The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop fender questions

greetings. I am a new participant in your excellent forum. I have gone to the pages many time when I have had a question and it has been very informative.
My friend and I are working on a 1946 chevy truck that I purchased from the original owner. It sat in my barn for 40 years before I pulled it out and started. It is 7 years later and we are almost done. it was a complete rebuild, nut and bolt, and all of the body work needed to be done. My friend has done all of the body work and as we are putting it back together we have hit a bump in the road.
when i purchased the truck the owner had hit a deer on the driver side and the fender was not repairable. i purchased a NOS front fender. as we are putting the front end on the passenger side, which was not damaged, it bolt right up. on the drivers side it is a different story. putting on the new fender it bolts right up to the running board but when lining it up with the side sheet it seems to be about 1 inch off compared to the holes in the fender. this difference throws off the drivers side and nothing will fall in place without modifications. we are very frustrated to say the least.

I have been researching the difference in fenders between the 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1 1/2, and 2 ton trying to determine if we have the wrong fender. I was told the fenders from the 1941-1946 were all the same.
with the above information can someone help us understand if there is a difference in how the holes line up to the side engine shield? also, could this possibly be a fender from an older model model than the '40s? I saw that the fender opening is one of the difference because of different size of the wheels used for the different models. have measured the passenger fender and the opening is the same on the drivers side fender. so we are at a loss.
your help would be appreciated.

First, welcome to the forum! When you get a chance, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you, your truck and please post some pictures. We ‘bolters love photos of other ‘bolter’s project’s. Instructions on how to post images are in the left margin of this page.

On to your dilemma. I don’t have a 46 so I can only give you general info. The issue could be that aftermarket stamped steel products are known to be ill fitting and have a bit of massaging to get them to fit.

I’ll leave the different models fenders to the ‘bolter’s that actually have that expertise.

While I am working on a 66 I agree the aftermarket world did not concern themselves with fit and finish of parts. Some of mine have fit wonderfully, while others have had major issues getting into place.

That being said if you actually bought a NOS part it should have good fit and finish. At that point it would fall to the allignment under the fender as the problem from the deer strike. Can you loosen everything on the front end to get it into place?

thanks for your reply. we will see what others think. i don't want to buy another fender and have the same issue.

Has the running board been pushed back from the deer strike? Maybe start at the front of the fender and see where it lands in reference to the running board.

I would recommend taking some measurements off the frame and seeing where the body panels line up on each side compared to each other.

I had a blazer a few years back with a similar issue. It looked for the world like there was just a tweaked fender, but not matter what I did I could not make the replacement line up. I ended up needing to pull a subtle bend out of the core support, then loosen everything else (the hood, etc) to bring it all back into alignment.

Per my parts book...

1941-46 1/2 and 3/4 ton use the same fender.

1941-46 1, 1-1/2 and 2 ton use the same fender.

Mike B

thanks Mike.

I have ‘41 to ‘47.1 GMC trucks. 1.5 ton and larger have 20” wheels and the tire cutout is larger than smaller trucks. GM also made rare full width fenders that fit 20” tires(I have two sets) allowing a stock 4wd full width front axle to be used as well as large tires. Did you perhaps get one of these fenders? I have pictures with dimensions if you wish.

Ed

the pictures and dimensions would be greatly appreciated. [email protected]..

I have a 1940 Chevy truck - all original body. As far as I know, front fenders are similar except for headlight mounting. Be happy to check on some measurements for you - what are you looking at ?

I have recently put the front panels together on my 46 1/2 ton stepside. I found many misalignment problems, but solved them all by loosening many of the bolts holding it all together, then pushing and pulling till everything lined up. The top stay rods running from the firewall to the radiator support frame have a large influence on all this. Also, sit the hood in place, to get an idea of relevant gaps. Loosen the cab mounts if you need to. The cab may be out of square to the chassis. These old trucks are very flexible in the body work, so you will be surprised where an inch of movement can come from. Gaps and measurements are the clue, usually.