Howell's Sheetmetal

I was just curious if anyone out there has ever bought any reproduction sheetmetal from Howells in Texas? Just wondering how the quality was and if they are recommended. Thanks in advance.

 

Bought a firewall from them last year, pretty decent, heavy gauge. fit as you would expect a reproduction panel to fit, needed a little help but pretty decent overall.

 

bought patch panels... they didn't line up... I had a thread going on them.

Seems like it would take the same effort to reproduce panels that don't fit as opposed to panels that do fit??

 

I've used them alot. Always seem to be good stuff. Some things don't line up perfectly, but by far some of the best priced and best fitting pieces I've used.

 

I've used them and I think they stink, almost everything I have bought didn't fit and sometimes delivery sucks.

 

Delivery takes a while. But its worth the wait. They are quality.

 

I have used some of there door panel patches.... they needed a little massaging but they were pretty nice...

 

I did buy last year a Model A Coupe Quarter repair panels and inner fender panels.
International delivery time was long and information about delivery time was poorly.

Product´s was pretty good, of course they needed some work, but easier than make those parts from sheet metal.

 

I bought all the patch panels for my 34 pu. The door skins were very good, but the cowl patches are a joke. Still easier then making them from scratch. I ordered mine on a friday and had them the next friday. I did call them to get a estimated delivery time and got no response. Anyway here's a pic of the door skins to give you an idea.
Mat

 

Very slow delivery and will lie to you on the phone about shipping. Took my buddy about 4 months to get his and everytime he would call they would say "it will ship tomorrow." Would be better to buy from one of their dealers or vendors who has it in stock.

 

lower patch panels for the cowl and the door skins are great! I bought mine at the pate swap meet last year, they usually have a big setup there.

 

Bought the panels that fill in the space bollow the bed fwd of the fender on a 35-37 Ford PU, fairly basic part but exellent quality.

 

There are lots of threads on this- did you do a search? From the replies here, quality varies with experience,as does delivery time. I'd suggest finding a supplier that sells their stuff-like Mac's for Model A's- and ordering from them. You can check on if it's in stock,therefore know when you'll get it, and if the piece is crap, send it back. Make sure you use a credit card to pay for the purchase.

 

Everything I ever ordered from them has been as good as anything I have seen and had no delivery problems..I will use them again

 

The price is right and the panels are very decent. Most of the repro stuff out there needs to be tweeked.



Pete-

 

I bought from them awhile ago. Panels were pretty close. Shipping was timely. When I talked to the dude on the phone he was cool, he is/was on the HAMB I think.

Remember, those with fitment issues, there is ALOT of variation between stamping plants around the country. When I got pieces and parts from several HAMBers to stitch the back panel of my coupe together, no two pieces from different cars were even close.

That said, I was happy with the parts and would buy from them again.

 

Yeah Ive had original pieces from Model A's that fit about as well as ANY reproduction panel. I've been gtting most of my stuff from macs and they fit great. The Howells stuff Ive seen were quality pieces.That being said ANY patch panel should require some massaging to fit right...

 

These guys?



http://www.fordor.com/

~Jason

 

Thanks everyone for your help. Your responses were helpful and about what I was expecting to hear. I was thinking about purchasing the rockers they sell for a '32 Ford Tudor sedan. Is there anyone I should use over them? I know someone mentioned Mac's, but didn't know if the parts were all from the same supplier. Thanks everyone.

 

I have ordered from them on several ocassions and was pleased on both quality and shipping. I've ordered frm other sources to not have them fit at all.

 

Tom Bay in Arkansas City Kansas, his stuff is the best. He actually makes a lot of the parts other places sell.

 

I have used them and will do so again.

 

Do they sell Roadster Dash Rails? Through my stupidity after the Autorama, I'm now minus one 1930 - 1931 Dash rail. GIRRR!!!

 

Brookville will.

 

Even Fords own panels stamped in one region didn't always match the same part from another. Most replacement panels match the car they were patterned after. Then again, one would have to wonder where all those mis-shapen Chevy trucks came from that no replacement door would fit right.

 

I've used Mac's a lot for stuff for my Model A. Always friendly,competitive pricing and decent delivery time. They will even bring stuff to car shows for free to save you shipping which was a good deal when I bought a bumper and,later a cowl band. You could check with them regarding who makes their patch panels.

I think a lot of the problems in fit lie with getting a "standard" part to fit on 75 year old cars that were not very well fitted to start with. I bought a inside trunk panel for the A that needed a bunch of trim to fit, but some of that was mods I'd made in putting the trunk together and my fuel line/taillight setups.

Still you'd think that if you were a sheetmetal supplier and everyone complained that a certain piece needed to be trimmed a certain way to fit you'd modify the piece? Maybe that's just me. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

I'm a sucker for old Henry metal, so knowing that a copy is out there, I'll probably keep looking for the real deal until it's absolutely necessary.