... amazing how well the Crown Vic armrests fit these door panels!

[Floyd]

That's is awesome! Looks waaaay better than stock.

[ToferCali]

Thanks Dan! The new arm rests are also great for actually using as arm rests. Very comfy driver now.

[Maindrian Pace]

That looks great, almost freakish how well the wood grain matches up.

[ToferCali]

That looks great, almost freakish how well the wood grain matches up.

Right? The original trim is actually painted aluminum and of course the armrest is plastic. But after some polishing, they match up pretty good!

[ZephyrEFI]

WOW!! Really really nice work! I love stuff like this, and try to make every mod on my car look like it belongs that well. I'll be very happy if my upcoming door panel/power windows/locks mods turn out as awesome as yours did. Really can't say enough about how great yours turned out!

[ToferCali]

WOW!! Really really nice work! I love stuff like this, and try to make every mod on my car look like it belongs that well. I'll be very happy if my upcoming door panel/power windows/locks mods turn out as awesome as yours did. Really can't say enough about how great yours turned out!

Thanks sir! FYI... I used one of the power window kits off ebay that connects to the original window winders. I replaced the wiring with heavier gauge stuff but otherwise the kit worked really well and all of the mechanism/wiring hides inside those nice big armrests which is nice. Same with the door lock kits. All of that wired up nicely to the OEM Crown Vic switches (after some trial/error).

[ZephyrEFI]

Thanks sir! FYI... I used one of the power window kits off ebay that connects to the original window winders. I replaced the wiring with heavier gauge stuff but otherwise the kit worked really well and all of the mechanism/wiring hides inside those nice big armrests which is nice. Same with the door lock kits. All of that wired up nicely to the OEM Crown Vic switches (after some trial/error).

Good to know, thanks! Sounds like you got similar kits to what I got.

[87gtVIC]

I am impressed with how accurate the paint match is between the painted arm rests and the stock door panel.

[ToferCali]

I always use these guys... http://www.apstowerpaint.com/

Email them with the color code and the use (in this case I specified I was painting interior vinyl) and they will mix it and it arrives in a high quality aerosol can.

I've had them match interior and even exterior metallic paints and they have NEVER missed. Color match is dead on.

I am impressed with how accurate the paint match is between the painted arm rests and the stock door panel.

[87gtVIC]

Thank you for the info.

[LTDScott]

That looks fantastic!

[ToferCali]

That looks fantastic!

Thanks sir! I've been updating a few other odds and ends with parts I found in other foxbody and panther body cars. More pics to come soon!