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Outer wheel house problems

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6.9K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  Rx4Fun  
#1 ·
I did a search and found several other people who have had problems with repro outer wheel housings. Mine are Goodmark parts for a '69 Camaro that don't seem to fit good at all. In some of the posts, people recommend using parts made in the USA. What brand are these and where do you get them? I'm hoping that my inexperience is leading to some of the problem, but the passenger side housing is being a real pain. I realize all repros will need some trimming and reshaping, but if the driver's side is just as bad, I might be looking into better repros to save me some hassle. The lip that outer lip that welds to the quarter is stamped at the wrong angle, and the housing will not fit between the trunk extension and quarter lip in the back, nor will it fit between the rocker panel lip and the support that the door panel attaches to in the front. Hopefully I can find someone to stop by and take a look and show me where I am going wrong, but I'm about to chunk the Goodmark's. The people at the Paddock told me that the Goodmarks used new stampings that were supposed to fit very well, but I guess that is not the case.

Nathan
 
#2 ·
C.A.R.S makes them They are made in the USA too. I ran across a couple of them on Ebay. But, I would suggest to use NOS wheelhouses. They fit best and don't need tweaking that much. I bought NOS off of Ebay and they were pretty reasonable. $100 per side.

Scot
 
#4 ·
I had many fit issues with the contours of the inner and outer wheel houses fitting together correctly. They were so far off, it was like they were for totally different cars(they weren’t)
I bought the "concourse" restoration repros from Ricks first gen in georgia. Fit like a glove! I had to perform some minor “tweaking” but nothing like the major surgery of the cheap copies. I learned my lesson the hard way, now I buy only the best I can find. If they’re cheap , they are cheap for a reason!

Bob
 
#5 ·
I got US made outers from Rick's, they fit great. I installed a set on my BB car and they fit perfectly. I ordered another set for another camaro I was doing and they only had one side so I took the US made and the goodmark. To make a long story short, after jerking around with the goodmark piece I decided to wait (about a month) until Rick's got another shipment of the US made. I use the goodmark for patches.
 
#6 ·
It all depends on what year Camaro you have. Cruisemaster, being your car is a 67, NOS ones are not hard to find and repro 67-68 ones fit well.RX4fun's Camaro is a 69 and a entirely different story. The 69 wheelhouses are "hit-or-miss" If the wheelhouse won't fit the quarter wheel opening with the part OFF the car, you should return the part and ask for another..
 
#7 ·
When I did my 69Z I bought the repro because the dealers said they fit and that they sell tons of them. Don't listen to them. I ended up with Ricks american made ones, I believe they were Sherman. They fitted like a glove. There was no way you could make the junk repro ones fit This was about five years ago and sounds like the crap hasn't changed
 
#8 ·
Same Here. When I did both outers on my 69 convertible, I ordered one a non-USA outer just to see how it fit. It was really bad. No way the full quarter would fit over it. I then ordered USA made ones from Ricks. They fit perfect and quarters went on without any trouble. Go USA
Image
 
#9 ·
Just ordered a show quality passenger side wheel housing from Rick's. If it fits as good as everyone says, I'll do the same for the driver's side. Thanks for the advice!

Nathan

BTW, I called numerous suppliers and it appears that NOS wheel housings for a '69 Camaro are virtually non-existant.

[ 12-03-2004, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: Rx4Fun ]
 
#10 ·
You won’t regret it. I’ve ordered from Ricks a few times and never been disappointed. Ricks stuff is top notch and they are very knowledgeable. Fit is like night and day!

My first repro ¼ panel skins, trunk, trunk extensions, trunk drop offs, floor pans, wheel wells came from a local Pontiac restoration company that never even bothered to checked if the inners and outers wells even fit together until I called and complained. It looks like they even get the halves from different suppliers. I called to inquire about the miss fitting panels thinking I just got a bad pair. The tech went and retrieved a set from stock to check it out and all I got was a "oh yeah I guess they don't fit together too well.Nobody else ever complained. Sometimes you have to make them fit!" Farther down the line I learned they even use a more “generic” inner well they claim fits the left side on 67 to 69 models.
Almost everything I bought is useless cheap junk. I figured I could save big on shipping by picking it all up. Big savings, that was an almost $1000.00 mistake! Live and learn, from now on only the best I can afford, find.

I have many pieces of "offshore" replacement panels, inner and outer wells for both sides of a '69 that I’ll either sell cheap or use as a source of spare sheet metal to repair other sections of my bird.
The floor halves aren’t too bad, but I just ordered the complete floor assy. Just to make it easier.

Bob
 
#11 ·
I began fitting the passenger outer wheel housing from Rick's this weekend and I must say I'm very happy with the fit and quality of the American made part. I'm almost ready to weld it in after only about two hours of minor tweaking. No comparison to the Goodmark parts. I'd highly recommend Rick's to anyone who needs quality parts for a resto. They really know their stuff and have great customer service.

Nathan