HDmstng

A couple of weeks ago a guy ran the red light as I was making a left turn, he swerved but still managed to hit my fender with a glancing blow. No injuries, except my Stang with only 5300 miles on her. The front bumper will have to be replaced, the rim is nicked, and of course the fender on the quarter panel.

The bodyshop owner thinks his metal worker maybe able to fix the damage to the quarter panel without replacing it. He said if it doesn't look as good as new then they will go ahead and order a replacement. Some of the benefits are it'll still be the original quarter panel, and there will be less feathering of the paint required since about half the panel is undamaged.

Is the technology and skills required to make this sort of repair possible and likely to last? He seemed confident that if it could be done, it would look as good as new and the only way it could go bad was to get hit in the same place again. They warranty their work for as long as I own the car, which could be quite a while!

Thanks in advance for the advice!
HD




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P Zero

Thats a fender. Its a easy bolt on piece. Just replace it.
BTW, that is NOT a 1/4 panel. 1/4 panels are in teh back of the car. They have to be cut and welded to the car.
-P.

HDmstng

It's still about a quarter of the car and it's a panel too! But thanks for helping me use the correct terminology.

So less feathering of the paint and not having original equipment (the fender will be stamped with a different number than the rest of the car) isn't that big of a deal?

P Zero

youre welcome. Dont want you lookin silly at the body shop . It doesnt matter if it has a different number or not.
-P.

Aziraphale

I figure if he says he can get it right and will order a fender if not, let him try. If he fails, you get a new one, if he doesn't, you get original stuff.

If he's going to charge you labor and then again if he has to redo it, f' that, get a new fender.

kenthicken

Get the new fender. That dent is in a bad spot. Don't even give him a chance to "rework it." It will just waste his time (and yours) when he doesn't get it right and has to get the fender anyway.

Just have him replace it, and paint the whole fender. If he paints the fender (correctly, off of the car), then there will be no "feathering" involved.

Something doesn't smell right though -- the easiest way to repair the thing (judging from the pic) is just to get a new fender? Maybe he is looking to make some money off the insurance claim in some way? Don't know the guy, but you never know.

fairlane292

Get a new fender; way too many "ifs" stated here anyway. You have a paint blend and clearcoat matching task in any event. I don't know about the numbers but I'd be surprised if they have stamped numbers anyway and even if they did, different numbers on the fender won't mean a thing a year from now or a hundred years from now. Go with a shop that does plenty of color matching on high end cars; they will have the expertise to match your metallic red fire (which will take skill and experience). A top quality shop will do a few color samples as even the underlying primer color can be a factor. Then the samples are checked inn different lighting conditions. The best lighting to check in is outside natural light when the sun is out. You can get what looks like a perfect match under paint booth florescents and then get the car outside (where it will be see by the world) and the match is not as good as it appeared in the booth. Expert painters know this; go new fender and best paint shop you can find.

Got_Stang?

If it were me, I would definitely have the fender replaced.......to fix that fender I would imagine there would be bondo involved, you don't want that.....replace the fender. [sm=smiley20.gif]

mygt500

I agree go with a new fender. Color matching technology is excellent and there will be no difference in the look of the car after the repair and paint. Any experienced body shop would not have a problem duplicating a ford color and clearcoat. I have a body kit and stripes that were painted and personally there is no difference in the paint and clearcoat all around the car. The work is as good if not better than the factory (no orange peel).

Drop Top 06

Personally, I would pick up a set of the new RK sport fiberglass fenders that have the vents in them. (180 a piece). You get one replaced and painted for free, and spend some for the other, and gives your car a more custom look with not too much out of pocket!