SGI tub

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW Technical questions and discussions, regarding anything related to the WWII jeep.
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Mike Kelly
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SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:28 pm

Hi

I have a slatt grill SGI tub . First impressons are : if you are a fussy pedantic restorer, it has issues like

The sheet metal gauge seems to be thin in places. Looks like 20 gauge where it should be 18 gauge. I will measure to confirm.

The tub folded edge is poorly formed and they have used Bondo to fill in and smooth out the bumps :o

The accelerator pedal area seems to be a patchwork of welded in small pieces and it looks different compared to a original tub.

The grill itself is a bit crude, the metal gauge for the bars is too thin and the bars are not equally spaced apart, one bar has a slight bend.

I will have a closer look and will probably find more issues !!!

It's a repro what can you expect !!!!!!

The box is marked SLATE not SLATT - they cant spell either !


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Re: SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:35 pm

OK I had a look over everything in daylight . More on the tub later.

Starting from the worst end. :o :o

Very bad junk: the windscreen outer frame is complete junk , made from very thin tubing, a strong gust of wind would bend the frame, not joking.

The grill is very poorly assembled , the bars are out of alignment, welds are very bad. Could be fixed , disassemble and align everything and weld it up again. The bars do look very thin though, not .125" but more like .110"


The hood has a wavy roller coaster line where the two halves join together .It needs shrinking or pulled apart and straightening out.

The better side of things Ha :D :D

The fenders look to be sort of OK. Neat assembly but I think the rolled edge has been hand formed .

In the daylight , I see that the tub is actually made from 16 gauge steel throughout, except for the rear corner tool locker upper section which appears to be slightly thinner than 16G. Overall the tub is not too bad , just a few places where they have struggled with the shaping and they haved shoved bondo on to hide the roughness.
Attachments
tub.jpg
corner.jpg
grill2.jpg
bondoedge.jpg
floor2.jpg
hood.jpg

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Re: SGI tub

Post by dpcd67 » Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:27 am

I thought I read where the guys in England said the SGI bodies were fantastic. If yours is really what they are making, then there is no reason to switch to them. I have been in contact with SGI frequently over the last year, and they are in bad shape now due to covid.
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Re: SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:51 am

This tub set I got might be one of their early production tub sets ... Hopefully things have improved and it seems that their ACM 2 style tub kits are much improved - I hope so . The issue as I see it , is quality control . SGI should employ a inspector who does the quality checks before the parts leave the factory.

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Re: SGI tub

Post by sgireengus » Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:03 am

We are continuously working on improving our product and customers feedback is very important to us.
We can guarantee the guage of sheet metal is 16g and 18g only on body and 20g using only in Tool box Lid and Glove box Door.

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Re: SGI tub

Post by dpcd67 » Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:08 am

Right; problem is that they are in major trouble with production of anything now; India is having a bad time with the virus.
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Miles Through Time
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Re: SGI tub

Post by Miles Through Time » Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:35 pm

Yes they are. Try and get some Speedway tires. Not in stock and no expectation of when they will be.

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Re: SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:32 pm

More Bondo or Bog as it is known as here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It appears they have made the front floor and transmission hump by welding separate bits together and they have tried to hide the welding joins with Bondo, the Bondo has been applied in a crude, rough way .

If you look at the Henry Ford drawings , the panel gauges on this repro are often wrong i.e., they have used 16g where they should have used either 18g or 20g , like the floors and wheel wells . The tub folded edges are a problem to, the corner radius on the edges is not well defined or sharp like it is on the original tubs.

Like I wrote earlier , it sounds like the later style tubs from SGI are more accurate and they improved which is fine and dandy, but the slatt tubs are not for fussy restorers.
Attachments
bondo9.jpg

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Re: SGI tub

Post by hell-fire » Sun Aug 01, 2021 12:54 am

sgireengus Says,
We are continuously working on improving our product
To me that is not good enough, There is no excuse letting sub standard junk out the door and even if you fix the issues right now where does that leave the guys who have paid out hard earned money for something that is barely acceptable.
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Re: SGI tub

Post by dpcd67 » Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:36 am

Screwed to the wall.
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Re: SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:30 pm

I just want to state: the judgements I have made are all subjective comments.

The tub itself is well made , it is the details that need to be improved, biggest issue is the folded over edges need some remedial touching up .... not a big deal.

The windscreen I have looked at again, the tubing is actually strong enough but the welded corner joins are weak with poor weld penetration . The top rail strip piece hinge for the inner frame is rather flimsy , it bends with applied pressure. The inner frame will not fold down , it jams half way. I will take some pics.

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Re: SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:37 am

Found some more Bondo and some hammering marks are to be found on the passenger side wheelhouse edge.

This tub is ideal if you want a runaround Jeep , it looks great from 20 ft away but the little issues or problems appear as you look closer. It's solid, and it looks nice but you would not take this tub to the MVPA convention unless you did some remedial work on it.
Attachments
bondo11.jpg
hammer.jpg
bondo12.jpg

Mike Kelly
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Re: SGI tub

Post by Mike Kelly » Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:54 am

Windscreen and grill issues
Attachments
screen3.jpg
screen2.jpg
screen1.jpg
grillweld.jpg

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Re: SGI tub

Post by wc56daveyboy » Tue Feb 21, 2023 4:49 pm

Who are the distributors in the US for this company?

I know (due to possible litigation this name is blocked) in NY is one.

But what about the other side of states?

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Re: SGI tub

Post by dpcd67 » Tue Feb 21, 2023 7:30 pm

There is only one in the US; a very bad thing for the hobby; a monopoly is never good for the comsumer. I have tried to get another distributor, but the reality is, now, that there are few WW2 Jeep candidates for restoration. Just a fact; the glory days are over. Sure, there are a few in the hands of restorers, (I have some), but basically, the demand is going down. If someone wants to become a dealer, in the west or midwest, I will be your first customer.
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