The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Fitting front fenders

This question needs a little historical introduction:

I bought my '50 3100 almost two years ago and the front end all fit together pretty well. When I pulled everything apart, the lower inner cowl panels and inner to outer cowl panels needed to be replaced due to rust holes.

I got a recommendation for a body guy in the area from the person who bought my old truck from me. The body guy was young and worked mostly on pimped up '70s Caprice Classics, but he had done good work on my old truck. By the time he finished a couple months later, I had paid him too much and was still not satisfied with his work. I had asked him to fix things a few times but it was just getting worse. He had done ridiculous things like filled in the fender bolt holes with bondo.

On to phase 2 of the body work. I got a recommendation for another body guy but he is over 2 hours away. He picked up all my parts, smoothed everything out and painted everything. I had mentioned the fender bolt holes but that didn't get done. No big deal. I can drill those out.

Now I have very well painted front fenders and cab, and I'm trying to line things up. Without the bolt holes on the cab, I have to line everything up before I figure out where to drill them. I now have both front fenders mounted to the radiator support and clamped to the cab.

(Finally on to my question for the body gurus out there...) Look at the left and right sides. To get the fenders flush with the cab, it seems like the cab needs to be sanded down or bent in at the very front. How can this be done/fixed without screwing up the million dollar paint job too badly? Technically neither of the body guys should have touched this part, but it sure didn't have these gaps when I pulled it apart.

Thanks for any advice.

shouldn't there be welting between the fenders/cab?

Yes, there will be welting between the fenders when I put it together for the final time. I was just doing a test fit. And there seems to be over a 1/4" of space that needs to be fixed.

I don't think welting will cover that, wishful thinking on my part. Can you tell exactly what/where the fender is hitting the cowl? I know its tough w/new paint. Sometimes bolt holes & the area around them can get stretched outward from an accident, this would hold the fender proud of the cab like that. Have you test fit the grille? Can you feel aruond behind for a blob of bondo where the bolts holes used to be? I have found many molding holes that way.

If your 1950 3100 is like my 1949 3100, the inner fender wells and the brace at the bottom of the fender "locate" the fenders at the cab. On my drivers side, there are 3 nuts "welded" to the toe board that are used to fasten the inner fender to the cab. On the passenger side there are only 3 holes. You mention that the FENDER bolt holes were bondo-ed closed. If the INNER fender are still "original", you should be able to locate the fender holes with the inner fender hole ("nut holes"). If bondo was actually used (not welded shut) to fill the hole, a small magnet could also be used as it will not stick to bondo.
Please note, these old trucks need a LOT of "massaging" to make them look right. The fenders might need to be bolted tight and correctly positioned before you get concerned about the gap you are seeing now. Good luck!!

Thanks, guys. I haven't fitted the grille yet because it is badly dented and rusty. I'm planning to replace it with a repop. I know many don't like that but I can't afford to have mine straightened and chromed right now. I'll save it and maybe do it later. I think I can feel a couple of the holes on one side but wanted to make sure before I go drilling them out.

That's great to know the inner fenders will help me line everything up better. I don't have those back from the painter yet. I was just trying to get a jump on things to make some space in the garage. I suppose they can wait for a few more weeks. I like the idea of the small magnet also. I'll give that a try.