The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk '46 fenders and ?'s

Been looking at 3 different '46's and all of them have had split open fenders above the wheel well and been re-welded and all poorly welded at that. Is this to be expected on any that I find? Have you guys have good luck fixing them the right way or are they ruined and I need to look for fenders also? The running boards also on all that I'm looking at have holes in them. I guess a good set would be tough to come by. Have you guys had good luck repairing running boards? Looks like it can be done but very time consuming. And of course out of all 3 none has a decent grill. I talked to the man who runs dixie truck works and he says he's never had a good repo grill. He says none of them fit right and you have to make them fit. He says they're not worth the money. I assume it's going to be real tough to find a good grill also.

Mike

Fenders See my post in the body section about a ripped/torn fender. I think that cracks were pretty common, both front and back near the braces. My opinion...unless the fender is smashed big time, or rusted out, it can be saved. You may be able to use part of one to patch another, so don't throw em.

Grill- A good grill is not that hard to come by. They are on E-bay all the time. Expensive to re-chrome...so get ready for that big bill. Grill also can be repaired. Unless totally smashed to pieces, it might have some hope.

Fiberglass running boards are available as repops...steel running boards are just like the grill....around, but you have to look.

Do you have pics of what you have?

i have a 42 same truck have fenders in good shape running boards in good shape to thay are out there jest have to look to find them. i was lucky the guy i got my truck from took it apart in the 1970s and had it all stored in a coen crib in marland lucky find. i to have seen running boards and fenders on e -bay dont give up.

They are hard to find all right. I found one through Hemmings. You should get an estimate on fixing yours so you have a guage as what to pay and help with the fix/buy decision. Whatever you get will most likely need some body work so consider that too.
Dennis

Them running boards are tough to find! But be Patient! Believe me! I myself, am putting Smoothie
Runningboards on my 46.

Hang on to them 46 fenders. I was told to toss mine and I almost did. There are a lot of good metal men out there. And Im writing this from real far away from you! My 46 is far away from my home and found a young professional who has his heart on welding! And metal Work. Happy I did save them. Dont give up is the name of this game!!
LOL!
Ordered another set of fenders from the States and borrowed patches from the other. Worked too!

Grille - I bought and sold a few and bought another. I got lucky. But write an email to Bobby Baker at Just Chrome It. He had an original grille and chromed it. And Im very happy with it.
Tell Bobby Hello from The Ol Classic Finn!

These guys on the stovebolt will help. They have
helped out a lot!! And given a lot of good advice, Im proud of these folks!!

For you it should be a LIl Easier being in the back yard of all them goodies! Plus Good Folks on the Stovebolt Pages! Good Luck.

PS Im still learning!And asking a lot of questions!

Ol Classic Finn

I just returned my grill to Bobby Baker. The first go-round had many problems. Not even useable. Hopefully it gets resolved this time though.
Dennis

Dennis

Sorry to hear about the problem with the grill!
Mine is real nice. With nothing bad to say about it.!

Hope it gets fixed. That postage isnt cheap for this stuff. Let us know how it goes!

It wasnt cheap for one thing to have them rechrome it. It cost another same amount to have it shipped here plus Import Duty on top of that so..
It better be done right! But again some of your
reputable parts companies have bad apples in them too! Just like individuals who claim products to be top quality but when you get it in your hand and see it for yourself.....its plain garbage.

I know how you feel! i could tell you a few stories. But anyway good luck!

And Best Wishes
from Ol Classic Finn

M.Smith

Forgot to mention! Get a hold of Mr. Barry Weeks,
He,s got Goodies for Old Trucks. He knows his
stuff. He always goes out of his way to make sure you get good parts! He,s also a pleasure to talk to. And helpful!!!

Many other good folks to scout parts for you!

Hope you see this Barry!

Classic Finn

Thanks for all the input. I'm confident the fenders on the one that I'm leaning toward can be repaired and actually the grill may have some hope. It's gonna take a lot of tedious pounding with the body hammers to get this stuff straight. The doors have some small holes in the lower skins and bottoms but other than that they look good. The cab looks good except for some small holes in lower front that is behind the fender. Boy oh Boy what am I fixing to get into? He wants $1000 or one of my hit and miss engines for it. That makes it tough, but there just don't seem to be any of these trucks left around here hardly.

