Disappointed with fit of aftermarket fenders

[sigshooter]

About 2 years ago I bought a set of goodmark fenders, I decided to see how they fit today. I was told goodmark was good quality, but if these are good I hate to see bad.

They did not fit or line up around the header, and I had to do some grinding to even get them to slide into place at all.

I have a set of OEM off a 66 that need very little repair and I slid one of those in place and it fit like a glove. I will be repairing these OEM fenders and the aftermarkets are going on Craigslist.

I have heard nearly everyone complain about aftermarket and I have to agree with them

I will post pictures later today.

[rideblue00]

Yup bad stuff on the aftermarket. Fix OEM if at all possible!

[chevycowboy1985]

Ya that sucks I keep herein that and will be fixing mine after read about this so much

[62 Barnfind]

I bought two from classic parts. They were a little off from the originals. I had to work the fender and open some of the holes to make it work. I thought I was saving time by getting new fenders instead of repairing the OEM ones, but in the end it took longer. My next truck I will be using OEM fenders. I added some pics of mine on the truck after I lined them up. You can see where it's off a little. The average person can't tell so I went with it. I hope this helps you.

[vin63]

Yep, they can be a rough fit. I modified every bolt hole and threaded insert just to get one side close. Then I decided, if I have to do this to the other fender, I might as well customize them...so, I did this:

[TJ's Chevy]

Hey guys...this is one thing I found out the hard way...1960-66 chevy fenders were the same style, but the bolt holes were all slighty in different locations. My '66's front fenders were toast, so I took the ones off my '64 and almost NO holes lined up..Yes they are oem fenders..but the bolt pattern looked darn near the same...but was darn near different from the pattern on my 66....In order for them to completely bolt up I am going to have to use the front panel from the 64 cause the holes line up...To sum up what I am saying...not all the factory trucks had bolt holes Exactly the same...I notice that some of the holes were almost 1 inch difference from the 64 and 66....So since aftermarket front fenders are made to fit 60-66 keep in mind that they will fit perfectly on some...but will need mild to extensive mods on others...

[chevy2junk]

I've delt with Taiwan parts in collision work for years as well as go parts.each have there issues.wich is easier trimming and slotting or cutting welding and bondoing.Maybe I'm missing it but from the photos they don't look bad.

[benwah]

I guess I'll be finding out soon. My 62 inner and exterior fenders were toast as well as the grill support. Only the hood hinges, hood, radiator support, and grill are original. As stated earlier they look good just need some tweaking. That's to be expected. I restored a 68 Dodge truck and noticed some body panels used off a same era truck built in another factory didn't line up well either.

[pdxhall]

Just curious. Recently I have seen repop fenders from a supplier on ebay that claims the fenders are made from new dies and are a better fit and closer to originals. Does anybody have any experience with these. Sorry I don't remember the suppliers name at the moment.
I found it. The maker is AMD and claim to have their own tooling and are test fitted.

[Captainfab]

I'm not sure just how long AMD has been around, but they have been advertising more often and getting magazine coverage lately. They do claim to have the best fitting and most accurately detailed aftermarket body parts. I have not yet had any of their parts in my hands.

[kieth]

Originally Posted by sigshooter

About 2 years ago I bought a set of goodmark fenders, I decided to see how they fit today. I was told goodmark was good quality, but if these are good I hate to see bad.

They did not fit or line up around the header, and I had to do some grinding to even get them to slide into place at all.

I have a set of OEM off a 66 that need very little repair and I slid one of those in place and it fit like a glove. I will be repairing these OEM fenders and the aftermarkets are going on Craigslist.

I have heard nearly everyone complain about aftermarket and I have to agree with them

I will post pictures later today.

We had the same problem, had 2 bad fenders that were original, cut them in half and put them back together, they fit better than the new reproductions.

here is a link showing how we joined the 2 together:

http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-GMC/i-4zXvZkV

just click on the thumbnails after this picture to see the results. This fender is the right front on my truck.......new body parts suck !!!! Kieth

[bama63]

amd is the best hands down, better fit,quality and thickness.haven't used any for our trucks yet but have on a few other cars and only needed the usual adjustments you may encounter with oem to fit well.

[Roll'nSlo]

After reading this I'm puzzled on what to do on my fenders. Going to replace left rear step fender.

[rustbucket66]

I have a thread on here called "how do you fix this? - repo body parts", and it shows in detail the grief I went through trying to make aftermarket body panels fit. The shapes are ok, but anywhere there are holes or pieces spotwelded together, they aren't in the right places. Use the repos to cut up patch pieces for your oem panels and fenders.

[61K10]

I bought 2 repo ft fenders one fit perfect and one was off (different brands) had to mod the rear mounting bracket some. also if off just a little you can sometimes move the cab a little to help. I moved my cab back 1/8 to 1/4 inch on one side. bought rockers from AMD and needed to mod some as well.