Who is making the best sheetmetal now days?

[69x22]

What company is producing the best sheet metal now days? Need a hood and deck lid for a 67 Nova.

[T_Raven]

Everything I've read over the last couple years says AMD is the best. They don't make every thing but people say what they make fits best, and they do supply pretty much everything they don't make through other manufacturers.

https://www.autometaldirect.com/

[Rick D]

I would do a search of the forums, this has been beat to death And when your done reading all that you really won't have a better idea

They are all hit or miss as far as I'm concerned. I have bought stuff at the same time and one is good the other is crap, I have bought things a year apart and the older one wasn't to bad, and the new one fit like crap.

[Matt@BOS]

AMD seems to be what a few people on here strongly advocate as the best. We used an AMD quarter on my car after I got hit, and it fit ok, but still needed some work. Dick at BOS said it fit better in some regards, but overall it was a wash as to which brand was better.

[69x22]

Team Camaro guys lean towards AMD also.
Thanks, Guys

[snappytravis]

I had a conversation with the amd guys at sema, There are two brothers that are owners I believe, They both worked for another company that years back I thought was the place to buy sheet metal, I had a friend that used this company a few years back. He owns a bodyshop and could say nothing good about the fit and finish. It wasn't amd. I talked to another friend of mine that has done a couple of first gen camaros and he said the same thing about fit. I ordered 2 door skins from amd and we compared to door skins from the competition and the amd was heavier gauge and overall just nicer quality. I would buy amd again. You will still have to do a little welding on the edges if you want the new car fit. I also researched a lot on the websites before ordering and all lead to amd, good luck

[Sparks67]

We have never used AMD, but NOS is the best as far as I am concerned. I seen lot of hours put in fitting of aftermarket sheetmetal on other cars. My 67 Camaro had all NOS sheet metal, besides the floor pans. So, if you can find NOS or used sheet metal, then use that first.

Jeff

[T_Raven]

Originally Posted by Sparks67

We have never used AMD, but NOS is the best as far as I am concerned. I seen lot of hours put in fitting of aftermarket sheetmetal on other cars. My 67 Camaro had all NOS sheet metal, besides the floor pans. So, if you can find NOS or used sheet metal, then use that first.

Jeff

I don't do body work for a living, but for what it's worth, I've seen posts where guys who do have spent thousands on NOS panels and they still need as much work as anything else.

One theory was that the more the tooling was used the less precise the parts were coming out of it. Then there's the fact that production methods weren't as good as they are now so panel fitment from car to car was probably slightly off. Plus anything from 60s and 70s has probably has probably twisted, settled, tweaked, etc over the years.

[Amituk]

Check my build thread in my sig.

AMD all the way. I am practically building my car from scratch using their panels

Amit

[Sparks67]

Originally Posted by T_Raven

I don't do body work for a living, but for what it's worth, I've seen posts where guys who do have spent thousands on NOS panels and they still need as much work as anything else.

We did do lot of measuring to see if the car has been hit in the past. That is most common thing among first generation Camaro's. Jack (friend's dad) has been doing body work for over 57 years, and he recommends that people buy NOS or used sheet metal that he can rework. He has done a few cars for people with aftermarket sheetmetal and it is lot more hours than buying NOS. Most people don't seem to realize that cost per hour can get more expensive, by buying an aftermarket panel than NOS. (Shop rates are usually around $50 to $90 an hour) Costs start to add up, when you add that labor rate into the equation.

The 67 Chevelle that a customer brought him with aftermarket sheet metal. I saw the door to fender gap, and it looked 5/8" wide. He had do lot of hours on the car to make it acceptable. 68 Firebird with aftermarket panels had lot of hours in the fitting of them. Then my 67 RS camaro has NOS parts, and it took a little work, but not as much as the other cars. My gaps are rather a shade under 3/16". Jack's 69 Z28 has NOS parts, and gaps are 3/16".

Originally Posted by T_Raven

One theory was that the more the tooling was used the less precise the parts were coming out of it. Then there's the fact that production methods weren't as good as they are now so panel fitment from car to car was probably slightly off. Plus anything from 60s and 70s has probably has probably twisted, settled, tweaked, etc over the years.

I worked in Tool & Die in the late 1980's, and we built dies for the automotive industry. A die does wear in time, but we supplied the customers with check gauges. So, the Big 3 could check the part to keep the production process within the tolerances.

The problem that I seen and hear with aftermarket sheet metal parts is inconsistency with the aftermarket parts in reqards to fit. I suspect that the production operator is not checking the quality of the parts. So, this might explain the inconsistency of the production process. You start moving your production lines out of the USA might save on labor costs, but you do lose quality. Most NOS sheet metal was produced up to early 90's. I bought my NOS RS fenders from Chevrolet in 1985 for only $189. Cowl hood was $239. I later bought my quarter panels from Camaro Specialities, but I should have bought some quarter panels in the 80's. The cost was rather low in the past.

Jeff