AMD stops producing a lot of sheetmetal

Hi,

I just got a link to this news:

http://www.autometaldirect.com/page/discontinued-mopar.html

Lots of important sheetmetal parts (if not everything they do for Mopar won't be available anymore

Carsten

Thats going to put GYC out of business.
It will put a lot of shops out of business.

dart cuda challenger and charger 1/4 skins going away?? those must be well selling high volume items........weird.....actually if they are dumping skins and keeping the full panels that makes sense.....

AS of right now they are only stop make the 62 to 65 B body stuff. the 70 71 Duster Quarter panels, 73 to 76 Duster fenders and the A body fire wall stufff and that might just be the A/C one not sure on that.

I just got an email from my sales person at AMD. Cause of the massive reply to the sale. The sale is done and possibly all the items on that list are gone. She said "Because of the massive amount of web orders this created, the sale has been stopped. We think all of the inventory on the sale items is gone. If that changes after those orders are processed." I was in the process of trying to put something together to try and drum up some extra sales as I only basically am a dealer for use of the parts here at my shop. I told Anna it does suck that we are loosing the supply chain but looking at the items I can see why as I am sure the demand just was not there. My guess is we will see more sales like this as the time passes and the ages of people restoring these cars gets higher and the demand gets less and less.

corey

Stuff not selling or did they lose their slave labor contract or ?

That was fast. The sale is over. They sold to much.Tthey could not keep up, so they ended it.

That`s huge if they discontinue all that was listed. What happen? Is everybody buying the new challengers for comfort??

I saw this on Facebook this morning and called a couple of vendors. Too late.

I just hope one or two guys didn't buy up all the stock to mark it up later...

The sale started at 10:40 and ended at 1:50

I can see dropping quarter skins to focus more on full panels, though skins are handy & cheaper for stretching wheelwells.
AMD has helped save a lot of cars, so I hope it's just inventory management and not dropping products.

68 Coronet full quarters AND skins going away? Thats surprising.

Here is what sucks.... Everyday I get a email from AMD about some part they just released for a Chevy truck or a Ford Torino. They know what I buy... They discontinue a Duster 1/4 Panel without telling us? Why the 50% off fire sale?

Now I can't buy it at 50% off OR full price even!

Now I gotta get ROBBED again like its 1990

Not Cool AMD

AMD has never been a good compony. They never treated their dealers good. Usually if you are a dealer of someones product the dealer runs the specials Not the suppler or they both do. AMD running specials so people bought from them at discounted prices under cutting their dealers, so dealer got screwed with full price stuff.Thats why every dealers stop have inventor and went to drop ship. Plus no emails to dealer that certain parts will be discontinued or on sale before the public. I know its the only place to go but still it's not the way to do business.

STOPED sale butt they still have quite a few parts just orger 69 cuda full quarters they did honer there sale price fer now so if you need something call them. I did

WOW we called and they said sorry sale over. We were ordering when the price changed back to normal and that was my friend who is a dealer. That was at 1:50 today. They are messed up.

Exactly what happened to me. Was putting a big order together at lunch time...Then POOF all gone


Called them on the phone and said the sale was now discontinued too and they didn't know what parts if any they had left.


[censored]

Corona virus????????

I dont buy the "no demand"
Thats BS, think about it. 70-71 Duster / Demon quarters. They made 150k + of these cars. But they still make 71 charger quarters?
I'm wondering if Fiat is pulling liscensing or tooling in china is going sideways. Shifty business games going on for sure.

It's crap like this that makes my other make owning buddies laugh at me! It seems we eat a lot of uncecessary $hit when it comes to aftermarket pricing and availability being Mopar owners!

From the Passon 855 5 speed debacle where people are on a list for 10 years only to be bypassed by a new "investor" that arbitrarily sells them to whomever to "Moparts discounts" by Mancini Racing that don't exist to Year One bending us over on shipping to Mopar Performance rebranding and tripling the price of speed parts.

It seems like the aftermarket for Mopar is a minefield anymore! Yes, I'm ranting because I'm tired of the abuses!

Any idea where these parts were stamped? US? China?

