Unless you can find NOS fenders I would repair the ones you have. A friend of mine went with repop fenders because his looked like yours and had problems fitting the new ones. Another body man told him he could have saved the original fenders and avoided all ao the fitting issues. I know my fenders were at least as bad as yours and my body guy used patch panels and I am happy with the results. He did all the body work so I can't say if but welding is the best way to go. Find a good body guy you can trust and go with his recomendations. Good luck!
Let your body guy decide how he can make them perfect, but I'd recommend replacement of the rear sections starting just above the "scoops". This looks like more than a patch panel will cover. The old front damage can be readily repaired.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
Unless you can find NOS fenders I would repair the ones you have. A friend of mine went with repop fenders because his looked like yours and had problems fitting the new ones. Another body man told him he could have saved the original fenders and avoided all ao the fitting issues. I know my fenders were at least as bad as yours and my body guy used patch panels and I am happy with the results. He did all the body work so I can't say if but welding is the best way to go. Find a good body guy you can trust and go with his recomendations. Good luck!
I have heard several people talk about having problems with repo's not fitting correctely. If the fenders are off then it seems the hood and nose would be thrown off also.
Let your body guy decide how he can make them perfect, but I'd recommend replacement of the rear sections starting just above the "scoops". This looks like more than a patch panel will cover. The old front damage can be readily repaired.
Hi Vikki. The top scoop on the driver's side looks ok. Would you still go above the top scoop with a patch?
I have seen a company on ebay, Motor City Hi-Performance, selling the scoop patch panels. I plan on calling to get details of the patch.
What companies offer the scoop patches? I don't recall anyone selling these.
Would butt welding be the best way to repair this area? Should be easy to repair both sides of the fender or will the fender braces be a problem?
a friend here first patched his 69 fenders with a leaded fill....then he and his painter decided to buy new repops, then they didnt fit right , so he ended up using the originals afterall
a friend here first patched his 69 fenders with a leaded fill....then he and his painter decided to buy new repops, then they didnt fit right , so he ended up using the originals afterall
I tried to use the repo fenders on my 69 and could not get them to fit. I repaired the originals and reused them. Mine looked like yours. I wasted a lot of time trying to get the repo's to fit but I never was happy with the result.
It seems fenders are "mated" to a car -- if you have the originals I'd have them fixed. If, like me, you don't have any fenders to begin with, I don't think it makes much difference whether you go with originals or repops. Both will require work to make them fit properly.
I tried to use the repo fenders on my 69 and could not get them to fit. I repaired the originals and reused them. Mine looked like yours. I wasted a lot of time trying to get the repo's to fit but I never was happy with the result.
David did you use butt welds or flange on your fenders? How long ago did you do the repair?
Keep as much original steel as you can, most of the repop parts are tinny and dent easily especially on outer panels that show. I took a look at those scoop panel patches and was not pleased with the crispness of the lines. Your fenders look like they just need a dogleg shaped patch along the back edge and along the bottom. My fenders are that bad or worse and I am fixing mine. The braces in the back of mine were rough, I cut them out carefully, repaired the rusted parts with new steel and put them back in before repairing the outer panel rust spots. Butt welds in my opinion are the way to go, proper heat and wire speed on the mig will get good penetration/strength. The butt weld requires almost no filler after the joint is ground down. Flange welds create a moisture and debris trap causing rust issues down the road. My 2c
Keep as much original steel as you can, most of the repop parts are tinny and dent easily especially on outer panels that show. I took a look at those scoop panel patches and was not pleased with the crispness of the lines. Your fenders look like they just need a dogleg shaped patch along the back edge and along the bottom. My fenders are that bad or worse and I am fixing mine. The braces in the back of mine were rough, I cut them out carefully, repaired the rusted parts with new steel and put them back in before repairing the outer panel rust spots. Butt welds in my opinion are the way to go, proper heat and wire speed on the mig will get good penetration/strength. The butt weld requires almost no filler after the joint is ground down. Flange welds create a moisture and debris trap causing rust issues down the road. My 2c
Grant
Is the a difference seen between the patch scoops and the full fender scoops? It would be expensive but what do you think about cutting the scoops out of a full fender (if they have sharper lines) to replace the rusted scoops? I have never seen a repo full fender or a fender patch so I don't know.
The repops always require body work, although the metal is getting better than it used to be it is still much softer than NOS or original, it does not have near the temper the, even after being weld on
Lap joints are easier than but joints.
the problems are: with a but joint they must be welded solid and ground as flat as possible or they may show even through the filler when heated in the sun, a lap joint van be spot welded, it will show if it is direct sunlight and also has the potential to hold water
If you have some one to repair them and you trust them to do it, fix them
I'll trade you my Dynacorn fenders for your beat up ones! Mine were way worse than yours, not necessarily from rust but from beatings from prior owners. They looked OK when I removed them but turns out the had over 3/4 - 1" of filler over most of the fender. The new ones look good but I still haven't gotten them to fit, especially where the headlight assembly butts to them. They are also wider across the top forcing me to move the doors as far out as far as they will go.
![[Linked Image from i601.photobucket.com]](http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/tt95/920-680-1902/firebird/Photo_2006_1_29_22_27_15_edited_edi.jpg)
