Morris Minor Owners Club

All the panels I have been supplied with are made by LMC Hadrian.

They have fitted very well so far.......(just ordered a front inner wing so we will see)

Not sure of the thickness difference, as there was very little of the original panels left to compare them to

Kevin wrote:Speak to your local people at ESM as they dont just sell spares they have workshops as well and should be able to tell you what they currently find the best.

.... and what's more they are lovely fluffy people

but i like to ask around, just to make sure, rather than simply trusting the fluffiest people i can find

am trying to wean myself off "automatic blind trust" mode

Martin,

Do you buy the panels directly from LMC Hadrian, or do you get them from an agent?

well, started on other side of splitty this weekend,so im gonna need some panels i reckon, cop for the bottom pic on my weblink. its enough to bring a tear to a glass eye!!!

Cam

All my panels come from Bull Motif - excellent service!

Received the inner wing panels today (less that 24 hours after ordering them(by 3-4 day courier ))

The flat inner wing is quite thick steel, not flimsy at all, and appears to be slightly thicker than the original panel. This is Hadrian.

I also ordered a hinge pillar cover and this is slightly thinner steel, complete with light surface rust!
This has no label so I can't say where this came from.
Probably not a Hadrian panel though.

Cheers

Martin

Steve... re your bottom pic..you call that bad! It's still recognisable
as a boxing plate!

I too purchase all panels from Mark at Bull Motif and they do provide a very professional,and speedy service. You will find that all Hadrian panels carry their stick on labels. The C.Ware parts have no markings at all, apart from the thick primer and rust.( Observation not critisism ). You can tell a good panel one by weight, i.e the cheap ones are light inferior metal, try and do a comparison with a like for like panel. Also the quality of the pressing is a give away, Hadrian panels nice and flat with machine formed contours, the cheaper ones tend to look hand beaten. The easiest way to make sure you get the best parts available is to ask for Hadrian panels,not the foreign ones.
As a point of interest if someone was to produce an exceptionally long lasting panel which will outlast the life of the car and its owner at a reasonable cost about 30-40% above the current asking prices, yet not quite replicating the original style, but fitting exceptionally well, would you be prepared to buy it?.
Please indicate your thoughts in your posting

Thanks Martin & Jonathon.

As a point of interest if someone was to produce an exceptionally long lasting panel which will outlast the life of the car and its owner at a reasonable cost about 30-40% above the current asking prices, yet not quite replicating the original style, but fitting exceptionally well, would you be prepared to buy it?.

The price would be fine. The fitting would be fine. BUT it all depends on HOW MUCH it differed from the original style and my questions would be: Why does it differ? Why can't it be made to the original style?

I don't want to weld in bad steel quality panels or poorly fitting ones, so SLIGHTLY less original but perfect otherwise would be the lesser of the evils, but if there was an original style one then I would much prefer to buy that one.

~Hi guys...

If the Hadrian Panels are the ones with the stickers on then I can second that I like them. I can also comment that when we got the boot parts for Hebe that the welder had to jiggle things around a bit in order to get the panels to fit (I think he recut something and refabricated a few bits)...

And yes, the bits which didn't fit came from non-Hadrian sources... while the Hadrian ones fitted perfectly

Nikki

Re- panel proposal. The reason the panels would not accurately replicate the originals is that of tooling costs.Most panels would be underside ones, i.e floors ,cross member chassis legs, tie/plates etc where for most longevity would prevail over originality. The difference would only be the strengthening bosses pressed into the floor pans, everything else would be the same. Just think once fitted they will never need to be worked on again. Further details will follow, just need to test the water!!.

Jonathon, do I sense yet another development?

Heh... maybe I will hang on to Hebe instead of getting that Traveller after all!



Nikki

You've already answered the question I was gonna ask - Yes, for structural/underside panels I'd definitely pay more for quality over exact replication. Come to think of it, the same probably applies to other panels as well, as long as they're not freakishly different.