Front fender bracket replacement
- Thread starter mngreen
- Start date
Jacksonlll
Well-known member
It will be tough. I did one last yr. The new one won't fit, so you have to force it to fit. Stick with it and have some good drifts on hand.
Kevin in NJ
Well-known member
You will not like my advice, but based on experience with original brackets...
Here is my advice which may be a lot more work then you expect...
You need to start with just the light bar and both brackets. I would not even consider a repro bracket, get an original- but that is just me I guess.
You need to mount the light bar on the riveted in brackets. Your goal is to make the ends of the light bar match the surface on the brackets exactly. You know when things are getting close when the bolts go in easy.
I cold bend both. i used a large diameter piece of pipe I had laying around and a heavy metal bar about 4' long.
Each time I stepped back and made sure everything looked even including the arch of the light bar.
After a lot of work I got stuff fitting good then I moved on to putting the fenders in place.
With the fender on I moved the outer edge of the bracket to get the in line with the edge of the running board.
Now I realize you may have issues with an existing fender you do not want to remove. I know what I say will work, you might be able to figure out a better way for your car.
FWIW, later i bought a pair of NOS fender brackets. I made a jig from the NOS to check the brackets. I was surprised to find what I made correct on the car by eye was almost a perfect match to the NOS.
Here is my advice which may be a lot more work then you expect...
You need to start with just the light bar and both brackets. I would not even consider a repro bracket, get an original- but that is just me I guess.
You need to mount the light bar on the riveted in brackets. Your goal is to make the ends of the light bar match the surface on the brackets exactly. You know when things are getting close when the bolts go in easy.
I cold bend both. i used a large diameter piece of pipe I had laying around and a heavy metal bar about 4' long.
Each time I stepped back and made sure everything looked even including the arch of the light bar.
After a lot of work I got stuff fitting good then I moved on to putting the fenders in place.
With the fender on I moved the outer edge of the bracket to get the in line with the edge of the running board.
Now I realize you may have issues with an existing fender you do not want to remove. I know what I say will work, you might be able to figure out a better way for your car.
FWIW, later i bought a pair of NOS fender brackets. I made a jig from the NOS to check the brackets. I was surprised to find what I made correct on the car by eye was almost a perfect match to the NOS.
Karl Wescott
Well-known member
Kevin's advise is good. Unless you need to go with the repro bracket.
If you go with a repro bracket start by fitting the fenders and the headlight bar WITHOUT the bracket. Then bend the repro bracket as needed TO FIT THE CAR. When installed the bracket should not touch the fender except at the headlight bar mount and the outside bolt point. Any contact might cause wearing and paint or fender damage. The top corners of the repro bracket tend to tip up slightly with a sharp point, they should be sanded to a slight radius.
An old body shop trick to keep (steel) fenders straight on the side is to twist the bracket so the tip is about one half inch in front of the outside bolt... pull the bracket back to bolt to the fender. The slight tension will help keep the side of the fender straight. (Do this with fiberglass and the fender will crack!)
Fiberglass fenders do not need the support to the outside of the fender, only as far as the headlight bar. Feel free to cut off the excess on a repro bracket, save an original for a car that will be shown for points. You are not getting any restoration points anyway. (Do this with steel and the fenders will crack sooner!)
The original brackets came in three flavors, two stamped and one forged. The current repros are of the common stamped version. At one point there were cast iron repros of the forged version. If you end up with one of those it will break when you bend it. No loss.
If you go with a repro bracket start by fitting the fenders and the headlight bar WITHOUT the bracket. Then bend the repro bracket as needed TO FIT THE CAR. When installed the bracket should not touch the fender except at the headlight bar mount and the outside bolt point. Any contact might cause wearing and paint or fender damage. The top corners of the repro bracket tend to tip up slightly with a sharp point, they should be sanded to a slight radius.
An old body shop trick to keep (steel) fenders straight on the side is to twist the bracket so the tip is about one half inch in front of the outside bolt... pull the bracket back to bolt to the fender. The slight tension will help keep the side of the fender straight. (Do this with fiberglass and the fender will crack!)
Fiberglass fenders do not need the support to the outside of the fender, only as far as the headlight bar. Feel free to cut off the excess on a repro bracket, save an original for a car that will be shown for points. You are not getting any restoration points anyway. (Do this with steel and the fenders will crack sooner!)
The original brackets came in three flavors, two stamped and one forged. The current repros are of the common stamped version. At one point there were cast iron repros of the forged version. If you end up with one of those it will break when you bend it. No loss.
mngreen
Senior Member
I have ordered the stamped repro bracket from Snyders.
The car is completely restored, sans the broken fender bracket. It probably cracked after I tightened up the light cross bar bolts a number of months ago (added tension, not smart
) along with the normal car vibration/flex, etc.
I do not intend to remove the fender or light cross bar, just remove the broken one and install the repro with the fender in place.
The car is completely restored, sans the broken fender bracket. It probably cracked after I tightened up the light cross bar bolts a number of months ago (added tension, not smart
) along with the normal car vibration/flex, etc. I do not intend to remove the fender or light cross bar, just remove the broken one and install the repro with the fender in place.
