What Do You Think of This Panel?

[cobolman]

I bought a number of new panels for my 1960 Austin Seven Mini, amongst which were a couple of floor halves. I was surprised at the state of them and informed the manufacturer today. I hope to have a response soon.

In the meantime, I'd welcome any thoughts on the attached image. Is this normal? Is it what you would expect?

To me, the floor looks crinkled in places where it shouldn't be.

Crinkled Floor.jpg

It's also twisted and warped along it's length

Twisted and warped.jpg

I'm not looking to call out the manufacturer here. Rather, I'm looking to understand whether this is normal for a replacement floor panel

Thanks for sharing your perspective.

[Tupers]

I had a similar set this time last year for my MK3.

The twist isn’t ideal but will come out once you have the panel clamped into the car.

The ripples look a bit deeper than mine were but they will come out with a hammer and dolly.

[Exminiman]

In my opinion, they are wrong, whether you can hammer and dolly them out, shouldn’t come into it.

Is there something special about them or can you get them else where ?

[Polarsilver]

My opinion the Press Tooling is made wrong or could now have become worn out, or maybe the Press Tool has been set up incorrectly. (setting up a press tool pre- production is a skilled job.)
The Press capacity back in the day would be 100Ton & these big Presses are no longer in use today, so the solution is a smaller capacity Press & that means no longer able to use the same gauge of Steel as OE in many types of Panels.
sign of the times i would send them back otherwise the supplier will just carry on sending out imperfect items.

[Peter Laidler]

Piss poor press tools, just as Norman says. Steel is easily capable of being pressed and formed into all shapes....., that's why they still use it to make car bodies. But you just gotta press it right!

There are better floor pans than that, believe me!

[AndyPen]

Had a few panels like this over the years, mostly larger ones. If nothing else is available a shrinker and expander, even the hammers can help a lot. I don't have the talent myself, but know a man who can

[mab01uk]

My opinion the Press Tooling is made wrong or could now have become worn out, or maybe the Press Tool has been set up incorrectly. (setting up a press tool pre- production is a skilled job.)
The Press capacity back in the day would be 100Ton & these big Presses are no longer in use today, so the solution is a smaller capacity Press & that means no longer able to use the same gauge of Steel as OE in many types of Panels.
sign of the times i would send them back otherwise the supplier will just carry on sending out imperfect items.

As a retired Mechanical Engineer I agree with all the points made by Polarsilver above and I would add that many of those skills like setting up a press tool correctly are in short supply now, many have retired and few young people come into such trades now to replace them, with the drive to send all youngsters to University in recent times.

However it may also be a case of if the supplier further hand finishes the panel with a hammer and dolly and the skills of a capable panel beater to make it perfect, the time and labour price increase means very few will buy it at a higher price....or if the supplier changes to a thinner gauge steel to suit their much lighter presses (compared to what BMC/BL/Rover used) then customers might also complain...they end up in a no win situation. Alternatively they could perhaps sell different quality levels at different price points, rather like Minispares who often list a more expensive 'genuine' replacement part or a cheaper 'pattern' part and let the customer choose.

I've not bought any floorpans recently but in the past have usually found you can't do much better than M-Machine as the supplier for early Mini panels but even theirs sometimes need some work depending what level of factory fit required. As often said as Mini enthusiasts we are very lucky with the range of replacement panels available compared to many other classic cars even though they might need a bit of tweaking to fit. Even Heritage panels often need some work but they don't produce all the early panels and even some of the factory tooling they took over from Rover was well worn by the time they were given it by BMW at the end of Mini production in 2000.

[cobolman]

Thanks to all for the replies.

I've taken your advice, and gone back to the manufacturer. They've agreed to take the panels back (at their cost) for a full refund. They've also agreed to offer a significant discount on a different floor option, if I'd like to take it. I'm very tempted!

One new problem I came across was that all floor panels seem to be designed for later cars. My early 1960 has three straight flutes that lead up to the footwells whereas all the floor panels I can find have one angle flute leading into the footwell.

Ah well, as Edd China would say "That's a problem for another day"

[mab01uk]

For reference Magnum started producing full floors from their own tooling quite recently.
More details in the link below.

New Magnum 1 piece MK1 Floor:-
viewtopic.php?t=21188

[swifty]

I’ve been fitting panels like that for years . They just need heat shrinking when fitting . I’ve had countless panels like that from M machine . … Shirley

[Polarsilver]

Mab, highlights exactly the issue .. Lack of Trained Skilled People.. at Pressed Steel Cowley any Body Panels with such deformation would have been scrapped & the Press Tool investigated as there will be a identifiable reason why a pressed panel has deformed during its pressing.
Back in The Day There is no way a "deformed" Panel of any type would ever reach Body Production for the simple reason it would not fit into the Jigs that were used to make a Body Shell & any such attempt by the Production Worker to get that deformed panel into the Assembly Jig would slow the production line.

Today .. this is the suppliers "normal product" ..Take it or Leave it .. Buyer accepts their repro Panel needs work.
The fault is with the Press Tool Owner who has made a Press Tool that is "not correct" to the original BMC / Rover specification therefore will never produce a Panel identical to an OE item.. irrespective there is no excuse for a Pressed Panel having such deformation.
But lets face it no Mini was designed to last this long, so count our self lucky that there are suppliers out there that Try to Help.. Try that with any parts supply say for an Audi Ur quattro with Bosh injection parts = no chance as more than 7 years old so parts NLA. despite Audi Heritage.