I have heard installing the kick panel on a non-ac car can be a royal pain. Any tips on making installation easy?

Thanks,

A little beer, a lot of cussing, a couple Band-Aids.
;)

Just kidding. Take as much as you can out of the way first like the emergency brake release and the heater box. And use some type of strip caulk or HVAC type sealer around them.

I trimmed about 1/8" off the flange which made it very easy to reinstall.

Use an ice pick to locate & align your screw holes.

Thanks guys. I should have told you this is for the passenger side. I cant imagine doing the driver side.

Make sure you clean out all the debris out of there when you have it off. I took out a crap load of leaves and stuff, flushed out the rocker nice while I had it off. I still need to do my Drivers side this fall after I put it to bed for winter.

The best "caulk" or sealer you can use is the GB Duct Seal that you can find in the electrical section at Home Depot. It is very close to the GM stuff and stays pliable like play dough. I used it on my 67 Chevelle kick panels this summer and was very happy with it. Cheap too! about $2 for a pound block of it.

jaybird,

when you put in the kick panels, keep the back edge towards the center of the vehicle a couple of inces (towards the driveshaft tunnel) and the chalf rounded lip that touches the front of the door pressed up against the body and a litte forward of the pinchweld. push in the vent area flange that is towards the rear into the opening. once it is in, you can push the rear flange in and you are set.

this worked very well for me without any pain. good luck

angel