Package tray redo

[Parccent65]

I want to redo the package tray on my '65 with black standard interior/rear defroster and am not sure which one to go with. My options are: a Clark's tray, an ebay press board tray, or an OPGI light board tray that comes with a jute pad that goes underneath. I want to keep the defroster as it works. The tray currently in the car is fiberglass that is padded and covered with vinyl (could possibly be a Clark's tray?). What l don't like about it is the rear shape of it doesn't conform to the rear window edge very well (it's lower on the outside edges) so the previous owner placed a filler vinyl strip to fill the gap and it doesn't look good (maybe it did at one time). Also there is an awkward gap where it meets the chrome speaker grill. On a lot of them I've seen, this part butts up to the speaker grill and I like the look of that. It appears that the speaker grille "nubs" on the top edge were made to insert into the slots in the metal structure behind the seat but I'm not sure. The non-vinyl covered trays may not look the best if it is cut off abruptly along the edge where it meets the window, either. It sounds like the factory original tray in most cases didn't hold up very well which isn't surprising with all the sun beating down on it, etc. Thanks

Edited August 8, 2020 by Parccent65
grammar fix (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Do a search for a thread where one member installed an OPGI tray. It is not contoured to fit, it's just a flat panel. I can't remember reading of anyone having a problem with the way the Clark's tray.  

[Pat Curran]

Someone had advertised fiberglass trays for several years in the Riview.  The ad stated you had to paint or cover them to match your interior.  I don’t recall who it was but Clark’s typically offers top quality products.

[RivNut]

7 minutes ago, Pat Curran said:

Someone had advertised fiberglass trays for several years in the Riview.  The ad stated you had to paint or cover them to match your interior.  I don’t recall who it was but Clark’s typically offers top quality products.

That was a guy from Las Vegas. Don't remember his name but I could find it if anyone is interested.  I think that I saved some correspondence from him. ( Anyone remember the days before email and these forums?) I know that I still have a letter from Leonard Scott somewhere in my files. A few of you will recognize that name.

Ed

Edited August 9, 2020 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Seafoam65]

On 8/8/2020 at 1:00 PM, Parccent65 said:

I want to redo the package tray on my '65 with black standard interior/rear defroster and am not sure which one to go with. My options are: a Clark's tray, an ebay press board tray, or an OPGI light board tray that comes with a jute pad that goes underneath. I want to keep the defroster as it works. The tray currently in the car is fiberglass that is padded and covered with vinyl (could possibly be a Clark's tray?). What l don't like about it is the rear shape of it doesn't conform to the rear window edge very well (it's lower on the outside edges) so the previous owner placed a filler vinyl strip to fill the gap and it doesn't look good (maybe it did at one time). Also there is an awkward gap where it meets the chrome speaker grill. On a lot of them I've seen, this part butts up to the speaker grill and I like the look of that. It appears that the speaker grille "nubs" on the top edge were made to insert into the slots in the metal structure behind the seat but I'm not sure. The non-vinyl covered trays may not look the best if it is cut off abruptly along the edge where it meets the window, either. It sounds like the factory original tray in most cases didn't hold up very well which isn't surprising with all the sun beating down on it, etc. Thanks

Actually what did the original trays in was water coming in due to a rusted out rear window channel. Cars that were not driven in the rain usually still

have pristine package trays 55 years later. If you drove these cars in the rain only  every once in a while or washed them with a water hose and didn't blow out the window channel when they got wet, the window channel would rust out, leak water onto the package tray and ruin it by the time these cars were five years old. Here is a pic of the original package tray in my 65 that looks like new because the car has not been wet since 1967. The 65 riviera that my Dad bought new was never driven in the rain, but was washed

with a hose regularly and we didn't know to blow out the window channel when we got done and the package tray was ruined by 1970.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[Parccent65]

Do you blow out the channel with compressed air then? A lot of GM cars had this happen.

[Seafoam65]

10 minutes ago, Seafoam65 said:

Actually what did the original trays in was water coming in due to a rusted out rear window channel. Cars that were not driven in the rain usually still

have pristine package trays 55 years later. If you drove these cars in the rain only  every once in a while or washed them with a water hose and didn't blow out the window channel when they got wet, the window channel would rust out, leak water onto the package tray and ruin it by the time these cars were five years old. Here is a pic of the original package tray in my 65 that looks like new because the car has not been wet since 1967. The 65 riviera that my Dad bought new was never driven in the rain, but was washed

with a hose regularly and we didn't know to blow out the window channel when we got done and the package tray was ruined by 1970. I have an

Automobile Quarterly book from 1981 that has a big article on the early Rivieras which included an interview with Bill Mitchell, the designer of the car.

In the article he stated that it was his demand that the rear window molding be flush with the sheet metal on the 63 Riviera design that led to the  Fisher body engineers coming up with a new way of mounting the back window, gluing it into a channel then putting stainless on top instead of mounting the glass with rubber. This design was incorporated for the first time in the early Riviera, then spread to all GM lines in 1965, and of course it proved to be a disaster due to the channel holding water and then rusting out the roof channel.

 

[dr914]

I have one from Clark's and am very happy with it.

[RivNut]

2 hours ago, Parccent65 said:

Do you blow out the channel with compressed air then? A lot of GM cars had this happen.

Yes. Design flaw or planned obsolescence?