I am sorting out a '75 914 and will replace a lot of the sheetmetal. Are there differences in the replacement panels and sheetmetal quality from various manufacturers? I've worked on other makes where we have fit/QA issues with body metal from certain manufacturers. Is there a way to distinguish the sheetmetal manufacturers from suppliers other than price point? If there is a thread on this, just point me over to it - thanks!

DaveB

There’s nos Porsche and then everything else.

I've used quite a bit of replacement metal and yes, there is a difference between manufacturers.

Anything Restoration Design develops is usually good stuff. There's always going to be some tweaking needed however theirs is the best IMO.

Most of the stuff AA produced/developed requires quite a bit more work. I avoid these items if possible.

OEM is definitely best. RD is pretty good, but I swear their panels are thicker steel than original... but I've never measured.

Not that easy ... some stuff you buy from RD is AA's & vice versa.

You are correct. I chose my words carefully. Developed vs. Sells

Even NOS Porsche metal has to be tweeked sometimes so give people like RD a break. Be prepared to do a little slicing and dicing for any replacement panel. Just have snips and a zip wheel handy.
But yes, sometimes replacement metal doesn't fit well, but it's hard to tell who made it because most of the sheet metal people sell the other guys stuff.

Thanks for the feedback and good info.

In general it sounds like most of the 914 replacement sheetmetal fits with some just requiring more work. I'm not hearing it doesn't fit, which I've experienced with some manufacturers on older US cars.

DaveB

I bought this repair piece from AA for the top rear portion of the front fender where it meets the cowling.

I ended up using a portion of a donor parts car.

I was very disappointed in the large radius bend where the rubber trim will squeeze in. With the AA Radius, there would have been a very large gap. Waste of money in my opinion.

Here you can see the part removed from my car and the repair piece. I am not a bodywork person by trade and this might be acceptable for some, but it is not in my mechanical engineer standard. The value in this repair piece is that specific bend and they screwed it up.

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Oh wow, that isn't even close ...

The RD bare steel (galvalume) parts are made in house, parts that are in primer are from other suppliers.


IIRC 22 gauge, about the same as OE.

From what I have bought and have seen RD is the hands down best aftermarket panels. Their shop is top notch and they put profits back into making us more products. They've made huge investment putting a new large addition on and ever year they have more machines, dies and inventory. We're lucky to have RD.

Not to mention they made a whole Speedster from scratch!

Restoration Design located in Ontario is superior, including their customer service. Joe Blow can call and speak with one of the owners and get positive results. I would bet OEM is probably the best, but availability and $$ leave something to be desired.

I added this photo to my build thread about 1-1/2 years ago. Two different manufacturers of door jams.

The one on the right (the grey one) is the Restoration Design replacement.

Probably worth posting again in this thread.

Restoration Design has the advantage of a lot of NOS parts to scan and use for die design. Some parts will not be exact for your car due to the many design iterations over the years. RD can afford to have only one die for a part most times, so they have to choose which iteration of the original to duplicate.

They go to great pains to make their stuff as close as possible, I know because I have a standing agreement to sell them any NOS metal I find. This was one such haul that went directly to Canada, didn't pass GO.
Green metal isn't cheap, so the fact that they pay heavy to get it right should say a lot about their commitment to quality.

These days, anyone with an even marginal "customer service policy" gets my hard earned $$ and RD hits a home run. I recently used a couple of their new door jambs, worked/fit/looked perfect.

Hey Guys,

I just noticed this thread and just wanted to say thanks to everyone that purchases our product and then lets others know about their experience. That by far is the best advertising I can get.

We do strive to make great fitting product, and I welcome feedback whenever you guys have any.

We do sell other vendors products and vice versa. That is the only time that I am not able to control the quality of the parts.

All our panels are made from galvaneel.

Floorpans are usually made from 18 gauge, which is only .005"-.01" thicker than the original 19 gauge that the Germans used. Most of the newly developed products are stamped out of 19 gauge metal, so the thickness is nearly spot on.

I have many NOS parts scanned and tools designed for the 914. I just need to complete the speedster project we are working on. That is what is taking all our efforts and time currently.

Pete

Bought a couple of repair panels from RD and both fit and looked great. Very appreciative to have metal panels for a 914.

20 years from now, we'll be able to assemble a complete 914 from new panels much like a 356 today.

I had both these parts in my hands, absolute no comparison the RD part easily was the vastly better part.
The blue panel was so thin you could piss through it and the stamping was just wrong beyond belief.

I appreciate all the feedback. I ended up ordering around 25 pieces of sheetmetal from RD yesterday.

@Montreal914 - thank you for posting comparison pics.

Very informative.

If I someone in auto design/engineering tried to deliver that part with insufficient fillets (radii) - they'd probably be shown the door - quickly.

Hope you all have a great winter holiday and a Happy New Year!

Just wanted to revive this thread since I’m getting ready to (hopefully) start on my 914 after sitting for 13 years. I really appreciate the posts here as it is why I come to this forum and I would rather spend a little extra for better fitting panels/service. While I’m not going for a concours restoration, I am trying to get as much rust out of the car as I can and want quality parts going into it.

Should we sticky this?

Since I cannot afford Nos/OE, I've had experience with everything else.

RDs newer pieces are the best (crazy thick) Some of the old stuff has rough shrinking/stretching lines, that should be smooth.

Dansk is fine, AA is fine... and I think I used something by TMP that worked.
Every piece I've installed - no matter where from - needs massaging (this has a lot to do with the cars condition too!)

I'm not a stickler about OE radius and such for my cars, but it has been a hassle in some places. (911 suspension pan gas tank lip)

Pete would need to verify this but I think I paid RD's power bill for a month or two. I know I spent north of $4k in metal from them. I was really happy to get parts that could weld together without hours of manipulation. Here's just one photo (of many) where I was able to quickly mock in RD panels and get things welded in in good order.

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If you paid the power bill I paid for the lake house, I routinely get a pallet or two from them, good stuff, fits well.

I've asked if there's an emblem for the rear panel, seeing it's more made by them
now

LOL! I'm sure I'm not their #1 customer. Did anyone notice the RD designed rotisserie in my photo? I downloaded the blueprints, purchased/cut the metal, and had it built in one weekend! Worked out great!

Great thread and right on target. I'd like to add that awhile back Pete wrote to say that if I didn't mind waiting another week or 2 he could combine my orders and save me some $$$. That type of customer care always gets my attention.

Factory Dansk Stoddard, Restoration Design and us.

Restoration Design has much of our 914 tooling so the pieces are top quality. They also make their own as well as buy from Dansk. Stoddard buys from Dansk. Stoddard and AA has parts made from their tooling at K&K in Michigan. That is about it.

We purchased excellent excellent tooling from Perfect Panels years ago and it is very very good, much better than Dansk

Dansk makes the door jamb and it is very nice now they sell it to us and to rd. The maker of the door jamb was first done for tweeks by dyna fab who also sold to us. the vent hole was to be folded in to weld to the quarter panel. Back then that was the only game in town for it, so new we are changing to the dansk part

AND we all sell each other parts, like a family.

This is a great thread. Thanks to all the folks that have contributed with your first hand experience and photo comparisons.