Niteshade

So now that the garage is too cold to work in, I began sanding down the front fenders in my heated workshop. I knew the bottom rear of each fender had a lot of bondo and as the layers of paint came off, I realised was going to have to buy the patch panels for that area. Then I discovered, with the light under the fender that there are pinholes in the top of the fender (the section adjacent to the hood) that were patched with bondo and some screen below.

My question is do you think I can cut out that section and repair the hole with a patch panel or should I just go ahead and get a new fender? As a second question, if I buy the hole fender, do the new ones come with the headlight bucket or do I have to salvage it from the old fender? The bucket has some holes as well that I thought I could stop with some encapsulator and paint.

Thanks everyone for your help.

boeing747arowair

if your good with metal working and you think you can tackle it then go right ahead thats what im going to do. now, if you're going to buy a fender; dont worry it brings that light bucket assembly. if you search for a repo fender online, most pictures will show this part. Good Luck

baddog671

I remember looking over fenders in a catalog the other day and if my memory is correct, the 66's were the cheapest ones. A hundred and some odd dollars. Probably best to start with new metal for that price...

Soaring

Yeah, but everybody bitches about fitment issues with repop fenders. A good sheet metal man can make those OEM fenders like new.

THUMPIN455

For me it would depend on how much rust is there, how much metal needs replaced around it, and what part of the fender its on. Curves can be tricky, but so can patching a piece of the flat part..

If you can get all the bondo off, and find all the thin spots then you can decide if you want to replace it. If you want to try it yourself, well you can always get repops if you goof it up.

Niteshade

Well I am always game for trying. The area in question is at the top of the fender, the flat section leading to the edge that meets the hood. There is a gentle curve to it but I think I can match that pretty close with the metal and bring the rest in line when block sanding.

My concern with the repops was the headlight bucket because my favorite suppliers only show pictures directly from the side so that the front section cannot be seen. I was also concerned about the thickness of the panel. The originals are a nice heavy guage metal and I am concerned that the repops may be a little thinner and not as dent resistant.

Thanks any and all help.

boeing747arowair

I would defintely stay with the OEM fender. like Soaring said repo fenders are sometimes a pain to fit, but defintely, any good metalworker will those OEM fenders like new

nuts4fords

What about the fenders that state they are made from original tooling? My fenders are both rusted out at the bottom, and I am not in the mood to weld patch panels. They cost more and still suck??

middiepride

ford tooling is new fenders that are just like the ones on your car right now.not repop, exact or very good fit better than replacement by far. they will probalby need some work but little just matching them up to your car.