If China, I bet this has something to do with it. That's just business.

AMD parts are made in Taiwan, not China. Overall the Mopar line of parts that they offer, has not been profitable for them. By not profitable, I mean the line as a whole has not covered the tooling costs. They offer the Mopar parts,because they are Mopar guys, and they knew that there were no decent aftermarket sheetmetal parts for Mopars. The profit that they make from selling the Ford and GM parts has afforded them the luxury of being able to make Mopar sheetmetal. So if there is something that they offer for your Mopar project, I advise you to order it while it is still being offered. I think that they deserve a big thanks from the Mopar world for stepping up and making the parts that have saved thousands of Mopars that would have been parts cars without the sheetmetal needed to save them. All that said, I personally remember how it was when there was little to no aftermarket parts for Mopars, and how difficult it was to build them back then. They are in business to make a profit, so items that do not sell well will be discontinued at some point, and the day will come that you will see parts like that being sold for prices like NOS parts are selling like now a days. So don't wait and think that it will always be as easy to get the parts they make at the click of a mouse!

On the bright side, if you have a car not needing sheetmetal, the value of your car just went up.

What happened to the company that was reproducing full 68-70 dodge charger quarter panels, made in the United States? Other than being out of business due to the cheap pockets of mopar guys. Thought they were better engineered than AMD.Just saying

Ding ding ding!

This always had me scratching my head. There are plenty of good fenders left because they made a bunch of them. But there was "no demand" for the stuff that's unobtainium: '68-'69-'70 Coronet fenders, '66-'67 Plymouth or Dodge anything. They even sold Daytona window glass and trim. Man, what a high volume seller that would be. Someone told me a year or so ago to buy a set of Coronet quarters if I needed them, because they weren't going to stamp anymore. Once the supply was gone, they were done. IDK if that was a WAG or prophetic.

Well, from what I understand if not for the outside investor that the 5-speed would have died along with the accompanying business in PA. Agree on the Moparts discount. Mancini isn't any better on shipping than Year One, IMO.
AMD seems to have ignored the Pentastar except for their big dollar stuff. '69 Road Runners, '69 Chargers, '70-'71 E-bodies.

Maybe this is more like a scare tactic to get a bunch of unsold inventory gone or to get peoples interest and they'll make some runs again later on.
The biggest expense to these panels is the design and tooling to make them and the space to store the panels. You'd think that once they can make them they'd keep them around in one form or another.

I think I understand your valid points, but isn't nearly all the investment in the initial stamping dies and working out that process?

The actual sheet metal and labor in Taiwan would seem to be relatively minor cost. Does it cost that much to do a one last run of any part?
Seems to me to be a missed business opportunity (profit?) if they marketed it properly, and this on and off and on again sale sure murkies the waters.

They were working on 73/74 Charger full quarters and 71-74 b-body roof skins but that’s probably a long shot now. I would be a buyer for both.

I have a pair of those Classic Body designs rear quarters, and they fit ok,but not much better than the AMD panels. They cost $1695.00 each. I bought them off a Moparts member for $1200.00 for the pair, he got them with a car he bought. He showed me the slip for them.

I don't know what it costs to do a run of any given part,but from a business standpoint, not many businesses are going to do runs of parts that don't sell well.

The thing that any manufacturer / vendor that supplies a part that they do not physically manufacture themselves is the quantities that are required to make a run. I know for example, for one part that we offer to the market is relatively inexpensive at say $18.00. Our volume is low and we need to go to make another order for this part. For us to make the purchase, the vendor tells us that the minimum order is 6000 units. This is almost seven years of inventory sitting on the shelf. So if we have $9 in each unit, that you can hold in the palm of your hand, you still have $54,000 sitting on the shelf. Does it make sense for us to invest those dollars to make basically a very minimum return on our investment?

I can completely understand the AMD challenge. Like any business, the business that is stamping the pieces for AMD is simply not going to stamp just a couple of each piece just so that they can have it sitting on the shelf for an unknown period of time. They are going to want a minimum of 50 to 100 units to simply change the tooling over. So is a business going to sit on 50 pieces of inventory that might only sell only one or two per month if your lucky. Factor in the space to transport to the warehouse and to store it on the shelf to the point that it sells. For anyone that has seen the AMD warehouse, it takes a huge building to hold the inventory.

