I pulled off the door covers of my 53 F100 and was surprised to not have any access panels. Did Ford not supply these since there was a door cover installed, or were they simply removed and not reinstalled at some point in time on this particular truck?

 

That seems in line with what I've seen also. Access panels were typically installed when a door panel wasn't.

 

Ditto on this comment, the doors I have from a custom cab didn't have those panels either just the cardboard panels.

 

That is correct for 53-56 trucks for sure. If the trucks were deluxe models (53-54) or Custom Cab (55-56) they did not have the access panels underneath the cardboard panels.