The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Buy new sheet metal or work with the old

Hi everyone!
I'm sure that it has been asked here before but I want to know your opinions on the topic: Buy new sheetmetal fenders or spend the time to work with the old??? I have been looking for fenders and tailgate and rear bumper along with a few other METAL peices and I have had conflicting advise as to what to buy. One says buy the old as they will fit better unless you are a skilled body man. Others say buy new and grind the holes and they will only need a little tweeking. So any advise would be great from my fellow Stovebolters!

Ok I'll go first, I DO NOT TRUST the new stuff, had too many problems. Could be my limited experiance but other have said this as well. Call around on some of the members expecially Tony 4-5-6 or RJ Sisneros, they have OEM stuff.

My 2 cents... Start with OEM fenders and use patch panels for rust areas.

No question about it. The old steel was manufactured differently and is far superior. Always use the old when you can. When you can't, go find good used parts - check the parts for sale forum or post in the parts wanted forum.

Thanks everyone for the advise. I have choosen to go with original equipment. I found a couple of good fenders and tailgate. Let the fiber glass fly!!

Thanks Again!!

Fiber Glass?? What's up with that??

Is this a vette or a Cameo? Fiberglass??? Motor home insulation job??

I've often pondered that.

Can you replace the frame, engine an sheetmetal and still have a 19XX Car/truck??

You can build a brand new 1957 chevy without one actual chevy part, save for the ID tag.

If you did build a "brand new" 57 with no original parts, it's not a restored 57. It's a"clone" or something. Anyway never heard one one yet. The fellow here has not answered as to why he said fiberglass.

Sorry I have not been on lately. To answer the fiber glass questions I'm thinking of patching the old fenders I picked up with fiber glass.

don't do it if you want the patches to hang on more than a couple years - there is a special fiberglas resin intended for bonding to metal, but even that doesn't hold long with the difference in temperature response between metal and fiberglas

Bill

You say you got good fenders and tailgate? Metal patching only. Fiberglass repair is just a tad better than duct tape! You need to borrow a welder or friend, make/buy the patches.

When I say good (better then mine!)I meant with good outer edges. I will still need to do some work on one of them. It has a hole in it. I'm seeing that fiber glass is not the recommended fix.

Thanks for the input!

The old fenders would be the correct shape and thickness for repairing the "new". If the old fenders are dented in the spot you need to use for a donor, fix the dent then cut out for use on the "new" fenders. A light coat of body filler is totally acceptable. The Bondo brand is not considered the best to use. read up on it all on the web. Good luck, it's a great pleasure to fix up an old truck.

I hate to quote myself... but I will since my post is even now more appropriate..

And there is even a You Tube video series you can watch to help you get a feel for what needs to be done. Here's the first one:

You are right HotRod, we are repeating what you already said, probably very inappropriate of me, just trying to pound the figerglass out of his mind.

After my daughter's accident in my '62 last november, we were able to find a decent (repairable) front fender for it.

When I started taking it down to bare metal for repairs, I found that some previous owner had used fiberglass to repair the rust behind the wheel well. What a mess! I got it all cleaned out, cut out the rust, cut a piece of same thickness sheetmetal to replace it, then brazed it into place. A little lead and it will be all good.