The hobby is changing and will continue to change. Mark of AMD has been involved in reproducing parts for the Mopar world for probably well over 30 years, so without his contribution to the industry, the hobby would look much different than it does today without his involvement. In my opinion, it has never been easier to restore one of these old cars. The only down side is the cost to do these cars. No matter where interest lies, it cost to do anything for the most part. Whether you fish, hunt, travel, woodwork, etc, there is a cost to do the things that we enjoy.

It is not the end of the hobby, but just another evolution of it. Items will come and go. So hopefully the hobby will still bring much enjoyment to those involved with it.

Maybe AMD needs to change their slogan from "save them all" to "save some of them".

So is say the "6000" (#?) min run arbitrary( what the market will bare?) or more cost driven?
Meaning, an economic downturn potentially at our doorstep, might make them more aggressive for business, especially with existing tooling ready?

The sale is back on for now.

I got what I needed at 50% off which is where I needed to be for the cost on this part.

Sale is still going. I stocked up today.

@jcc, the volume levels varies depending upon the part in which you are looking to have a run made. The manufacture will almost always have a minimum quantity that they are willing to deal with. If you exceed the minimum, there will generally be discounts above that pricing for exceeding the minimum amount. I know in some of the things that we have been involved with overseas, the number can vary depending upon the company doing the piece. For example, we wanted to do 300 of a particular oil pan, The minimum that they would do was 500. I have no clue on the minimums for a particular run for say a quarter panel, but I would guess at least 100 to 200 pair on the initial order and a reorder at 50 pair. That is the issue with any new product brought to the market. If you have a very good new product, you may sell the first 50% in the first four to six months, the next 30% will take the next twelve months and the last 20% may take months only selling one or two per month if your lucky. So lets say that your volume levels have reached the point to reorder or drop the part. If the particular part is moving relatively slow, so do you order another 50 and only sell one per month and tie up your money and warehouse on the slow moving part or put money into a new piece that will hopefully sell well.

Many of these manufactures use our orders to fill their work load to maintain there business core. We deal with a number of small US shops for some unique pieces that we offer. Pretty much the equivalent of a body shop taking in a restoration project. That shop is going to take on the insurance work and then when time allows, they will spend some time on the restoration project over in the corner. That shop over in Taiwan is not going to run you six pair of 68 Cuda quarters and three sets of 64 Fury quarters. They want volume to make it worth their efforts.

Well just in case they don't come back out with some sheet metal, I went ahead and contacted Steven's Performance and asked what was up. Since I had bought from Ted and Jackie a few times, they hooked me up big time. Not only were they able to get me a fair price for the items I needed, they are dropping off at a show for me to pickup. So I got two 1972 Roadrunner Quarter panels for the price of one and saved a bunch on shipping too! Not sure if that deal is the same for everyone, but it might be worth calling for pricing and show delivery if they want to save some money before remaining stock is gone. I

Taiwan is China.
All this intellectual volleyball is all Bs if you ask me. 1970 71 A body quarter panels aren't big sellers? I don't think so. The tooling was already made, all the investment cost for already spent, and you can fit 1000 quarter panels without boxes in a 40' container. There's no doubt that there's some behind the scenes games being played. End of story.

Well you can always start your own company making reproduction sheetmetal metal for all our Mopars, and if you can do it cheaper, we will buy your products. Until that happens, AMD is the only company doing it, so I will buy their products. No one is going to pack 1000 unwrapped quarter panels in a container and ship it around the world on the high seas,they would be scrap metal by the time they arrived here! My friends and I just got a ten grand order in today, and are very pleased with the pieces we received. They all arrived in great condition, and the 71 Charger Ramcharger hood that I got today is nothing short of amazing! What a nice piece, and thanks go out to my friends Gary and Pam Bieneke for loaning their Ramcharger hood to AMD to make this part possible!

