Since you'll be ordering a bunch of stuff you'll probably save quite a bit by
ordering directly from Kilmartin; esp. if you're not in a hurry.
Though Kilmartin stuff is good quality--probably the best we can get since
Everett Smith died--it's not perfect. In particular, we got some outer sills
for our BN2 (Kilmartin via Moss) that weren't great; specifically, the length
of the 'outer' pressing should be roughly the length of the bottom of the
doors, and they weren't. Also, the angular cut--the one that optically, at
least--continues the door-rear fender gap was not pressed at the correct angle
at a couple places.
Dunno if Kilmartin got the original tooling or are just doing 'best-effort'
copies of good, OEM metal--I suspect the latter--but be prepared to cut, bend,
weld, etc. a little to get good fitment. The Octane article of a few months ago
cited someone who had worked in the original (Jensen?) sheetmetal plant; he
said they would sometimes stamp up to three pieces at a time; so you'd expect
the quality of reproductions to vary if even the OEM pieces did (I obtained two
original rear fenders for our BN2, and the swageline pressing was significantly
different between the two).
Bob
--------------------------------
Bob Spidell - San Jose, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lodge" <emmgeeteecee@yahoo.co.uk>
To: healeys@autox.team.net
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 11:05:51 AM
Subject: [Healeys] Healey sheet metal.
I'm just starting the restoration of my BJ8. Recommendations for sheet-metal,
if you'd be so kind; usual Healey stuff, floors, sills, rockers, B posts. I
have noticed that there is quite a price difference between the Moss prices on
some items and Kilmartin. I appreciate that the Australian products have to
travel further! Thanks to all.
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