Mike

I'm on the lookout for a '46 1/2 ton myself, altho i've not had much chance to do much looking between my '46 2 Ton resto and other daily activities.

Of the ones i've seen in the flesh in this part of the world, split fenders and eat thru rust just aren't seen.

Maybe i'm just lucky with my big bolts fenders (I sit on them when I work under the hood and they're solid as a rock) because other than 2 small dents and some surface rust, they're good to go.

I've looked on eBay and not been very encouraged at what I see selling for close to a grand.. no titles, no engines, no axls, no glass, rusty, bent up, beat up, no interior or gauges.

I suppose trucks in that sort of condition are good fodder for a "hot rod" project.. but not so good if you're planning on bringing it back to "original" (or close to it) condition.. at least not unless you've got DEEP pockets.

So is $1,000 a good price? I suppose that depends on what you want to do with it, how much is there, and how much you're going to have to spend to get it the way you want it.

Like you said, those trucks are getting scarce as hens teeth, and Chevy ain't makin' them no more, so factor in the "rarity" factor, too.

If you can do your own bodywork, I would say to try and fix your rear fenders before you look for others. Nice '40-'46 pickup rear fenders are hard to find and not cheap. If you are paying a bodyman by the hour to fix yours, you might find it cheaper to buck up for fenders that need as little work as possible. You may also find that many of the rear fenders available out there aren't much better than what you already have, depending on the shape of yours. Just be glad you aren't looking for '39 rear fenders, they are almost impossible to find!

Thanks for the kind words Heikki!

Hey Fumblin '46, I would love to come to your neck of the woods and hunt for a truck but I'll never get a chance. EVERYTHING that you find here in NC unless it's been in dry storage for the past 30 yrs. is eat up with rust. I did look at a 1 1/2 ton '46 yesterday just for parts and those front fenders had no splits in them but were badly rusted off where it meets the running board. They won't fit a 1/2 ton any way. The entire truck was rusted almost in two even the dash board had large holes rusted through. There wasn't a usable part on the truck except maybe the hood if it will fit a 1/2 ton. However it still had all it's original running works, even the old air cleaner was still on it. The owner wasn't there but it would have to be a freebie to haul that rust bucket home.

Mike

Take it from someone who has all but become an expert of buying and selling parts to "upgrade". I think I have gone through 5 full grills now. I actually have two full grills that are perfect. One full one is NOS and the other is used but in great condition. Sorry...I'm keeping them both at least until I re-assemble my truck. Classic Finn actually bought one of my upper grills. Very nice but needed a repair of a hole that was drilled in it years ago. Grills are out there. just keep watching e-bay and don't give up. A full grill with little damage typically goes for $200-250. oCCATIONALLY THEY GO FOR MORE.

I've had less luck on fenders. They are very expensive to ship due to their size. I am on my third pair for the front and am settling to use two pairs to make one. Just need to find a good metal guy to do it. I was very lucky in that I found a pretty good set of rear fenders for undre $400. Even then there is probably another $200-200 in work to be done on them before paint.

A good three years ago I saw for a very sort time an NOS set of front fenders on e-bay. No bids for several days then the day before it ended it was ended early because of a local buyer. I was really kicking myself for not bidding right away. Never have seen another NOS 1/2 fender out there.

Make up your mind right away if fiberglass is acceptable and then don't look back. I went and bought some fiberglass parts and surely enough, shortly after the purchases I found the metal parts! Used fiberglass parts are not worth much even if they are not really even used.

Just keep looking and take the advise someone above gave: get a quote on fixing what you have then base your price range based on that considering that someone out there will be happy to buy yours when you are done. Someone always has a part in worse shape than your.

Well, I'd go in the hole if I estimated having all the work done by someone else. I'm most likely going to trade for this one and put it back in the shed for a later project. In the mean time maybe I'll run across another one or a good parts truck to go with it. I will have to do a lot of the work myself and maybe take some welding classes too. I'm dead set against anything fiberglass on any kind of old car or truck. I realize that sometimes people have to go with the glass but to me it's not but half an antique now. I'd rather have patched,welded, and dented steel than glass. I'll post some pics. of the old basket case once we work out the deal. It'll go on the back burner for now. I'm still working on my '63 and next is the wife's '67 F**D Mustang 2+2 "S" Code 390 GT project, then my '57 Bel Air. Maybe I'll see them all restored before I die.

Mike