i have aftermarket guards and bonnet on my coupe, the main pain was trimming the guards to accept the eye brow moulds and trims. it's easier using small allen key bolts to bolt the guards on, so you don't hit the bonnet with bolt heads, with my apron the first one i bought i took it back and got a better one, the first one was rippled and dinged, second one was smick. i bought all my guards etc. from Mark Gibbs panel house in slacks creek they where cheaper than Ebay.

I guess to become an expert panel beater you need to work in a Smash repair shop. I guess you would learn it all working on smashed cars. Im sure dealing with insurance companies you would get lots of experience fitting genuine and taiwanese panels. But unless you are an expert panel beater, the smashed car you would be fitting the panels to, is likely not to be in perfect alignment after the smash its been in.
Now im no expert panel beater, im not even a panel beater. But I have had my fair share of experience in restoring vehicles in my previous working history. My experience is taiwanese is one of my last choices. Now the fact its majorly difficult and expensive to purchase new 1200 guards leaves the tiawanese as a fair option. But I personally would use the tiawanese panels as patch panels when repairing rusted out originals. No one expects panels to simply fall into position with perfect alignment, But it would be nice if the taiwanese panels had body lines and wheel arch flares fairly close to the originals. Take a look at most 1200's you see. Even when the taiwanese guard body lines have been made to look good. Take a look at how flat the front wheel arch is when compared to how pumped the rear wheel arch flares are. I guess it comes down to how picky you are in wanting your car to look perfect.

All in all, I have only known of one Jerkoff to claim that the cheap panels fit and look perfect. So far this thread has only shown the exact opposite

I don't think anyone was claiming to be an expert panel beater (I wish I as though, probably the most expensive part in building a car), just sharing experiences to hopefully help others.

You're right about the smashed part. My wife was driving the Falcon one day and got punted from underneath. With the naked eye it looked like only the bumper would need to be replaced. But when you ran your fingers in the boot lid gaps you could feel a difference (no more than 5mm I guess). The whole rear section had to be replaced, boot lid included.

Probably the same as the issue with the guards your talking about. To the naked eye they look good, but line 'em up with the whole car and the 5mm gaps become noticeable.

Well holy cow, I ordered my panels on monday morning and they where sitting on my doorstep when I got home today, YAY. The tailgate was first to go on, some minor hole enlarging and 2 slightly bigger bolts and it was fitted, and it fits well. NO trimming or bashing necessary. Next was the bonnet and you could have knocked me over with a feather, it went on even easier than the tailgate. Everything looks neat and the line is nealy perfect around the guards and firewall, doing it by myself didnt help but with an extra set of hands it will come very close to a perfect fit. The crome trimming was a little fiddely to fit and 1 hole didnt line up so I put in a little self tapper. I will try the guard in a weekend or 2. Hope it looks good in the daylight. I will try to sort out pics soon.

Whorida Im not talking about gaps around the edges of panels. Im talking about bodylines. Specifically the shape pressed in the 1200 panels just below waist height.

Sorry, I wasn't meaning panel gaps in regards to the repro panels. I knew you meant the line that runs down the length of the vehicle, just above the wheel arch (didn't this line have a chrome strip on it in some models?). This section is a bitch to line up as you said, I was just using the panel gap story as an example. It may look fine when you put the guards on, but it takes work to create perfection.

And bundy, you're a bastard, ordering repro panels that fit perfectly. Must have got 'em hot off the press direct from Nissan!!!

SORRY Whordia, I didnt mean for them to fit so well. But that brings up a kinda scary point, maybe the Ebay panels are really out of shape and SO IT MY UTE . Just kidding I HOPE

The big test will be when I fit the front left guard. This will show me how it fits with the rest of the origional body lines and door gap and how it fits with the new bonnet gap. I wont be doing the guard for a week or 2 but I will post some pics this arvo of the bonnet and tailgate.

Im worried about the allignment of these ebay panels as im still yet to fit front gaurds, doors, sills, bonnet, front apron, beaver panel and tailgate. The rear quarters are also aftermarket panels but they were put on there before i got the ute. I guess it takes time and patience to get it right. It couldnt be to bad really i have seen some nice dattos with these panels. I'll see how it all goes.

Hey bundy what company did u get ur panels from?? PM me if u want

Wardy

Yeah bundy, out with it, who sells these decent repro's.