Cutlass A to G upper door panel swap

[JAMCAR223]

Can I swap the later model Cutlass upper door panels into my 78? I like this look better, but I would get rid of the wood, and do something different ( vinyl wrap color match, carbon ). Do my early doors have the mounting provisions for this, or would I need to modify??

 

[85ss/85gn]

Should bolt right In. Maybe have to get the correct metal plate for the front pull scrap.

 

[69hurstolds]

It MIGHT be able to work.

Haha. I know that's the non-answer you weren't seeking, but if you look closely, the 81-88 Cutlass inner door panel has a slight upward kick to it up front which sort of goes along with the outer door skin kickup in the front. In fact, in your pictures, look along the top line of the inner door panel and you'll see where it kicks up slightly. The 78-80 does not have that. Now, will that still follow the 78 inner door mounting spots? I don't know 100% but if GM was being GM, I'd guess YES.

It's not that much of a kickup, but it may be enough to not exactly fit the way you want it to. Will it for sure? Who knows. I dont' know if anyone has done it, but if anyone has, they'll be able to tell you.

The lower panels are the same part number (if you include all the supersessions) from 78-88, so the length of the doors, at least inside, are the same.

 

[JimmyCamino]

I find myself pulling the door closed by the arm rest more often than by the door strap. If you do keep the straps and if the strap mounting points are different on the '78 it should be easy to make new mounting points.

 

[69hurstolds]

If you get the 81-88 door panels, get the appropriate pull strap plates behind it too. SOMEONE will yank on the strap at some point. Unless you engineer it out.

 

[565bbchevy]

If you feel like doing the work another option would be make you own upper door panels and rear inserts using your door panels as a base, you will need to find matching material to your interior.
I did my Monte years ago and recently did my Regal.
I used the same design on both cars since I found it was relatively easy to get pretty sharp edges with this design plus I have a dedicated spot for my door speakers.

 

[JAMCAR223]

Thanks guys for the input. I just want the door pulls, so I can mount them on my 78 door panels, which I will have recovered. I know I can make it work. I was just curious if it was a bolt in, but I doubt it since this style of door pull wasn't introduced until the classification changed to G, and the doors were designed a little different.

565 is the only other person I have noticed that has moved their window switches to the lower door panels. I did this to my GN. As you can see it looks cleaner in my opinion. There may be more people that have done it, but have not posted pics.

 

[JAMCAR223]

Mine look like this, but red.

You can see the door strap mounts a little lower on the panel on this 85 Cutlass. Worst case... Flat bat & rivnuts 🤷‍♂️

 

[81Regal]

You would prob be money and time ahead redyeing the grey panels to match you interior. At most you will need to drill a couple of holes for the screws on the pull strap.

 

[565bbchevy]

You will have to strip your door panel and match the cut outs and foam from the donor door panels since the openings and foam are specific to that style handle.
I debated whether to keep the pull handles when I did my Regal and had to fill the opening where the entire woodgrain and chrome strip was.
Here is my factory original panels before redoing the entire interior.