Fender

Silversport 63

Well Known Member
Good morning to all I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe I have a question about fenders I recently had my car at a shop and a accident happened with my passenger fender they repainted a new fender and installed it but it doesn't look the same as my original driver side is there a difference between impala and byscain fenders
 

Jim Sullivan

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
As James mentioned, the aftermarket fenders have subtle differences in the body lines, mainly, the lower line that the trim attaches to on Impalas and Belairs.
 

pvs409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
What year car do you have ? Reproduction fenders are intended to match all models. original fenders where the same for all models - The only difference is where the trim is mounted (as noted above)& were the holes for the trim is mounted on Belairs vs Impalas in 61-64. No side trim on Biscayne's.

The body lines(style lines) on reproduction 1/4's and fenders and probably doors do not match original parts.
They also as I recall do not match the gaps as well as the original parts.

On a 1963 reproduction fender on a friends car that I finished (after he passed) the top gap on the reproduction 1963 fender was 2 to 3 times wider than a factory fender gap. The car was already painted so we left it that way.
I bet the style line on 61 and 62 reproduction fenders do not match the door style line of a factory 61 & 62 door.

I asked a local very well know local high quality classic car restoration shop about reproduction fenders not fitting and why they use so much reproduction -He said its the time delay finding the original fenders and also their condition (assuming the car owner has not found good original sheetmetal). This was on 69 Camaros they were doing.
He said they tear the reproduction fenders apart and redo them to make them fit, I am sure he would do the same on 61-64 reproduction parts.

The body shop guy has to make the repro parts match the original body parts.
I made the body shop do this to my 62's if I have to use reproduction parts(I had a 62 Impala hardtop rear 1/4 that was done that way) That's why original parts for fenders are always better, even if they need some lower rust repair.
It took me months and years to find parts for my 62 SS 409 convertible but I found original 1/4s, had good doors, trunk and hood and found NOS front fenders.

Paul
 

409gang

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 1
It sounds exactly like what James and Jim are saying, they most likely put on a aftermarket fender. If thats the case you might want to try and source an OEM fender and have them replace and repaint it. Sometimes aftermarket parts are just not the same as the read deal. I bought an aftermarket deck lid for my Nova and was so disappointed with it I wound up fixing the original and eating the aftermarket one, do you need a Nova deckled? Lol
 

lennyjay

Well Known Member
The oversea counties that stamp these out can not come close to the original GM presses. The corners are all a bit more round and not sharp and exact. I would look for an original steel part, or worst case give a fiberglass fender a look see. Our wrecking yards here in Arizona had a bunch years ago, but have been all bought up (no rust).
 

63 dream'n

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 4
Look around I purchased in NOS 1963 driver side front fender for about the same price as an aftermarket I paid $400 for a brand new gm fender...... my understanding the passenger side is hard to come by
 

63 dream'n

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 4
And in many cases you can buy a used fender that has the rust in the usual place which is the bottom corner adjacent to the door they make patch panels for just that section so the rest of the crisp body lines can remain

Impala bobs used to sell repaired original Fenders I’m not sure if they still do
 

Deadwolf

Well Known Member
I've actually found even the body lines between different aftermarket panels don't match each other. Been dealing with this on my 63 Pro street build as the new door body line does not match the new front fender which doesn't match the new quarter patch panel. Had to section the quarter patch panel to get the lines to match the door. All I can say is in the end the whole side will need a skim coat and a lot of block sanding to make it right.
 

55Brodie

Well Known Member
I've actually found even the body lines between different aftermarket panels don't match each other. Been dealing with this on my 63 Pro street build as the new door body line does not match the new front fender which doesn't match the new quarter patch panel. Had to section the quarter patch panel to get the lines to match the door. All I can say is in the end the whole side will need a skim coat and a lot of block sanding to make it right.
3 different Chinese manufacturing sheds.
 

63 dream'n

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 4
I've actually found even the body lines between different aftermarket panels don't match each other. Been dealing with this on my 63 Pro street build as the new door body line does not match the new front fender which doesn't match the new quarter patch panel. Had to section the quarter patch panel to get the lines to match the door. All I can say is in the end the whole side will need a skim coat and a lot of block sanding to make it right.

Where are the updated pictures.......????
 
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