You made my case and point. Repro ramchager hood? You think they sell more of those then 70/71 Abody quarters?
You think they box these in China then ship them here?

They are shipped on racks,not 1000 pieces jambed into a container. The product is no good if it arrives damaged from the factory. As far as what AMD deems worthy of producing, and what sells and what doesn't, Mark ultimately has to make that call,like I said before if there is something that they offer now that you need for your car,get it sooner than later, because the day will come when they no longer offer the parts that you need. I am very pleased with the pieces I got yesterday, but I already know that they are going to fit correctly as I know that Gary meticulously test fitted the 71 Charger sheetmetal, until it was correct then it was released by AMD.

go a major mopar show 60 percent of more of cars are newer than 2010

Well we know they are moving into a new location. My guess is that they discontinued items directly to bypass the dealers and clear out excess inventory in a hurry. I’ve been reading several threads on this and they all blend together but apparently most dealers just act as middle men and direct ship straight from AMD. If they offered the sale through the dealers only, the dealers would tack on to increase profit, not warehouse the parts themselves, and the inventory would continue to sit. By “discontinuing” the parts, AMD can clear them out quickly. And since they have the tooling, there is nothing to stop them from doing another run at a later date.

I don’t think it’s the end of the world but some choices are surprising, like 68 Coronet and 72 Charger full quarters. But for all we know they may have 500 of each on hand from a second run of stampings. Again there is nothing to stop them from removing parts from the list once they get down to 50 units and keeping a very limited inventory. If you need it though and it’s on the list, you’d better buy it now.

When put my order in, most of the small items were gone and quarter panels were down to less then 100 pair per side, and that was a few days back. I wouldn't be surprised they were out of quarter panels by the middle of March.

I’m going to be driving my Hellcat a lot more
And stockin up on survivors

This is kinda devastating to the hobby ..

Its time to start stock piling parts for your Hellcat now,get to the dealer, start ordering up some parts,you will be way ahead of the curve!

Several replies said they've got the tooling they can just stamp more of them later. I wonder how true that it. Those stamps aren't exactly small or light. Would the off shore sub store them for a decade between runs? Would AMD pay to have them shipped over and then store them?

Something was said about an effort to clear out warehouse space. Combine that theory with an effort to raise some capitol for a new product and that sounds reasonably likely. We're gonna start supplying whatever, let's make some rack space for it. Stay tuned for the next new product announcement.

Their site shows they are discontinuing many GM parts as well so its not just us. Mopar has always had the crap end of the stick for parts, salvage yards, etc. At least we can finally put to bed the argument for 70 Coronet quarters.....

i would try to buy extra hellcat specific interior trim if there is such a thing. as a owner of a 08 bullitt mustang i am already having trouble buying some parts. ford stopped making bullitt specific parts shortly after production on the cars. a bunch of the parts are already being reproduced, but nothing beats NOS parts.
in my opinion the bullitt has cool dash panels, they went discontinued in 09. thank goodness i stocked up on those parts. i had a complete set of the dash panels NOS. someone with more $$$ than brains paid me more for the dash trim than what i bought my car for.
at every swap meet i go if i see a bullitt specific part i buy it even if i don't need it.i also regularly scan Ebay for bullitt specific parts, if i find them i try to buy when i can.. i would suggest you do the same.

I went ahead and grabbed a LH 68 Charger Quarter skin and RH 71 Challenger quarter skin. LH Challenger skins were already gone, but if they had one at that price I would have bought it even though I already have a Goodmark piece in hand. The $200 in freight was a bummer but still less than going full price. Aside from a pair of front fenders, thats about the end of my sheetmetal needs.

I talked with them today since Fedex crushed one of my boxes and two pieces were damaged. The rep said that they are keeping the tooling so they can always order another run if the demand is there. I asked about the 73/74 Charger quarters and again I got the impression that nothing is being decided until after the move is over.

