Following
a note in the 17th Rebuild Report of a series of reports from
Barrie Jones on his comprehensive rebuild of his MGBGTV8 it
raised concerns over the quality of some replacement panels.
So we mentioned this panel quality problem to John Yea at the
BMH Body Plant at Witney. He was naturally very concerned as
quality is an essential feature of their genuine BMH Heritage
panels. In the note below he has clarified the BMH and Steelcraft
replacement panels situation. (20.2.09)
Genuine BMH parts
BMH manufactures panels with the original part numbers. These
are genuine BMH parts made using the original tooling and should
all have a Heritage label with the relevant part number describing
them as a genuine part. They have a "Genuine Heritage Panel"
sticker.
Steelcraft panels
BMH also have worldwide exclusive distribution rights for Steelcraft
panels. These are not produced off original tooling, should
have a Steelcraft label and their parts for MGBs will all start
with an MB prefix part number. Originally Steelcraft panels
were painted by them and the paint finish was matt black, which
was a further visual difference. However their painter closed
about six years ago and we purchase the panels unpainted from
Steelcraft and have them painted alongside the Heritage original
panels.
Difficulty
experienced by Barrie Jones
Barrie
had reported that one outer sill panel was labelled HZA237 and
the other was labelled MB48R. Whilst he could see Heritage prefix
all their panels (HZA) and Steelcraft use (MB), the stickers
on both these panels said Genuine Heritage Panel. John Yea thinks
what has happened here is that their painters, who also label
the panels, must have run out of Steelcraft labels and just
substituted Heritage labels with Steelcraft part numbers written
on. Clearly this should not happen as it is at best just confusing,
or at worst misleading. So John has instructed them not to do
this again.
But if you are buying replacement panels, it is essential you
are aware of how to identify the two sources of panels and are
aware of the quality issues with some Steelcraft parts which
can lead to additional work and expense getting them to fit.
Unless cost is an essential factor for you, then using genuine
BMH Heritage parts seems wise. (20.2.09)
Rebuild Reports Series
17th
Rebuild Report highlighting quality concerns |
In his
17th report of the rebuild of his MGBGTV8 (Damask 0450),
Barrie Jones noted - "As
work now begins to fit new panels, the quality and fit
of the replacement panels has been found to be fairly
poor. For example, a genuine Heritage outer sill panel
needed to be cut and extended by approximately 40mm because
it was too short. On the other side, things were even
worse. I bought a sill which was not a genuine Heritage
panel, and it was 5mm shorter again. Not only that, but
the pressing was poorly done and mis-shapen. I have now
bought a genuine Heritage panel, and placed them alongside
one another. Here
you can see the difference." (12.2.09)
|
Why distribute both genuine Heritage and Steelcraft panels?
Some V8 enthusiasts might find It difficult to see how a manufacturer
with a high quality brand like "BMH Heritage" is also
supplying third party "non genuine replacement parts"
from Steelcraft with a quality which is not always as good as
that of BMH Heritage equivalent parts. Surely the purchaser's
perception of quality from their experience with a poor fit
and additional work and expense with Steelcraft panels will
rub off on BMH Heritage and to some extent devalue your brand?
Discussing
these concerns with John Yea at BMH Witney he explained "I
understand the point regarding Steelcraft, but it was a situation
we inherited. Steelcraft
would exist as a Budget Brand whether Heritage distributed them
or not.
At least this way we offer customers, via our specialists, a
clear choice of budget panels requiring extra fitting work,
versus Genuine Heritage panels. In our experience professional
restorers tend to use Genuine Heritage panels simply because
time = money and the extra cost of their time outweighs any
saving on the panels. Customers are unwilling to pay for the
extra time." |