repro panels are crap

[bluebus1987]

I bought a rear corner repair panel off a well known camper parts retailer, the bit above the seam line. I would have made one but need to get it done in a hurry. The panel looked well made if a bit flat.
I spent about five hours yesterday trying to get a reasonable fit, nothing perfect, just meeting up in all the essential places. The curve on the rear corner was well out and it wouldn't reach round to the return near the rear light. Tried everything to stretch the corner a little to get it to reach but couldn't get it right.
Stood back and compared and measured against the original opposite side and its about 6mm short.
The only way to get it on was to unfold the front 90 degree bend where it meets the wheelarch and refold it with an extra 6mm leaving a nice hole where I'd trimmed it.
It now gets to the rear corner ok but doesn't match the bottom corner panel anymore and looks crap!

I could honestly say I could have made a better job starting from scratch. It would have been just as easy to manufacture the right size panel so why bother selling something that cant fit as is?
Is it me missing something here or is it just rubbish?
GRRRRRR!

[tforturton]

You probably mean JustKampers? Use Brickwerks, VW Heritage or AH Schofield.

[davegsm82]

The rear arch panel I have fitted doesn't quite match the profile of the sliding door, as such it looks like the bottom of the sliding door sticks out even further than it used to (because the seals have gone hard). To reshape and not look horrendous would have taken a LOT of effort, especially with the rudimentary tools and skills that I have.

Also it is made of very thin steel and had warped already, I will have to try and do something with it in the future but for now it's just staying as it is.

If I'd known the original panel was that much thicker and better quality then I would have persevered with repairing the rotted out areas with a similar gauge material.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing...

Dave.

[Plasticman]

welcome to my world
mm

[multisi]

I bought a rear corner repair panel off a well known camper parts retailer, the bit above the seam line. I would have made one but need to get it done in a hurry. The panel looked well made if a bit flat.
I spent about five hours yesterday trying to get a reasonable fit, nothing perfect, just meeting up in all the essential places. The curve on the rear corner was well out and it wouldn't reach round to the return near the rear light. Tried everything to stretch the corner a little to get it to reach but couldn't get it right.
Stood back and compared and measured against the original opposite side and its about 6mm short.
The only way to get it on was to unfold the front 90 degree bend where it meets the wheelarch and refold it with an extra 6mm leaving a nice hole where I'd trimmed it.
It now gets to the rear corner ok but doesn't match the bottom corner panel anymore and looks crap!

I could honestly say I could have made a better job starting from scratch. It would have been just as easy to manufacture the right size panel so why bother selling something that cant fit as is?
Is it me missing something here or is it just rubbish?
GRRRRRR!

Is this repro panel the whole rear corner up to the gutter with the air vent.

[bluebus1987]

Panel is just the very bottom bit, not hard to get right if your set up for it.
Not J.K. a well known specialist not far from me. Nice guys, but I hate it when I've bothered paying for something to save time and it ends up taking more.
I don't expect perfection, but when its something made in bulk for a particular purpose it should realy be better.
Anyway had a much more productive afternoon so not feeling so grumpy now.

[multisi]

If its handmade rather than pressed, it could be just one that was measured incorrectly before folding the edge over. I find the windscreen panels are a bit wrong, they loose the curved shape towards the middle of the panel.

[Plasticman]

this page and the next was my solution to the rear corner
http://archive.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic ... &start=180" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
i take it yours were from schofields, ? its not a crime to state experiences from panel suppliers as they change all the time and we all need to know the current situation, and as S as well as the other popular suppliers are all in the same boat if its the likes of klocker parts ...
mm

[bluebus1987]

Yep Schofields.
I don't want to run them down as they're a nice bunch when you call in, and very helpfull. But at £25 for a small panel I'd expect it to be as good as possible to make.
Its obviously a lasercut blank and has a bit of a curve along the bottom edge, but I think I'd have preferred the blank.
To be fair I have discovered a very well repaired bump on the said rear corner, but measured from the arch seam to the rear panel seam there was just not enough metal, never mind the profile.

[Plasticman]

no its fine . we all know schofields are a good frim but some items are outside their control ,
the panel you speak of varies as well , ive had a few that fit sort of and a few that dont , as you say its often the length that seems wront . same goes for the lower panel under it,
mm

[bluebus1987]

Good, not just me then!
I'm going to use whats left of it now and jigsaw it together with some of the old panel and some bits that were atatched to a boot floor cut. Very helpfully I found I'd got most of the vertical turret behind the rear light as well, complete with the pressed indent. I'm quite enjoying welding bits together (when I get a chance) since I found the route of my welding woes. My self darkening helmet that I've had for the last fifteen years seems to be not going quite as dark as it should. I'd put it down to eyesight changes and lack of practice in recent years. But I bought a £20 new helmet off bakewell market just to see if it was any good and its a revelation. I can see what I'm doing again. I'm going to buy another as a spare if they've still got em.
I'm taking pictures and I'll get round to uploading them one day.

[weegaz22]

I must have got lucky with my panels then, they only needed a wee bit of massaging and fettling here and there to get everything on and lined up, maybe spent a day "tweeking" them both, the smaller lower rear quarter at the rear bumper was a tad longer than i needed it to be, putting in the the vice and hitting it with a few bodywork hammers sorted that out though.

[jhobson]

I just fitted a similar panel. The curve was too sharp and about 3mm to short. After tapping the curve to shape the panel length was perfect at the top - seems like the amount of metal was correct but just not quite in the right place. I thought making third party panels fit is part of what you expect.
The panel does seem a bit pricey I guess for what it is - especially when compared to the cheap cab step replacement from Brickwerks (but I haven't tried fitting that yet).

[bluebus1987]

It seems like a bit of quality control is in order.
A bit of reprofiling and being a bit sheetmetaly is one thing but I'd expect them to be offered up to a pattern as they're made.
Its only when you offer up something original that the difference becomes stark.
The good quality wheelarch repros show how it can be done, even if I did balls up the swage lines a bit looking for a tight top seam.