I talked to Mike at AMD today. For Mopar
All 63 to 65 Stuff all down
All Quarter Panel Skins are Done
73 to 76 Duster Fenders done
67 to 69 Barracuda quarter panel Done But still have a lot of 68's and left 69's
Then he stopped and said probably all A body stuff Done, But If the stuff that has been selling good stays selling good will stay active.
Anything that slows Down will be done and thats for all bodies. Then He said (like others have said) they alway can start stamping parts again. But I don't see that happing.
I bet you are going to see E Body stuff go away soon. No cars left to do, unless they start making bodies

The only thing new for Mopar will be B Body wider rear wheel wells.
66 and 67 B Body rear quarter panels, Trunk extension and outer wheelhouses.

Then it's back to old days custom making everything and restoring original parts. That's what really made Mopars worth so much in the first place.

Right now their sight says RH and LH quarter panels for ‘72 Charger are $299 marked down from $599. Is all that legit? Have they been $599 recently.

If you need 72 Charger rear quarters, buy them now, they are still going to make the 71 Charger rear quarter panels, but you will have to modify the marker lights to use them on 72 Chargers.

The stuff that is getting discontinued is marked down 50%.

I got a '63 Dodge 330 front valance for half off. I thought it was crazy they were reproducing that part in the first place. Not that many '63's getting restored compared to other muscle era stuff and it is a one year only item.

I don’t need them now but I plan on keeping the car. $600 is cheap insurance. If I need them later I’ll be mad if I have to go searching for one and it ends up costing a typical Mopar fortune.

Got it done. Drove to AMD and picked up one for each side. Nice place.

Mopar Connection just did an interview with Mike Gray from AMD about the sale. He said they are working on new metal for 66-67 B-body and 73-74 Charger but I get the impression that they haven't made a final decision on what they will produce. If you want to see these parts, NOW is the time to let AMD know about it!

https://moparconnectionmagazine.com...tion-of-many-mopar-sheet-metal-products/

Somebody had a TON of AMD stuff at the INDY cylinder head swap meet today.

Very prophetic. I just went on the AMD website and I couldn't find a listing for '65 B-body quarters of any flavor and the patch panels were listed but out of stock.

makes no difference to me as they make NOTHHING for a 67 Valiant

Sure they do. AMD makes front and rear bumpers, bumper brackets, rad supports, front fenders, door skins, inner aprons, firewalls, rocker panels, full interior floors, 4 speed humps, trans crossmembers,under rear seat floors, trunk floors, rear cross members, rear frame rails, rear shackle boxes, gas tanks and senders, windshields and other parts that fit the 67 Valiant.

https://www.autometaldirect.com/page/pricing-notice.html


Pricing Notice
To all customers:

As you know issues related to the supply chain are affecting all aspects on business and daily life. Inflation, product shortages and labor problems are all in play. Many materials are in short supply, and when available have dramatic price increases. Shipping and product movement is severely backed up with container prices rising over 500%. Labor issues have also compounded the problem.

AMD and its manufacturing partners have tried but can no longer absorb the ever increasing costs of doing business. Therefore, prices will increase effective the end of day, October 31, 2021.

Thank you for your continued support and know that we will make ever effort to reduce prices when and where possible.

Sincerely,

Mark Headrick, President
Auto Metal Direct

I was at the Harley shop yesterday and looked at the price tag of a floor model. On a separate line it said something like "Material Acquisition Fee - $1,499.00" I asked a salesman wth that meant and he said since Harley has to pay a premium for some of the components to build a bike, they are passing the add'l material cost along to the buyer. But since it is a separate line item, it can be adjusted down. Or up. On this particular bike it added ~7 or 8% to the list price. Plus they bumped up the shipping cost by $200. First time that I have seen anything like this.

Well, I just checked for Sheetmetal needed for my '64 Fury. Nothing!

It’s time to bring the manufacturing back home...

yes that will work in an ecomony where no body wants to work

Maybe that means those of us wanting to work will get paid better.

and prices go up and inflation

Fat chance the tooling will leave the Asian partners, so you'd need retooling...that along with all the other "Made in America" attributes needed, that will result in triple or quadruple prices, then the Mopar cheap a$$es won't buy it because GoodMark or Golden/Goldstar "offer it "cheaper"......

Damn I was out of the loop. Wish I could have got some 71 demon 1/4s while they were still available.