Is this guy smoking crack, or is this worth the price??

[1969chargerrtse]

??  I don't know, the door on my 68 felt pretty dang heavy to me, definately not tin sounding, very solid and stout, metal seemed plenty thick to me,  don't know about fenders.

   so 18 guage isn't a measure of how thick the metal is?

I remember back in 71 my buddies 69 SE, and closing the deck lid for him and being surprised how empty tinny it sounded?  Maybe it's just me?
I had said the AMD guy said he thought all 3 companies used 18 gauge thick sheetmetal.

[SeattleCharger]

ok.     thanks.    ya, the trunk lid seems thin.  but it seems about like the trunk lid on a 71 camaro I had.  so I don't know.     if 18 guage is thickness, and they all used it, wonder why the weight difference?  the fender on the 68 I had did seem to sound strange when I rapped on it with knuckles, I wondered if the entire thing was bondo or what, didn't try the magnet thing, but it didn't seem like thick steel or anything,  I was just saying that the door seemed pretty heavy.          So why the big weight difference of the 2 cars?   

[Rolling_Thunder]

you guys got that tinny sound from doors and deck lids and hoods ?     I'll tell you what i have noticed about my Charger vs. my brother's 66 Chevelle....       the tinny sound comes from the fact that it appears mopars use a thicker / heavier skeletal structure that gets seam sealer between it and the skin of the panels...     the Chevelle has a more "integrated" structure with what look like spot welds rather than the seam sealer to join the two...          the doors on the chevelle are a lot thinner (outside skin to inside skin)  and use a multipiece design welded together where as the Charger's door is a ton wider and more like "stamped" pieces (like 2) that are joined together - not about 6 or 7 like the Chevelle's   ---   that greater open space inside the door also adds to the echo effect...

Overall my take on repo sheet metal...        I talked to a buddy of mine who works for Oakley (sunglass company) and he told me something interesting...    he states that 95% of their products are made overseas...      5% are fully made in the USA due to their military usage (XX Frames and Juliettes and such are therefore made both in the USA and overseas depending on public or military sales) - he stated the overseas products are done twice as fast, better quality, and 3 times as cheap...         So I view it as if the only place that will make the parts we needs is china or taiwan then so be it...       i'll buy it until a company makes them 100% made in USA for the same price and the same quality.

[TUFCAT]

no , i have rust free real 69's. 100% real factory sheet metal not 99% real taiwan cars

Some of us can't afford NOS sheetmetal or rust free cars like you obviously can. I know I can't. I have a rusty '69 and there is no way I can afford to restore it without using AMD metal. Who cares if I'll have Taiwan sheet metal on my car, it still means there will be another '69 out roaming the streets. I guess you haven't noticed since your head is so far up your ass.

Cody, stop eating those Pop Tarts before going to bed. 

[G-man]

All this over american made steel or china steel.

Steel comes from the earth. So doesnt matter where it comes from. Metal is metal.

Next

Howabout the man with NOS pannels and the man with REPRO pannels turn your cars on, go out your driveway and cause an accident.

Guess what?

BOTH of you will be replacing the pannels. Just the man with NOS will be thousands in the rear compare to the guy with repro pannels AND goodluck finding more NOS parts to replace with.

Considering that fact. The steel used makes jack shit difference. If you crash your replacing.

If you dont crash, both look identical.

Glad I can bring you back from that parallel universe you live in that makes NOS parts not dmg in car accidents etc as to why its so much better to have them

[SeattleCharger]

you know, that actually makes sense   

[1969chargerrtse]

Metal is not metal. There are many different grades and strengths. China products are normally junk compared to the products we produce. China rubber products disinagrate within a short period of time compared to the products we produce. Look at their cheap thin boxes they ship things in?  ( Paper is not paper ) Of coures NOS is the way to go but sometimes the product is not worth the price. I'm sure the AMD panels are just fine in this case, but steel is not all the same.

[G-man]

Yeah maybe the steel is manufactured differently as to why its junk from there. But like I said from a reality perspective, neither grade will protect your car in a car accident, so from a realistic point of view (not theory on paper), neither 1 makes any difference at all except 1 makes your wallet dry and next to imppossible to find another of the same sort to replace with.

Btw - when AMD started i heard everything is made in the US (from the amd guy that posted here months ago about them starting up), propper original gauge steel like from the factory, totaly made in the US etc etc.... ?

[jb666]

no , i have rust free real 69's. 100% real factory sheet metal not 99% real taiwan cars

Some of us can't afford NOS sheetmetal or rust free cars like you obviously can. I know I can't. I have a rusty '69 and there is no way I can afford to restore it without using AMD metal. Who cares if I'll have Taiwan sheet metal on my car, it still means there will be another '69 out roaming the streets. I guess you haven't noticed since your head is so far up your ass.

Cody -- You have to realize, Jerry's an old man who's very set in his ways. He's obviously lonely, stubborn and knows everything there is to know about everything. Arguing with a person like that is like laying on your back and pissing all over yourself. It gets you no where. People like him, in real life, are nothing. They walk around in their own little world spewing facts that they've read. In fact, I'm fairly certain that if he owns a Charger at all, it sits in his garage and never gets used.  I picture him being like this guy 

GET OFF MY LAWN!

[68X426]

 

[chargergirl]

Metal is not metal. There are many different grades and strengths. China products are normally junk compared to the products we produce. China rubber products disinagrate within a short period of time compared to the products we produce. Look at their cheap thin boxes they ship things in?  ( Paper is not paper ) Of coures NOS is the way to go but sometimes the product is not worth the price. I'm sure the AMD panels are just fine in this case, but steel is not all the same.

My father used to work for Hawaii Cane & Sugar (HC&S) and helped install the CB radios in the trucks that had to go out in the field. On the American made models the radios could be mounted without reinforcement. However in the imports the radios would start to rip themselves from the bottom of the dash, metal, where they were installed. (They got creative and designed a bracket). Metal is metal, yes, but the "grades" make a world of difference. AMD is supposed to be manufactured here...will check that fact.