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Which Panels are best


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Poll: Which panels are best quality & fit? (8 member(s) have cast votes)

Which panels are best quality & fit?

  1. Genuine Rover (5 votes [62.50%])

    Percentage of vote: 62.50%

  2. BMH (British Motor Heritage) (1 votes [12.50%])

    Percentage of vote: 12.50%

  3. M-Machine (formerly Mini Machine) (2 votes [25.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 25.00%

  4. Un branded (0 votes [0.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 0.00%

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#1 Pickup

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Posted 23 May 2004 - 09:24 AM

Hi Folks

If you've got or had replacement panels on your Mini please vote. I'm about to start buying panels and I'm looking for some help on what's best option.

I'd rather spent £12 on an a-panel that fits than £6 on one that doesn't but don't know how M-machine compare to BMH (for example).

Thanks

Frase

#2 Bluemini

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Posted 23 May 2004 - 12:18 PM

I dont have a preferance, I jus make sure they are good quality because wether its a Heritage panel or a cheap one, neither of them are gonna fit right anyway. So no matter what you get, your gonna have to do some tweeking to get it to line up.

#3 Dom

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Posted 23 May 2004 - 12:40 PM

i agree, surely who ever its made by you just want it to be good quality and to last

#4 adam c

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Posted 23 May 2004 - 04:36 PM

I'm interested as well..
I think the bmh ones use the original presses so will be as gooder fit as your gonna get. Whereas all the others are patern panels where they are copied from another panel or from a car etc.
Every car will be slightly different aswell so a cheap panel might fit perfectly on yours but might be a terrible fit on mine etc.
Also the genuine panels use electro sumthin paint which is sposed to actually prevent corrosion whereas i think most of the cheap ones are just painted black.

p.s. didn't think you could get genuine rover panels anymore, thought these were the bmh ones???

#5 Pickup

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Posted 23 May 2004 - 07:51 PM

Thanks for the responses.

I agree with what you're saying, maybe I didn't make it clear but I'm trying to find out if one particular brand is better quality / fit than the others.

I can't just pop round and have a look because there's no-one up here that specialises in Minis, I could always order one from the local factors, one from BMH and one from m-machine but at the moment I've got 7 panels to replace and counting :D ....

I thought BMH had taken over and supplied Rover OEM panels too but on their web-site some of the panels are quoted as being "refer to Rover price list" which I took to mean buy via your local dealer, also they don't seem to do many panles for non-saloon variants, but then who does.

Cheers

#6 cowboy

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Posted 23 May 2004 - 09:02 PM

i baught most of my panels from my local supplier, though i had to cut them down has they were to big in the most the floor pans anyway. all the sills inner and outer the step and teh rear boot section fitted 95% perfect, a little adjustment with an angle grinder works wonders.

if you want to spent loads on originals do it or get them as cheap as you want, the fiish result is what you make it with the finishing of and the spray job :wales:

#7 dklawson

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Posted 25 May 2004 - 01:04 PM

For things like floor repair panels and such that have to be "cut to fit" it shouldn't matter whose panel you use. If you are buying whole panels such as door skins, wings, or A-panels you will do much better using panels from a quality source like Rover, BMH, or M-Machine. In the U.S. you are limited to what our suppliers import which include Rover and BMH (interchangeably) or generic pattern panels of unknown origin. M-Machine panels are sometimes directly imported by end users but not the parts suppliers. All three of these are touted for fit and finish over generic pattern parts. However, I have heard some complaints over the last two years about BMH panels. I never had a problem with them but my body repairs go back about 4 years. The BMH complaints dealt with fitting problems... something generally associated with pattern panels.

As mentioned, the quality panel makers typically use an electrically charged primer that is very tough. Only surface cleaning and scuff sanding is required prior to applying your own primer and top coat. (Yes, apply your primer over theirs so there is no observable shade difference in your top coat).

As Cowboy said, it all depends on your budget and how much work you personally are willing to do. If someone is doing the work for you, buy the quality panels as there will be less time spent making them fit and you'll be paying for the work on an hourly rate. If you're doing the repairs yourself, you can save money with pattern panels but you'll spend a fair amount of time tweaking them. You'll also want to strip off all their cheap primer and re-prime PRIOR to welding them in place so you have protection in all the hidden places.

#8 Pickup76

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Posted 26 May 2004 - 12:13 PM

Thanks for the responses. 

I agree with what you're saying, maybe I didn't make it clear but I'm trying to find out if one particular brand is better quality / fit than the others. 

I can't just pop round and have a look because there's no-one up here that specialises in Minis, I could always order one from the local factors, one from BMH and one from m-machine but at the moment I've got 7 panels to replace and counting :D ....

I thought BMH had taken over and supplied Rover OEM panels too but on their web-site some of the panels are quoted as being "refer to Rover price list" which I took to mean buy via your local dealer, also they don't seem to do many panles for non-saloon variants, but then who does.

Cheers

Im restoring my 1976 pickup at the moment and after a good look at BMH, patern stuff and mini machine, i went with mini machine. This is mainly because they do a wide range of pannels for pickups as well as saloons which are correct for the period and dont have the moderen modifications like BMH. Im replacing about 40% of the car and i want the shell to be just as it came out of the factory so using some of the BMH pannels was out of the question. For the floorpan i had to buy a late 70's floorpan from MM and add the few inchs extra with the step that the floorpan had when it came out the factory. MM do a streched floor for vans/pickups but it isn't the same are the ones already of the car as leyland didn't change the press for the commertial minis they just welded a chunk on the floor.
MM also do all the front pannels from over the years which BMH dont, so there was no choise there.
I placed a £300 order with mini machine and got it next week. To my surprise about half of the pannels i got seem to be BMH, but they all fit near perfect and are correct presses so i dont care. The MM pannels are also really good. I dont know how they are made but quality is almost indistingishable from BMH. I was really impressed with MM they'll definetly get my custom again.
:grin:




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