7 replies to this topic

[1977 Loud_Mini]

Right i have a 1977 British Leyland mini which is in pretty good condition for it's age but is starting to go in some places and i need the following items:

Both Door steps
2 Outer Sills,
2 rear arches,
rear valence,
2 valence closing panels,
both rear quarter panels,
both front floor pans (repair panels),
Complete boot floor.

I was wondering which panels i should replace with genuine heritage panels and which ones with pattern parts and where to get the said panels from? I know many say, you get what you pay for but some pattern parts can be a very good fit so i've heard and it's just because money is a bit tight i may need to get pattern.

Any help would be great.
Thanks,

Evan.

[sonikk4]

Right i have a 1977 British Leyland mini which is in pretty good condition for it's age but is starting to go in some places and i need the following items:

Both Door steps
2 Outer Sills,
2 rear arches,
rear valence,
2 valence closing panels,
both rear quarter panels,
both front floor pans (repair panels),
Complete boot floor.

I was wondering which panels i should replace with genuine heritage panels and which ones with pattern parts and where to get the said panels from? I know many say, you get what you pay for but some pattern parts can be a very good fit so i've heard and it's just because money is a bit tight i may need to get pattern.

Any help would be great.
Thanks,

Evan.

Bit of a mix and match here

Outer sills:- M-Machine and their jacking points if you need them.
Rear quarter panels. Heritage.
Rear valance close outs. Heritage
Front floor pans. You could try M Machine or Hadrian. If you do decide to use these or any other manufacturer you may have issues with the flutes lining up in the floor. Pattern part floors are notorious for not lining up but will with some work.
Complete boot floor. Heritage and get the one with the battery box already fitted.
Rear valance. Scott bought after market for Project Erm and it fitted but i think maybe a Heritage one would have been better.
Door steps. NIGHTMARE. Magnum NO, Hadrian hit and miss, not sure if you can get just a door step from Heritage. The reason why i have said all of this is the way they are formed the angles of the step need to be a tight radiused 90o and pattern ones are rubbish. Also some are wider, some narrower. For Erm on the right side we had an SC Parts sourced item that was not too bad but i had to slice and section it to get it to fit correctly. The l/h one i bought from them was rubbish and so binned it.
I gave up on the l/h side and made my own out of several L sections i folded at work and then welded together.
Rear inner arches. Heritage.
If you are changing these you may need the arch close out that fits in front of the arch again Heritage for these items.

Hope this helps and this is my personal experience with these panels.

[1977 Loud_Mini]

Thanks very much for your help, i was hoping you would come along and post here as i've read both of your topics and your work is really good :) Do you know how much the M-Machine floor pans and sills are so that i can compare with heritage panels and other suppliers as i can't find prices in the 2006 price cataloge?

Evan.

[sonikk4]

Off the top of my head no. The sills were not expensive plus they make them and were cheaper than Heritage. They are made from some decent gauge steel and fit nicely as are the jacking points. I did trim the bottom part up a tad on the sills but that was me being fussy.

Give them a call, they are really helpful and will tell you if they make the front floor sections or buy them in. I do know they make the half floor sections and Shifty (Sean) on here rates them highly.

Some people knock them on here but for me they have have always been very helpful and the items i order normally come the next day if you ring them in the morning.

The pattern sills from other suppliers (not Heritage) seem to be made from thinner steel so its a no brainer there for me.

Heritage will always be expensive but you pay for what you get, HOWEVER they do have some fitting problems on some of their items so not everything is as simple as it looks. Their overall finish is very good especially the E coat and the metal they use is thicker/better quality.

[se_juggles]

personaly from exsperience using both genuine and non gen i would just get genuine for everything,.... from my exsperience the non gen never fit properly and are a pain in the arse to adjust... better off just spending the extra cash on genuine and saving a hell of alot of time... (my opinion)

[1977 Loud_Mini]

Well i'll give M-Machine a call and see if i can sort something out. Thanks for everyones help, will go for genuine panels.

Evan.

[1977 Loud_Mini]

Me again just wondering if minispares are ok for buying heritage panels like the boot floor, rear arches and rear quarter panels or whether another place may be better suited and possibly cheaper?

Evan.

[se_juggles]

yer they will most likely get the panels from the same supplier as all the rest... dont quote me on that tho buuut http://www.somerford...page=page&id=25 you may want to have a look at them they are good for panels and there pretty cheap... :)