I have two sets of " origional" fenders for my car. All four have issues. It seems the common problem is around the headlight area. Both passenger side fenders have had work done to them in that area, and still aren't correct. One of my drivers side is rotted by the back (toward the door) and the other has more "eybrow" damage. When you guys say the repos need work to fit, exactly what do you need to do to make them fit? I am new to bodywork and it looks like fixing the front headlight corners is well beyond my meager skills...

They are all different. You might get one that fits pretty good, but most of them need serious bending to fit right. I just put a Goodmark one on a 68 and spent about 8hrs getting it to fit right. It was bent in at the inside corner below the windshield, the brace running on the dog leg was bent wrong, and the upper edge was creased too far. Looks great now. It all depends on how picky you are and how creative you can be. It's tough to bend it the right way and just the right amount. I suppose it could have been used as it came, but it wouldn't have been pretty. At least the fenders are better than the doors...

I agree with go2fast....They are all different.You will never know until you try one. Try to find a local goodmark supplier,that way if its way off you can exchange it for another. My local goodmark guy must hate me !!!

In all fairness, some stuff aint bad.Just cross your fingers.

I used goodmark fenders and doors on my 69 and the fit was great with the doors but the fenders had the droopy look across the front.I spent about an hour with a hammer a board and a broom stick and it was straight.Ditto on the local supplier.

I have a hard time believing a GM fender will fit any better than a repro. I do body work for a living and even the new GM fenders on todays vehicles need tweaking to fit. I don't belive GM's technology was better almost 40 years ago than today. Any GM fender has been laying around for decades being moved, tripped over and shipped so they are probably bent a little too. The only thing that would be different is the body line may not be as sharp as a GM.

I have a hard time believing a GM fender will fit any better than a repro. I do body work for a living and even the new GM fenders on todays vehicles need tweaking to fit. I don't belive GM's technology was better almost 40 years ago than today. Any GM fender has been laying around for decades being moved, tripped over and shipped so they are probably bent a little too. The only thing that would be different is the body line may not be as sharp as a GM.


I used to think the same thing,and it may be true to a degree.....But original GM is definately Better. Its actually WAY BETTER. But does it justify the big money?? NOT to me !!! I just sold a bunch of original GM sheetmetal and bought a bunch of much cheaper goodmark crap.

I've used both and original GM stuff is far better.

Well, I can bend metal with the best of them, I'm just not good with a welder or bondo (yet). I just dont think I can work all the complex and tight radius curves on the front. But with my two sets of GM fenders to use as guides, It sounds like I may get the repops to fit. Now my only decision is do I have time to go to Classic Industries while I am in SoCal or do I have to wait and go to D&R once I get to Texas. :thumbsup:
Thanks again TC!

I am no body man but I had GM new fenders for my vert they were made in the 80's. They needed a lot of work to get them to fit right. The inner brace was in the wrong place and had to be removed and repostioned. also the lines on the middle part of the fender were very flat not pointed like the doors and they did not line up. I think the dyes that they made them from were starting to get worn at the end of production run. The guy that did the work on my car had to rework this whole area so the points on the door and fender would line up. I work on new cars every day and I hate to say it but these cars were not perfect even when new. They will not fit like todays cars with out lots of work. I had a friend who bought a 1969 shelby mustang and a guy from a shelby club came to look at it. My friend showed him were the trunk lid stuck up to far and a couple of other things that he was going to fix. The guy told him they were all like that and it would hurt the value of the car if he fixed it!

I just put two NOS GM fenders on my 68 & neither fit perfect... Both needed tweaking to fit properly. The repro door skins on the car had sharper body lines. Where they met with the GM fenders you could see the difference! The GM fenders had more of a rolled body line... So, I guess it`s 6 of this & half dozen of the other... Just depends on what you want & what your budget will allow.

I just put on all new repo fron sheet metal. Had to elongate most of the mounting holes in the fenders and a bit of bending. They now look pretty good but still need a bit more tweaking.

Good Luck

Bob

I just bought a new RH front repro fender for my 69, the door / fender gap is really good and I think the overall look of the fender is good too. The only problem is the edge beneath the window doesn't line up well and I'm going to have to do some tweaking on that area to get it right. I do wonder why the emblem holes aren't there in the new fender?

My original fender is just too trashed to fix in my opionion, the whole crease near the door was mashed in, dent puller holes, tons of filler.... oh well.

Now I'm trying to decide whether to do a new full RH quarter, or repair what's there.