55.2-59 the age old aftermarket fender question

[Kevin_C]

So I've read a lot on aftermarket fitment issues but most of the post are several years old. Have they improved? Can anyone share their recent experiences with aftermarket fenders? I've seen some good reviews on Paul's and classic has free shipping and 20% off until tomorrow. I know everyone says repair if you can but I've had less than stellar results sourcing any. My truck came with fiberglass fenders which fit horrible. Living in the north east pickings are slim. I ended up way overpaying $500 (got hosed on shipping) for a passenger fender from down south. looks like the eyebrow was repaired at some point using an overlap panel and has tons of bondo and the inside edge by the radiator is cut out. I have found a pair for $400 but the lowers are patched and at least one of the eyebrows has holes plus its a 5hr drive. I'm wondering if spending 800-1000 on aftermarket will save some headache seeing I'm building it all myself

[Kevin_C]

any admins watching it won't let me post any photo's. Also I tried posting in the WTB for vent windows this week and it said to talk to admins

[mongocanfly]

You must be a paying member to post wtb....
Try this for pics.......http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...sting+pictures

[sack54]

real good salvage yard
https://www.dvap.com/?s=any&q_make=G...&submit=Search

[b-mac]

It seems to me like the re-pop manufactures use a part (fender) and make a cast out of that, rather than getting hold of the original stamp/tooling (probably long gone.)

Thus, it always seems like the re-pops are essentially the thickness of the metal too small, or too big. That means an of your body lines, mounting spots, bends, etc. are off by 1/16th of an inch plus. Small panels you can get away with it, but a whole fender, I would imagine you'll have a massive amount of time involved in fab/mod work to get them perfect, ie: cuts, adding metal, welding, massaging, etc.

My father has been in auto-body for over 40 years. Reproduction panels for an vehicle, new or old, and even throughout the years, all seem to have these problems.

Not to mention that difference in quality and thickness of metal between old and new.

But I feel you. My fenders need a ton of work, and I've been tempted.

I don't know if PaulsPickupParts on this forum has any trucks of your year, but he's helped me out before.

[slammed57]

the repop you will have to cut to get them to fit properly. the originals you will have to cut and replace metal most likely... and depending how picky you are with fitment of doors or hood gaps you still may have to cut to get the originals to fit right... bottom line ... your goin to have to cut and weld either way!.... hope your welding skills are up to par... if not.... well it will come up to par, lol... you can do it... just think it through and take your time

oh... eye brow patch pannel $90... lower fender patch $50 and inner brace $40 so add that to the price you pay for an original that needs work

just qotta make a decision on which way to go... both ways suck!

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by slammed57

bottom line ... your goin to have to cut and weld either way!... both ways suck!

Exactly right! So many guys will say, "Repops are junk, I'd never use them!" Well if you never use them then how do you know they're junk?

I have extensive experience with reproduction fenders and used fenders - slammed57 is exactly right: both used and new will require extensive fitting. There is little chance of a simple bolt-on. Heck, I even had a heck of a time getting the original fenders BACK ON my truck. It really makes me marvel at how the factory workers of yore put these trucks together on the assembly line.

Given the choice, I always go with used fenders. There's still plenty available at reasonable prices, but the quality is of course declining as the inventory is depleted. But I've seen some show-quality trucks with repop fenders that looked perfect.

[Kevin_C]

Thanks guys. I've been slowly welding on my rears to gain some experience but the eyebrows have me nervous. the $500 passenger fender I have looks like it was cut far back than a patch panel so I think they grafted an old fender on and overlapped them. scared to think whats under that bondo. the two that im looking at looks to need both eyebrows replaced. one looks like it was replaced poorly in the past and brazed in. the lowers look like they were brazed in. The guy wants $400 for them. let me know what you think.


btw every time I try to upload pics I get this. I've tried two different browsers


Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error.

[Kevin_C]

I had to attach them one at a time

[b-mac]

Based on all this, and the design of your fender, I would try the re-pops.

[MiraclePieCo]

Keep shopping. No sooner than you buy some substandard fenders, a pair of really nice ones will become available.

[mr48chev]

I have to agree with MPC (cant get the fingers to type it out) in that keep shopping for the best pair of oem fenders you can find and then get patch panels to fix those.
Personally I'd rather sit on my stool and spend a few hours getting a patch panel welded into an original fender or what is left of it rather than battle with an aftermarket fender that didn't fit in the first place.

[Advanced Design]

It is less work to shop for good oem than it is to fix bad fenders, either oem or re-pop. I’ve picked up several pairs over the last year just watching Craig’s and FB.

[Kevin_C]

Doug I don't know if its just cuz I live in the north east or what but I've been searching for over a year now. I search craiglist almost daily nation wide. Most that I find out west wont ship. my last go I spent $1500 for two doors and a fender. the doors are bondo buckets that I will endup just cutting out the insides and graphing to my existing gutted doors and the fender has a bad lapped eyebrow and the inner edge is missing and because I have fiberglass fenders I don't even have anything to make a template from. I've tried to buy several pairs of vent windows (got 4 doors but no vent windows) but none were willing to ship

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Kevin_C

Doug I don't know if its just cuz I live in the north east or what but I've been searching for over a year now. I search craiglist almost daily nation wide. Most that I find out west wont ship. my last go I spent $1500 for two doors and a fender. the doors are bondo buckets that I will endup just cutting out the insides and graphing to my existing gutted doors and the fender has a bad lapped eyebrow and the inner edge is missing and because I have fiberglass fenders I don't even have anything to make a template from. I've tried to buy several pairs of vent windows (got 4 doors but no vent windows) but none were willing to ship

That is frustrating. Even here in a rust inducing area we come across them, some in decent shape. This is farm country and there were a lot of those trucks sold here which really helps with part availability.

Once I bought a set of rear fenders that were in perfect shape from a guy in Ohio. He had taken them off his truck years ago when he lived in Texas, moved them with him to OH and was tired of storing them. And I had probably looked for a year using Ebay set to give me alerts.

Yours can be fixed and it is rewarding to do so. Of course, the downside is that time spent could be used on another part of the project.

An option would be to plan a driving vacation somewhere, incorporate a parts search and haul some good fenders back home.

[Kevin_C]

doug, those that I posted were for sale for $400. my truck came with fiberglass fenders that fit poorly. I'm willing to spend the money for quality parts but have found few and even fewer that will ship.

[vintovka]

Dunno about post AD truck repops but everytime i look at my PS fender i regret buying Chinese junk.

[Rickysnickers]

Well, if you find some out here in the San Diego area and you want to buy, I can try to help you with the shipping, if you like.

[my56chevytruck]

to answer you simply, NO the aftermarket sheet metal hasn't changed. Still a pain to fit, and the worst part of it, in some instances, I've found the gauge of metal isn't nearly the same.

I bought Dynacorn fenders and they look nice but have issues. The driver side fender is scrunched up a little where the headlight meets the front grille panel, the pass side doesn’t have that. Also the lines aren’t straight where the fenders meet the doors, again the driver side is worse than the pass side. The gaps widened in some areas and are closer in others. This crap drives me crazy but I made up my mind to put it together and drive the damn thing before I die and never get to enjoy the truck.