panel update

[Lloydpiestate]

hi all,

due to some owners remarking that £325 is a bit expensive for a near full mk2 front wing ( and we all have our own budgets / spare cash that we can afford to spend, and i totally understand that ), i am looking into just getting the arches, complete with front and lower sections attached made by one of the very first companies i delt with, BUT please bear in mind, if the majority of you want me to go down this route, i will NOT be doing tooling for half or near full wings AS WELL.

I CANT SEE THEM BEING MUCH CHEAPER THAN THE NEAR FULL WINGS, as they will be hand made, but i am awaiting ball park figures and will be travelling up to have a meeting with them.

" you can please some of the people some of the time, but you cant please all the people all of the time " and dont i know it !!! lol

[badger]

Hi Lloyd,
It's a great job you are doing, but wouldn't it be better to carry on with the original plan of getting the 3/4 wings re manufactured. There will always be those that moan about the price, and I'm sure that there are people that will moan about anything. It's also been the best part of a year since some members have parted with their cash, would a rethink on only getting half wings done mean a longer wait? If you did decide to get half wings manufactured, will those that have already paid their £325 get a refund on the difference? That would entail more work for yourself surely? Nah, stick to the original plan I say.

[CAR]

I'm not a bodywork man/welder etc, so the cost of fitting the panels is an important consideration to me. So a question for those who do would be, is it easier and quicker to fit the large wing repair that Lloyd has been trying to sort or an arch repair?
What you save (Lloyd has said it may not be a great deal) could very quickly be lost if the arch repair takes half a day longer to fit than a large half wing. You then have to figure in the 'making good' and filling over the weld.
By my simple reckoning welding all the way round the arch and the bottom section and across to the valance must be at least twice the length of weld to a horizontal line across.
For those who can't fit them theirselves (me being selfish) the repair arches would end up being a less satisfactory job and potentially more expensive.

Should be obvious which way I'm voting Mr.Reed.

Colin

[TedTaylor]

Lloyd my view is the same as Badgers that you have done enough already to resolve the wing repair problem and if anyone feels that you should go off and spend more time and effort on this they should be told to take a running jump!

As Colin says, so much of the cost comes down to actual fitment and unless doing the job yourself (which gives more work anyway), the labour cost in fitting a wheel arch and front/rear lower corners which would invariably need replacement, with the making good involved would be far greater than a half wing with the straight weld a couple of inches above the wheel arch.

When we had the initial Spares Group meeting it was unanimously agreed that the way to go was a half wing and not mess around with smaller repair sections which could anyway be cut off the half wing repair.

The only saving that I can see in cost would be a half wing and not the 7/8ths wing that you are planning to do and your manufacturer can sort that out easily over the phone, but really should anyone expect you to do more than you have done.

No, go with what you have done and if anyone suggests doing the small wheel arch repair sections which would anyway be inferior to a half wing etc. repair because of all the likely making good required, then insist these people put their request on the two fora so that we can shout them down!

MUT

[Lloydpiestate]

hi adrian, colin, ted,

thanks for your input, always wanted and needed, keep it comming.

in relation to adrians note regarding the fact that it is nearly a year since some of you good folk coughed up your hard earned money and placed an order for wings, has been bothering me ( not your comment adrian, the fact ). im sorry its all taking soooooo long to sort, BUT it was sorted and the wings should of been in production by now, that was until the manufacture turned out to be impossible to deal with, had a hissy fit and threw thier toys out of the pram, just because i rang them every now and then requesting a production date after the one given kept running over !!! so as you are all aware, ive had to start again.

there were two reasons i had to ask for full payment up front :

1, promises of orders are no good to me, i need confirmed orders
2, number 1 eliminates me running the risk of being stuck with 30-40 THOUSAND pounds worth of panels that owners promised to buy and didnt for whatever reason ( that sum is for the mk2 fronts alone ).

should anyone want thier money back until this is sorted again, please just ask and i will return it straight away, but that will be deleating my confirmed orders, catch 22.

