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Topic: aftermarket fenders (Read 2793 times) previous topic - next topic

aftermarket fenders

Does anyone have any experience with aftermarket fenders for our cars? I'm planning on replacing the driver side fender on my Thunderbird. Apparently the sound deadening behind the fender liner was trapping dirt in the lower part of the fender. There is some internal rust back there I'd rather not fix and, since the cars being re-painted anyway, I'd rather just replace the fender. I have a line on both a new, aftermarket replacement fender and a NOS Ford fender. There's about a 6 times difference in price between the two, with the Ford NOS fender obviously being the more expensive option. Is it worth it to pay $$$ for the Ford fender or will the aftermarket fender work just as well, as far as fit and finish go?
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #1 –
My understanding is that, apart from the NOS one, they're all going to require some tweaking to fit correctly. We're talking, shims, maybe bowing the fender out or in to get the seams to line up, etc. People over the years have told me that aftermarkets are generally worse for fitment. As for quality, I personally would never use anything but OEM or genuine Ford metal because we don't know the quality and prep of the metal used in aftermarket panels.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #2 –
Quote from: EricCoolCats;459691
My understanding is that, apart from the NOS one, they're all going to require some tweaking to fit correctly. We're talking, shims, maybe bowing the fender out or in to get the seams to line up, etc. People over the years have told me that aftermarkets are generally worse for fitment. As for quality, I personally would never use anything but OEM or genuine Ford metal because we don't know the quality and prep of the metal used in aftermarket panels.

I figured as much. That NOS fender is $$$ though lol.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #3 –
Quote
I figured as much. That NOS fender is $$$ though lol.


I think it will be worth every penny in the long run.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #4 –
I would exhaust the salvage yards before I plunked down the $$$ for the NOS piece.  The Certifit parts are garbage.

I found a fender for my '83 in a salvage yard that was pristine for $25.  Pulled it and took it to my paint and body guy and he said it would work like a champ and was very happy to have old steel versus aftermarket junk.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

aftermarket fenders

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Aerocoupe;459697
I would exhaust the salvage yards before I plunked down the $$$ for the NOS piece.  The Certifit parts are garbage.

I found a fender for my '83 in a salvage yard that was pristine for $25.  Pulled it and took it to my paint and body guy and he said it would work like a champ and was very happy to have old steel versus aftermarket junk.

I live in Chicago there are no:

Rust free fenders

87-88 Thunderbirds or Cougars to pull said fenders from

I've called several auto recyclers in the area. No one has a driver side fender and, apparently can't order them. I've called a couple of places out west on car-part.com but they do not ship body panels. So at this point the $$$ NOS fender is about my only option.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #6 –
I've got several since we last talked about them. Let me look at mine and I will get back to you in the next day or so. I am pretty sure the one that I have that is off the car is in pretty good shape and it is an OEM part. I also have a couple of parts cars with them as well.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #7 –
I've got a couple leads to follow up on tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.
 

aftermarket fenders

Reply #8 –
I've used aftermarket fenders in the past on various vehicles... like Eric said lot of tweaking. They are also thinner than oem.. I would only use them on something that you dont want to keep forever... it may be cheaper stripping your old ones in the long run
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5.0 HO 306 roller block, machined GT-40P heads, Wiseco dished forged pistons, Eagle forged floating I-beam connecting rods, Lunati pushrods, ARP bolts, Scorpion aluminum 1.6 rockers, Comp Cams Magnum 266HR, Explorer intake, 65mm TB, MAF Conversion, 19# injectors, Ford Racing stainless P-headers, 2-1/2" cat-less exhaust w/ Flowtech Afterburner lers , SC AOD with 2800 BDR torque converter, 3.73 T-Lok rear, CHE rear control arms, full 2-1/2" frame w/1" jacking rails & seat supports, Rear disk brakes, Turbine wheels, All original interior w/ floor shift upgrade .......
Pretty much every panel on my 87 is new, rebuilt, or re constructed. :D
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aftermarket fenders

Reply #9 –
This is why I have a set of fenders, a pair of door, and a hood stashed away in the shed. Not perfect pieces, and would need clean up, but still factory parts.

If 50racer has some in VA, you still would probably have time to get parts transported to you by some means by the time you would need it.

Or, just clean your existing part. There are plenty of safe/viable options to remove the rust and prep it.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo

aftermarket fenders

Reply #10 –
The driver fender is rusted by the bracket that holds it to the inner rocker. That bracket is half gone and the back of the lower part of the fender has rust, with a couple small bubbles on the outside of the fender. Apparently the insulation in the fender trapped a bunch of dirt back there over the years. When I pulled the fender liner/splash shield to look at it a couple cups of dirt and road  fell out from that area. The passenger side had nothing. Go figure.

I'm not going aftermarket with the fender. I'll see if I can locate a good factory fender. Of course the one piece of sheet metal I don't have a spare for is the driver side fender. If I can't get a used factory fender I'll have to pony up for the NOS one.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

aftermarket fenders

Reply #11 –
This fender that I have off the car is a pretty good one. Just doing a very quick cold and windy look while I was taking photos, it is not bent, and has very light surface rust at the point where it attaches at the bottom rear. The car that it was removed from only had 95,000 miles on it. If you were here, I'd let you have it for $50, but your not! So, I am going to ask $225 shipped for it. Now, before you curse me, let me explain. I am going to spend about an hour creating a box for this thing, then I am going to drive and hour each way to the nearest Greyhound station in Woodbridge, VA, and pay about $80 +/- to ship it to the nearest bus station to you.XXX

aftermarket fenders

Reply #12 –
XXX

aftermarket fenders

Reply #13 –
XXX

aftermarket fenders

Reply #14 –
The photo on this part may make it look a little worse than it actually is. It is just surface rust and should clean up nicely. X