Interior and Upholstery door armrest chrome strip-was it on all models?

bcmbcmbcm

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Jan 29, 2003
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Hey folks, I am working on a known to me (mom's car) 1987 LX 5.0. I noticed the armrests on the door do not have the chrome strip but I do not recall it ever having it. Hard to believe I never noticed it but shoot I am pushing 50 now. The door panels have been off and on several times over the years, perhaps they were lost. It is a stock 1987 LX 5.0 convertible with a sand beige interior. They never would have been intentionally removed. The car has always been in the care of me, my dad, or my mom.
 
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I have a 91 LX and never knew there was suppose to be (or maybe not?) a chrome strip unless that doesn’t apply to 91.
I assume it’s suppose to be in the slot Thats circled in red?
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Mine have them. My door panels came from a ‘90 GT hatch.

I didn’t know there were replacements. Now I need to check to see if mine should be changed

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So browsed about 20 listings on eBay of very clean low-mileage cars. Amazingly I found a few cars that did not have them.

‘88 LX vert - doesn’t have then


‘89 LX vert - doesn’t have them


Coincidentally they are both that convertible 2-tone interior. I did see the strips in plenty of other models, so I wonder if there were certain interiors that didn’t get them?

I don’t know if I would say ALL 87-93 cars should have them yet…
 
Apparently they were only on power window models.
Although they fit all 87-93 years it would be interesting to know if some interiors even with power windows did not get them for some reason.
From the 5.0 Resto page:

Mustang Door Arm Rest Chrome Trim Strips
These 5.0 Resto 1987-93 Mustang door armrest chrome trim strips are often overlooked in the most meticulous of restorations.

Application
-Fits 1987-1993 Mustang w/ Power Windows Only
 
I don’t know if I would go by that just yet. I’ve found lots of application errors in listings like that. Could be that the manual window armrests have a different shape and they only decided to repop the power window armrest due to higher volume.

I found this 87 GT. Roll up windows (although those look like earlier cranks) but it clear has the strip here

1B65F757-037D-4BCF-9B9B-9853090BB378.jpeg





Meanwhile the 2nd convertible above is pretty clean and stock…but is missing them.

4FA8D540-E75D-4E85-9C94-397A2809FB93.jpeg
 
Off-topic. But that car has some strange lock switches. Must be an early ‘87 car

43752FBF-1510-44AE-BA5B-A539A0BDCF2E.jpeg
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Edit: was built 12/86. That’s an early ‘87 probably with some stuff that was later changed.
 
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Great point! It’s very possible manual armrests are a different shape - produced in lower numbers so not profitable to reproduce. Your Probably spot on with that and true that Part and fitment descriptions are not always accurate. More research will have to be done but I had to order a pair as soon as I saw this post and found mine to be missing. Priorities. Lol
 
Now I have to go check my Coupe after work. It's a manual window car and to be honest I have never paid any attention to whether or not there is chrome there or not.
I remember when cleaning and painting the door panels, looking at the space between the armrests and thinking it was weird, that it looked unfinished or just a bad fit or design. Now it makes sense. I didn’t remember seeing anything there back in the day or ever notice on anyone else’s car. Never knew about the chrome strip until this was posted. Now all us guys that like the little things, details, are running out to the car to check. Lol
 
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Looks good! Well I finally checked the Coupe and it has the chrome strips…never even noticed or after 23 years of owning the car I quit noticing. Yours stand out way more than the ones in my car.
 
Looks good! Well I finally checked the Coupe and it has the chrome strips…never even noticed or after 23 years of owning the car I quit noticing. Yours stand out way more than the ones in my car.
Thanks. I’m pleased with it.
Still not noticeable though to be honest unless your really looking for it. Always glad to replace a missing part though And would have never known if it wasn’t for the original post. Cool stuff.