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND AS I HAVE SAID ALL ALONG, GETTING THESE PANELS DONE RELIES ON YOUR CONFIRMED ORDER NUMBERS, NOT ENOUGH CONFIRMED ORDERS, EQUALS NO PANELS BEING MADE, as much as i love our cars and bust my gut doing anything i can to keep them alive, i simply cant justify nor afford to have thousands of pounds worth of panels just gathering dust in the lock up.
sorry if that sounds harsh, but its true.

to put things in perspective, when i first started this, and made the now famous " list " i had more than enough goodwill orders to make this happen and more, but once it came to coughing up and placing a confirmed order it was a different story, needless to say I NEED MORE ORDERS. i dont mind being a few grand out of pocket to start with, but as it stands its a wee bit more than that !!

in relation to teds note about a half wing compared to a 7/8 wing, the way these tools are made means it would not be cheaper to get a half wing done as the process is the same for both and takes the same amout of time, even a wheel arch would still cost £325

I TRY NOT TO WAFFLE ON IN MY POSTINGS AND BORE THE CRAP OUT OF YOU ALL, BUT AT THE SAME TIME I HAVE TO TRY AND CONVEY WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY, some times it comes out right, and sometimes it dont, hey ho thats life.

i will wait and see what the arch prices come in at, because thier ordering system is different, plus they can do ALL the other panels also, so its worth a look at if there is a chance its gunna be cheaper ?? yes, it will slow things up by a month or so, but its taken so bloody long anyway, whats another month or so !!!!

onwards and upwards !!!!

[Mike Stevens]

I'm with the others - go with what was agreed before. I have fitted wheel arches and the front/back lower bits before (when they were available!) and it is a lot of work. By the time you've done eveything else (grinding back/filling/shaping etc.) any possible difference in cost and hassle between repair panels and 1/2 or 3/4 wings gets lost in the noise.

I can understand the worry about £325 for a wing. I did sit and think about this for a bit but decided that if I want to keep the PI (which I do) I don't really have a choice. It will need doing sometime soon and doing it right means I should only need to do it once.

For many years the cars have been seen as 'old bangers' (sorry - no offense intended!), kept going on a budget. I believe that this has changed in the last few years and they are finally being seen for what they are so owners are more prepared to spend the money in keeping them in tip-top condition. There are still probably some owners not seeing it that way yet - which is of course their right!

I'll put my soap-box away now.

Cheers,
Mike.

[JimB]

£325 per wing is a bargain given the very low production run and tooling costs.

I mean, it's only four tanks of petrol!

What would happen if, God forbid, you had a prang in your car and needed wings, eh? Scrap your pride and joy?!

Lloyd: thank those who've stumped up the cash already and kick those who haven't

[Charles H]

Lloyd
Whilst I haven't placed any orders for wings, due to the fact that both my Mk1 and Mk2 have had 3 new and one remanufactured wings attached, I too would say that a 7/8ths section is the way forward especially since you are 90% through anyway. If a smaller section is required, it is only a matter of trimming it down but why anyone would wish too is beyond me. Keep up the good work!

[Lloydpiestate]

thanks guys,

i think that this is simply down to owners assuming that if a panel is smaller than another, it will be cheaper than the bigger one, and this is not always the case for numerous reasons.

the how"s and why"s of this panel remanufacture is way to complex to try and convey in the odd posting or two, but i do my best

to everyone that has placed thier order, i thank you once again as i have many times in the past

[jimd]

Lloyd,
I am firmly in the 'carry on with the original plan' camp, welding in a curved arch section can create a problem with heat distortion, as the joint will be mid-panel. The larger repair section will allow welding at the top, thus the crease will act to lessen this effect. Also, you haven't deviated far at any time from the original pricing either, and I don't recall any mutterings regarding price before.
Jim