Trying to get new fenders to fit

[badherb]

Purchased left and right fender for my 60 SWB tri plus automotive from LMC truck fenders. They fit like crap. Gap at door is wrong out like a quarter of an inch. Can’t seem to get the front inner grill support to bolt up. one side fits better than the other but they still both suck anybody else have this experience? Can you point me to a post for a how to fix these pos. More interested in a fix but just feel like these must not fit well on anyone’s truck. Yer experience will make me feel like I didn’t get ripped off. OG fenders fit great just too rotted out. Would have spent weeks getting them better. Just didn’t want to spend all my time on a skill I’m not great at and here I am doing something I’m not good at. I’ll post pics when I’m sober and starting my day rather than looking at a pile of work I’m not sure how to fix. Any help is appreciated.

[The Rocknrod]

The standard plan is to, remove the front fenders, loosen the grille support, align the doors, then align the fenders to the doors. The grille support having a lot of adjustment ability will adjust. Are you using new body and grille support mounts?

[badherb]

Yes this is the plan I had everything is loose and things should adjust. I should be able to pry or push and get things to sit right. But back by the door the gap is like 3/16 of an inch too far out and the bracelet holder to the to the vent box is flush and doesn’t move this is the part that I don’t know what I should do. here’s the pics...

[jrusher]

I feel your pain. Last fall I put a set of fenders on the wife’s 61 and same thing like most repop metal they fit like crap. Getting the front of fender to match with the grille surround was the hardest part I think. The top fender bolt holes to the inner fenders were a pain as well they are a half a bolt hole off easily . Lots of patience and manipulation round and round 😟

[paulspickupparts]

This is a very old thread link and was hoping by now nearly 15 years later things would have been getting better but I guess not . There are also many more threads from this forum about this subject that I could post also but always the same message .

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=164533 from 2005

There are many more more current threads with the same problems and evidently it has still not being corrected . On the 55-59 front fenders there is a you tube thread on where to make different cuts on the repos fenders and weld them back to make them fit. I am not sure if there are any videos to make the 60-66 fenders fit correctly and because there are several different repo fenders available it would not cover all fenders .

I will say this . Two years ago a local customer also purchased a full front clip for a 66 Chevy Pickup . From one of the larger vendors of repo parts . He did a mock up of the fenders and no matter how hard he tried he could not get them to line up . So he enlisted the help of a body man. No matter how they tried to get them to fit they could not make them work. So he tried to return them . Now that is a big deal because on a purchase that large items have to be shipped via truck freight So the vendor new parts dealer would not take a return saying they fit great and he does not know what he is doing. I hate it when a customer has to get a credit card company involved to get results and that is what happened .

So he came to me for used original parts. I only charged for the parts and not post traumatic stress , loss of time , mental counseling .

I will say this . In the mid 90's I purchased a 61 Chevy Custom Cab with 36000 miles . The original front fenders of the truck had very minor pitting with pinholes starting in the bottom rear . At that time you could purchase a new fender for 60-66 Chevy GM (original fender new from GM) . I remember I paid slightly over $200 per side . $204 each if I remember correctly . My body man edge painted them and I bolted them on myself. My body man then painted the outside . A body hammer or dolly never touched the fender . Not one hole had to be drilled out .There is not one speck of filler on them anywhere. I still own the truck. They still look great

I really get upset with vendors using the words "perfect fit" , "better than original" , "great ", and instead be honest and say these fenders "will not fit like originals" , "they will need body work and modification to fit" or at least put in some type of warning to the potential buyer .

[pdxhall]

Have you measured the fenders for comparison. I have original fenders on my truck that have bee patched in the normal rear corners. When putting the front end back together I had to keep all the bolts loose until I got everything aligned correctly. Most of these trucks had parts that had to be made to fit which has been evident while doing my frame off build.

[badherb]

I think I have read most threads on this subject close to 30. Haven’t reached the end yet but I’m dun reading. I research everything before I ask, there is a lot out there and what I did not see posted “this is how I fit mine” came close dude had a pic of some relief cuts he thought would work but the thread died. But I have a plan.... would still love some input while I go forth and prosper.

[badherb]

So it seems the bracket that was spot welded on in 13 spots was not in the right spot completely. It’s gonna need some beating to make it right but just removing the bracket has improved the door/fender fit by about an 1/8th of an inch , I’m gonna go for the 3/32 more that it needs. Now I need 4 more hands.

[badherb]

Bolted not tacked yet, but looks 1 million times better

[badherb]

This is a solution for the books. I’m not!!!!! A paint and body guy. I knew if someone had something like this I could repeat it. Screw repeating! I did it first. lol!

[badherb]

Passenger side went on much better. Less pronounced issues with the gaps. There are still problems on both fenders but they aren’t super bad just annoying. Took a full day for all the work. Pretty pleased with the results. Now to fitting the gaskets on the the inside of the fenders, rust repair on those doodads, a little paint and then on to body work and sealer primer paint. Just might get done by the end of the week end.

[joesscamaro]

Nice to see you got them to fit! I too bought aftermarket front fenders and have a lot of time in making them fit as they should. My original fenders were fairly rough, so I figured I can either spend time in rust repair, or spend time making aftermarket panels fit. If it’s alright with you, I can post some pics of my experience, as it may help someone down the road.

[badherb]

Show me.

[joesscamaro]

Hopefully these work and you can tell the extent of what I did to make them fit.

[joesscamaro]

I had to cut the lower mount location and and open it up just to bring the bottom of the fender out to where it would line up with the door. I also made that long relief cut all the way up the support piece to bring that entire edge back in to line up with the door skin. Hope that makes sense.