MTFCA Forum

I ordered some things from Howells Sheet Metal over a month ago and they said they where in stock and would be sent out in a few days. Three weeks later I called and they said they had my order and it would be shipped out that day. Its been two more weeks and I still have not received my order. I called today and nobody answered the phone.

Has anyone dealt with Howells lately for patch panels? Is there another supplier out there that does patch panels for a 27 Roadster Cowl and rear quarter?

I have a couple rear quarters patch panels if I did not sell them at Hershey last year. Email me if you are I interested. Thanks Dan

Normal operating procedures for them. Been happening for years. You can search to your hearts content. I also had heard that one of the major vendors was going to drop them because of all the hassles. Not sure if that ever happened or not.

Howell’s Sheet Metal has been legendary for that exact level of customer service every since David sold the business. I can’t believe they even answered the phone on 2/3 rds of your calls.

If you can find the Howell's product you are looking for in their eBay store you will get prompt shipping.
I have had the same experience in dealing with them directly. I rarely buy through the eBay stores if I can purchase
the product from the manufacturer but make the exception with them.
Harry

I have no recent experience with them but if past performance is any predictor of the future, then I would say this is pretty typical.

What an amazing business model.

It took a while but I got my panels from them in 5 weeks but that was 4 years ago. Yes it’s typical for their service as it’s not the best. If there were other vendors around that would make sheet metal panels for T through early V8 that might help but I don’t know if anybody else does in the US. Competition would probably speed things up. Maybe.......

All it takes is a building, insurance, shears, rolls, forms, inventory, and enough money to float all of this for a few years with no personal income while word gets out and business builds, and anyone at all can provide the competition that would drive them to change. As someone who has started and run a business, I know for certain that it is just that simple. So sign me up for the first catalogue!

All it takes...

Also knowledge and skill. Along with all those things you should have the ability to communicate with customers, as most businesses do.

I sent them $750 for some panels they kept the money and I never got the panels. They continued to promise me for about 4 years and that was about 12 years ago. I finally gave up in total frustration and disgust.

Just don’t go direct for t or tt stuff. I was happy with product when I got it and glad they made it but through eBay now or a vender in my case was the only way to get it. Yes I could get them on phone and never got nasty with them but it was always another few weeks. They were nice enough. They gave my money back easily when I reordered through vender. It was a frustrating deal. Wish they would just say go to eBay or vendor and not allow ordering direct if that is their best way to service.

The mention of competition always comes up whenever someone has a bad experience with them. Competition or not, it’s not a reason to treat someone bad.

Most people fight through life to make an extra dollar to spend it on something that brings them a little enjoyment like an old car hobby.

I drove to the shop back in the mid 90’s to pick up a 26/27 turtle deck for a hotrod I was building.

The old man was still running the place and was super nice and even gave me a tour.

The phone was ringing practically the whole time I was there and he never answered it.

Chad_Marcheese wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 09, 2020 5:19 pm

Normal operating procedures for them. Been happening for years. You can search to your hearts content. I also had heard that one of the major vendors was going to drop them because of all the hassles. Not sure if that ever happened or not.

Yes Langs has dropped them as a supplier due to issues getting orders.

Thanks for the ebay tip I will try that.

So maybe another vendor somewhere?

FWIW,

Howells is not capricious at business they simply do what they want, when they want...and their work is always uncompromising quality. Do this long enough and often enough and you learn to order from them 6 months in advance! Set expectations accordingly.

There is irony in that statement...once...and only once...I ordered something expecting to wait the 6 months. It showed up the following week and just having it that soon dogged me to use it sooner rather than later

If Lang’s dropped them as a supplier it could be that when people ordered sheet metal parts from them they were getting the calls that Howells should have gotten. In other words they didn’t want a reputation of not being reliable. But after a while it just got to be to much of a hassle I suspect.
In our area there is a shop that the owner is really good at working on and repairing older tractors but be prepared to wait a good while on getting yours repaired. It’s just him and 2 other guys plus his wife as bookkeeper.
Trouble is his Is the only farm tractor place that works on the older stuff. Not many places that does that within 100 plus miles if any. He’s a nice guy but be ready to wait for a while if you take it to him. Several major brand dealers are around with big shops and several mechanics working for them getting paid 125.00 plus an hour with some benefits. It does make a difference.

Is Rootlieb not in business any longer? I imagine that would be competition for Howell's or does Rootlieb actually make the stuff to begin with?

I just answered my own question. A gander at Rootlieb's website confirms that they are the manufacturer, not Howell's. Howell's is a distributor.

Now unless that's changed......

Since you mentioned Rootliebs, they don’t make T body panels but make fenders, running boards, hoods. This is all found on Rootliebs website. If you check out their dealers they list them by state. Don’t know if it’s up to date but it shows, Lang’s, Snyder’s and a few others. Howells is their dealer here in Texas.
If Lang’s no longer deals with them it would need to be removed from Rootliebs website.

Rootliebs has a nice operation going by their website presentation. They look to be a upfront and quality business.

I’m not for sure but I think Howells makes the T panels in Houston along with other sheet metal items. Or at least they use to.

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:22 pm

I’m not for sure but I think Howells makes the T panels in Houston along with other sheet metal items. Or at least they use to.

Howell’s is out toward Beaumont...about an hour or so east of Houston.

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:13 pm

Rootliebs has a nice operation going by their website presentation. They look to be a upfront and quality business.

Rootlieb made the new oval gas tank in my 24...very nice quality.

I bought all my sheetmetal from Howell's and never had the slightest problem. They were very acccomidating. Rally sorry to hear some folks are having a hards time.

RustyFords wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:56 pm

John kuehn wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:22 pm

I’m not for sure but I think Howells makes the T panels in Houston along with other sheet metal items. Or at least they use to.

Howell’s is out toward Beaumont...about an hour or so east of Houston.

Back in the 1960's, Howell's got their start in east Houston, directly across Adams Street from Tommy Traylor's Specialized Auto Parts. I worked at Specialized for 2 or 3 years and while I don't know it to be a fact, I'm very sure that Tommy Traylor bankrolled Howell to help him build the business and almost all of Howell's production in those early days went directly through Specialized. I walked across the street with Tommy into Howell's shop on several occasions. Sometime after Specialized moved to a much bigger building, Howell moved his production to Beaumont. Tommy Traylor retired and dissolved Specialized. When Howell Sr. died, his son took over. It has always been a small, low production shop, and having talked to Howell at Chickasha a few years ago, I know that they work on one product at a time. They don't have multiple products in production at one time. They just don't have the manpower or warehouse storage to be a high production business. Still, these are no excuses for poor customer communication, and If I had sent the $750 for parts that I never got; I wouldn't write it off. You can file a claim in Texas Small Claims Court in any Texas county, for any amount from $50.00. to 10,000.00. The form can be downloaded from the internet. then the form has to be sent to the Justice of the Peace court in the county of the business to be filed on. To find out which JP court and its address, a call to the county courthouse in which the business is located, may be necessary. There are also businesses which will handle all of this for a long distance filer for a fee.

A previous post suggested that there are mechanics making $125 per hour. There are shops that charge $125 per hour, but I know of no auto mechanics
that make anything like that. Running an auto repair facility is expensive.