engine turned door sills?

Raymond · 03-29-2004, 06:43 PM

my '70 T has engine turned stainless door sills and i was wondering about their origin. i bought the car from the original owner in '81, but he has moved away long ago.

this car is 99% original, the way it left the factory in June of '70. the sills have some small dents and scuffs that makes it appear these are factory items. does anyone know about these?

Zeke · 07:25 PM

Some here may not know what engine turning is. Can you post a pic?

I'm far from an expert, but I don't remember any factory items like that. Dealer options come to mind if you think the car came that way. Dealers like to trick up a few cars to raise interest.

Raymond · 03-29-2004, 07:22 PM

yes zeke, engine turning probably has 99 different meanings to 99 different people...

these sills are stainless with what looks like what would be a clean, thin, fitted piece of shiny stainless with what looks like someone took a thumbwith a gritty material and did a 90-degree twist and kinda put a swirl on it in a tight pattern that looks like fish scales...

hard to describe if you can't see it... i don't have a pic handy. anyone seen anything like that?

kstar · 03-29-2004, 07:28 PM

My '72 had these "machine turned" stainless steel pieces as door sills, fixed door pocket covers and dash inserts. Must have been a aftermarket item in the early '70s.

They looked OK in my car, but they were easily removed and replaced with the proper factory pieces.

Best,

Kurt

edit: I think I have a picture of the dash that I will post later tonight.

Zeke · 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Raymond
yes zeke, engine turning probably has 99 different meanings to 99 different people...

Yes, I know exactly what you have there. It was all the rage in classic cars and race cars of the pre WWII era. Fish scales in perfect rows describes it justly.
www.cs.ucr.edu/~eamonn/et/fascia.jpg

Raymond · 03-29-2004, 07:33 PM

the most known example of engine (or machine) turned stainless is the pre-war bentley dashes. i didn't want to pull out such an obscure reference, but that's where i know it from.

and kurt, my car has just the door sills. i've never seen or heard of the dash trim and door trim as you stated... it sounds kinda rare? and i realize 'rare' doesn't necessarily mean expensive. amc gremlins are 'rare.'

kstar · 03-29-2004, 08:03 PM

Raymond:

I think it is very rare! It's worth at least a few extra grand on an eBay sale.

I actually kept the dash pieces on for a while and thought it looked pretty cool.

I gotta take the trash out

but I'll post the pic when I finish.

Cheers!

Kurt

tchanson · 03-30-2004, 05:36 AM

Raymond,

I recall seeing various engine turned pieces like your sill plates offered in the Whitney catalog and others like it of the time.

Blower Bentleys notwithstanding, perhaps the real intent back then was to mimic the look of the '70's era Trans Am dashboards...

Good luck,
Tim

DPatterson · 03-30-2004, 05:38 AM

There was a guy, Ernie Haneline, I believe his name was, that had a line of SS engine turned trim pieces for 911 & 912. I used to see them on some cars. Most were for the interior but I seem to recall one that was something of a muffler valance. Usually the people that had that stuff also had the "Made Especially for ...." dash plaques.