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Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:54 am

Any experience with the quality/fit and shipping of body metal with any of these fine companies?

EIS
CIP 1
Bus Depot

Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:56 am

EIS. i wont even deal with the other two

not that i would buy new panels either

Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:23 pm

I have bought from Bus Depot three times now and have never had any problems. They are a little slow but they are not a huge company so they don't have a bunch of workers either to pump out the orders. I'll be dealing with them for most of my parts for my 78. I'm going through EIS also for a few things. I was going to get more from them but their prices went up so I'm going through BD for that stuff now. Never dealt with CIP1 so I can't comment on them.

Geno :D

Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:13 pm

So far I've replaced rockers ,rear dog legs , battery tray ,rear pan, right corner, and inside and outside door steps. bottom of slider door skin. I've bought from Bus Depot , OE-Veedub and fellow samba members in classifieds. All have been good quality and fast on shipping. Mine is a 1979

Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:34 pm

I'd look for what company made the panel rather than what company is selling it to you.

Tue Mar 06, 2007 6:17 am

... alright, Matt. Do tell! Who, in your opinion, does it best?

Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:20 am

Jeff Geisen wrote: ... alright, Matt. Do tell! Who, in your opinion, does it best?

I'd say when available go with VW panels (German, Mexico, Brasil,..) And other than that it might actually vary with the perticular panel piece you are buying. Others can probaly chime in here better as to what is best for what piece. Just keep in mind that you might save 20 bucks by buying one panel over another, but you might spend 8 more hours trying to tweak and trim it to fit correctly.

Though, if you're replacing the complete front doglegs/steps, I can recommend going with the VW piece from Bus Depot. Its the right shape and fit. Others are a little flimsier and squarer. I've got a pile of other replacement metal yet to be welded in, I'll let you know how it all goes. :)

Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:37 am

mattcuddy wrote: Jeff Geisen wrote: ... alright, Matt. Do tell! Who, in your opinion, does it best?

I'd say when available go with VW panels (German, Mexico, Brasil,..) And other than that it might actually vary with the perticular panel piece you are buying. Others can probaly chime in here better as to what is best for what piece. Just keep in mind that you might save 20 bucks by buying one panel over another, but you might spend 8 more hours trying to tweak and trim it to fit correctly.

Though, if you're replacing the complete front doglegs/steps, I can recommend going with the VW piece from Bus Depot. Its the right shape and fit. Others are a little flimsier and squarer. I've got a pile of other replacement metal yet to be welded in, I'll let you know how it all goes. :)

I agree with you 100% here. I was going to buy the cheaper ones but they were out of stock and would have been about a 3 month wait. So I ordered the VW ones. They are very nice and only cost me $10 each more. It was a good buy. Now if I can ever get them welded in. :roll:

Geno :D

Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:18 am

I am having a professional do my rust repair, but I want to give him the best possible product to work with.

I did not realize the VW panels were available. I'm sure my body man will appriciate getting good metal to work with.

Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:20 pm

The replacement panels I need are:
bottom of windshield
driver's side floor far left 8" only
battery tray

Does anyone have any good/bad experiences replacing these areas?

Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:26 pm

about frigging time we started discussing this topic seriously.

Campy and I were trying to get some threads established that laid out the quality of different suppliers for replacement panels as their quality varies wildly. None ever took. Hopefully this one will go a few pages.

From what I understand Klokkerholm panels are touch and go but generally more touch than go. Most of the other ones are a crapshoot. Generally the best panels come from metwiz and alan schofield in the UK. if i were looking for new metal i would go with schofield. i believe their panels are available through JustKampers, also in the UK.

Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:43 pm

I found that the Klokkerholm repair panels I used were close in guage of metal fit the best. Forgot to add this in my previous post

Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:45 pm

also, it should be noted that not all steel is created equal, virgin content and the process used to degas it will affect its rust resistance. the cheaper the panel, well you guessed it.

Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:26 pm

steponmebbbboom wrote: if i were looking for new metal i would go with schofield. i believe their panels are available through JustKampers, also in the UK.

Bus Depot also sells some Schofield metal. The Schofield stuff is generally pretty well regarded.

If I had to put stuff in general order, It'd probably go:

VW (cut from a bus or bought new)
Schoefield
Klokkerholm
Other?

Metwiz's stuff looks quality too, but he seems to only make what you can't buy from one of the above. And even now he seems to get parts from Gerson (who as far as I know doesn't do Baywindow parts)

It'd be nice to see a general consensus list of part-best brand-best palce to buy it; kind of like what has roughly been put together for window seals over the years.

Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:29 pm

Quote: If I had to put stuff in general order, It'd probably go:

VW
Schoefield
Klokkerholm
Other?

With some exceptions, that is the order in which I sell them, based on availability. It's worth noting that much of what Schofield sells is Klokkerholm or other brands, rebranded with his sticker, so I tend to pick and choose which Schofield metal I carry. (He does a great job on some of the metal he makes himself, but there's no point in paying extra to get Klokkerholm through him.) As for "other," that usually means aftermarket Brazilian, and the quality can vary quite a bit. In my case those are few and far between; if there is a better option available I carry it. Others carry a much higher percentage of aftermarket Brazilian metal, and no (or almost no) genuine VW or Schofield. (FWIW, both EIS and CIP1, to my knowledge, sell almost entirely Klokkerholm or aftermarket Brazilian, as they are by far more readily available in North America.)

Quote: The replacement panels I need are:
bottom of windshield
driver's side floor far left 8" only
battery tray

In my case, the first two are Schofield. The third is Klokkerholm on the passenger side (and it does fit) or genuine VW on the drivers side.

Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:26 am

we are in the process of finding a descent post 67 bus to use for patterns, the idea is to start like we did with the split window panels, the "consumables" first, and then move on to the more complex panels...I will keep you guys posted.....

Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:30 am

Gerson wrote: we are in the process of finding a descent post 67 bus to use for patterns.

that is awesome news. i will carry your metal when the time comes.

Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:53 am

Busdepot wrote:

Quote: The replacement panels I need are:
bottom of windshield
driver's side floor far left 8" only
battery tray

or genuine VW on the drivers side.

Anyone make a driver side battery tray with the hold down clamp for the aux battery?

The VW piece I have doesn't have it. (if I rememebr right, I'll have to check it when I get home :) ) Not a huge deal to fab one or cut out the old one and weld it in (if its in good shape). But it'd be nice to have a "ready to go" driver side tray.

Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:33 am

Gerson wrote: we are in the process of finding a descent post 67 bus to use for patterns, the idea is to start like we did with the split window panels, the "consumables" first, and then move on to the more complex panels...I will keep you guys posted.....

This will be awesome!! I have seen pics and read threads about your work on the split buses and how you make enough parts to build a whole new bus. Will this happen with the Bay also? That would sweet. Your work is amazing on the panels I've seen. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to our hobby.

Geno :D

Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:50 am

Now, I am considering spending my money on a donor bus and just harvest original Hanover metal for my repairs.

Seems there is much mystery and then availability problems that go along with buying re-poped replacement panels.

Decisions, decisions... :-k