How To Replace A Door On A 1977-1987 Chevy C10

By Rob Fortier – Photography by the Author

If you’ve ever dealt with aftermarket body panels, you know there’s a vast difference in both price and quality/fitment between your no-name generic replacement body panels, or “crash”-type (automotive collision repair), and the OE replacement panels. Generally speaking, you can attain decent-quality replacement body panels from most reputable suppliers that won’t require a ton of additional work to fit and finish—but if you want the best fit with the minimal amount of finishing effort, you’re going to pay a lot more for that convenience. At least until now, that is.We install Golden Star Classic Auto Parts all-new OE-quality replacement doors for the 1977-1987 Chevy & GMC C10 pickups (also fits 1977-1991 Suburban & Jimmy).

003 1977-1987 Chevy C10 aftermarket body panels — We’re going to illustrate the fit and quality of Golden Star Classic Auto Parts’ new 1977-1987 Chevy/GMC OE replacement doors using Andrew Babish’s 1985 Chevy Silverado. Previously painted, the truck’s doors fit very well; however, along with the usual bodywork required, both sides’ hinges were worn and the driver door needed the three mirror mounts welded up.

Having installed the previously mentioned Square Body Door Panels in the past, I was at first a bit skeptical about the actual quality and, more importantly, fit and finish of Golden Star Classic Auto Parts’ latest offering. Confident they could easily dispel my skepticism, they offered to provide a set of their new doors if I were willing to find a decent candidate and install them for myself. Challenge accepted.

Fortunately, I had just the pseudo guinea pig in mind: my go-to Harley parts painter, Andrew “Bondo” Babish, who by pure coincidence was in the process of repainting his 1985 Chevy Silverado and, as luck would have it, was more than willing to forgo the necessary repair and prepwork his original driver door required and agreed to try Golden Star Classic Auto Parts’ new shells out. For comparison’s sake, we went out and obtained an eBay crash door to install as well, ultimately hoping that if Golden Star Classic Auto Parts’ claims were true, we’d immediately see the difference.

004 1985 Chevy Silverado needs a new door panel — We’re going to illustrate the fit and quality of Golden Star Classic Auto Parts’ new 1977-1987 Chevy/GMC OE replacement doors using Andrew Babish’s 1985 Chevy Silverado. Previously painted, the truck’s doors fit very well; however, along with the usual bodywork required, both sides’ hinges were worn and the driver door needed the three mirror mounts welded up.

Along with a pair of Square Body Door Panels, we were also supplied with a set of their new replacement door hinges. As with any vehicle of this particular vintage, chances are, if the pins/bushings haven’t already been replaced in recent years, there’s no point in replacing a door and expecting it to fit/function properly without addressing that. Plus, in the long run, it’s often easier to replace the entire hinge (which has new springs to boot) than it is to repair.

005 OE replacement door heavier than the avarage C10 replacement door — Straight out of the box, Golden Star’s OE replacement doors were noticeably heavy (a very good thing, unlike the average crash door), had all the correct factory features, and came coated in a special silver prime (unlike the crash doors, which feature a standard “shipping” primer).

So, with doors and hinges in hand and my son along to add an additional set of those hands, we dedicated one afternoon to put Golden Star Classic Auto Parts’ new square body door panels to the test-fit test. You’ll have to read through to the end of all the photo captions to see how they/we fared!