TheSamba.com :: View topic - Sheet metal m&t manufacturing vs wolfsburg west vs ?

Tue Nov 27, 2018 10:26 am

Looking to buy some inner rear wheel well metal.
Anyone have experience with m&t manufacturing

Tue Nov 27, 2018 11:25 am

Bigjacksauto wrote: Looking to buy some inner rear wheel well metal.
Anyone have experience with m&t manufacturing

I have bought most all of my metal panels from them over the years. I live a few miles down the road from them, and have gotten to know Kevin the owner. They're really the only VW parts house in the NorthEast. They have good customer service and usually spell out the quality of their parts when they carry more than one brand. A few years ago they bought out the complete inventory of another VW parts business in Colorado. I have been to their place of business, and it's well run. Set up for internet Web sales mostly. I've been pleased with the panels I've welded in. Of course since they don't make the panels, they're just selling you someone else's stuff, so you still have to do your homework.

Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:57 pm

Thanks beetlenut.i emailed them and they said most of their sheet metal is from denmark. Is that what you have found?
I am either going with Wolfsburg west or m&t manufacturing at this point.

Tue Nov 27, 2018 3:11 pm

You can't go wrong with either company, but I really like how M&T explains why they carry a particular panel, if it's not from Denmark(on their website).

They are one of the 3 vendors in the States that carry the thickest floor pans available, I can't recall the 3rd company, but WW is also one of the three.

I would be comfortable purchasing sheet metal from either, though I've only ever purchased any sheet metal from M&T. IIRC, they're slightly closer to me, thus shipping was a bit less.

H2OSB

Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:27 pm

I highly recommend M&T....

Got sheet metal and a bunch of other good stuff from them.

Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:51 pm

Bigjacksauto wrote: Thanks beetlenut.i emailed them and they said most of their sheet metal is from denmark. Is that what you have found?
I am either going with Wolfsburg west or m&t manufacturing at this point.

I was most concerned with finding the thickest pans which were 18 gauge. You can also buy the 20 gauge ones from them too, so I was happy with the ones I bought. I've also bought nearly everything else I've needed for the restoration of my car from them, and have been happy with the quality.

Tue Nov 27, 2018 5:04 pm

The sheet metal from M&T has worked well. Cannot compare with WW.

Tue Nov 27, 2018 11:06 pm

M&T is fantastic! I get a lot of things from them.

Thu Nov 29, 2018 9:03 am

Klokkerholm is the Danish company that provides the higher quality replacement sheet metal, including the heavier gauge floor pans. They are distributed by Key Distributors here in the US -- http://www.klokkerholmusa.com.

To let you in on a little know secret, you can order all of their VW sheet metal through Jegs with FREE shipping. They use the same parts number as the Klokkerholm website. I purchased a set a heater channels, floor pans and rear rockers for my son's '65 Beetle from them that way. :wink:

Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:06 pm

Kafer_Mike wrote: Klokkerholm is the Danish company that provides the higher quality replacement sheet metal, including the heavier gauge floor pans. They are distributed by Key Distributors here in the US -- http://www.klokkerholmusa.com.

To let you in on a little know secret, you can order all of their VW sheet metal through Jegs with FREE shipping. They use the same parts number as the Klokkerholm website. I purchased a set a heater channels, floor pans and rear rockers for my son's '65 Beetle from them that way. :wink:

Great tip!

H2OSB

Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:45 am

Kafer_Mike wrote: Klokkerholm is the Danish company that provides the higher quality replacement sheet metal, including the heavier gauge floor pans. They are distributed by Key Distributors here in the US -- http://www.klokkerholmusa.com.

To let you in on a little know secret, you can order all of their VW sheet metal through Jegs with FREE shipping. They use the same parts number as the Klokkerholm website. I purchased a set a heater channels, floor pans and rear rockers for my son's '65 Beetle from them that way. :wink:
Thanks Mike , that's great info. :D especially knowing how quickly jegs processes there orders.

Mon Dec 03, 2018 4:20 am

Klokkerholm has the shittiest heater channels on the market. Most of their sheet metal fits poorly also.

I guarantee you that the rusty ass channel that you remove will still weigh more than the Klokkerholm replacement.

I have a Klokkerholm heater channel that came with a project car but needed the other side also, I got a JP group/Dansk channel & it was twice as heavy & had much better stampings. I got the JP group/Dansk at a local swap meet & the weight of them was so much heavier than I remembered the Klokkerholm being, I bought both sides & was glad I did when I compared side by side.
Here’s the Klokkerholm on the left...

Towards the top of the pic, you can see how far off the carpet strip is located & how much thinner the heat riser is.

You would have less aggravation & time invested if you cut sheet metal out of a Honda & beat it into shape yourself than using Klokkerholm crap.

Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:47 am

I've not heard or seen quality work out of klokkerholm

Comparing Klokkerholm to EDIT JP Group

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=503306&highlight=available

I also read through a build thread once where the guy was only able to source klokkerholm (due to his location) and he found that the sheet metal
-wasn't stamped correctly
-often needed additional re-inforcements
-often much lighter gauge than OEM
- was not rust treated appropriately (and therefore was already rusting when delivered)

He also figured that if he had known how bad the pieces were before he purchased them , he would have just employed the local metalworks to create the panels from scratch.

I'd get M&T or Wolfsburg West as far as pans go

Avoid klokkerholm

Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:30 am

TDCTDI wrote: Klokkerholm has the shittiest heater channels on the market. Most of their sheet metal fits poorly also.

I guarantee you that the rusty ass channel that you remove will still weigh more than the Klokkerholm replacement.

I don't disagree that Dansk makes nicer channels, but I will also tell you the Klokkerholm channels I recently bought don't look anything like the crappy one in your picture. It was much cleaner and straighter. I did see the below description on another website stating Klokkerholm has recently updated their tooling (see below) so I may have received the never ones --

"This is the last of the "OLD" style Klokkerholm heater channels. There is nothing wrong with this part. Klokkerholm has re-tooled and now they offer "Nicer" looking channels with cleaner stampings. If you would like to order the "NEW" Style Klokkerholm channel. Search C24-111-801-04"

At the end of the day, most of us aren't professional body men and/or looking to turn out concourse quality show cars. We're hobbyist. I offered up the suggestion of Klokkererholm and the Jeg's shipping 'secret' for the normal guy that's building a driver and wants to save some money. Sure, some of the Klokkererholm stuff may require a bit more work fitting and finishing than the higher quality/higher cost stuff, but they'll work fine in most cases for majority of us.

You're individual talent, needs, expectations, budget, and results may vary... :wink:

Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:16 am

It has nothing to do with "professional restorations" vs hobbyist resurrections. Unless the Klokkerholm channels doubled up on the gauge, it doesn't matter how much better the new stampings are or how much you save on the part or shipping, you're going to be trying to weld what will effectively be wet toilet paper to your car & then constantly be trying to manipulate & tweak either the car or the part to fit.

Buying a better quality part is well worth the $30-$50 difference. I got these at a local show where they were listed at $150 each but talked them down to $250 cash for both & there wasn't a shipping charge.

CIP1 has the Dansk for $134 & free shipping.
https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TAB-400-441

Or the Krapperhlom for $260 for the pair with free shipping.
https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC-111-898-045-D
HOWEVER! In CIP1s description, they say to use the Dansk instead. So, for $8 more, I should hope that anyone that is considering getting heater channels, that they would pay the extra money.