Did I Buy a 68 Fender By Accident?

[justagoodolboy]

I bought a fender off Craigslist that the guy said was for a 72 and now, over a year later, I'm putting my truck back together and I have a problem. The fender gave me fits trying to get it bolted back on- the holes just would not quite line up so my buddy helped me pull and push it to where we got most of the bolts in. I put the hood on today and the fit is different versus the original fender that I put back on the other side. In the front, the curve down to the grill surround is not the smooth, even curve like the other side (original fender). And when I put the cowl on the hood is probably 3/8 inch higher than the cowl, while the other side the cowl and hood are the same height like they should be. So what do you think? Am I trying to put a 68 fender on my 72?

[faribran]

bunches of pics, plz

[Longhorn Man]

need a photo of the front edge, where the grill bolts on.
The rest of the fender would be the same as a 69 - 72

[justagoodolboy]

Sorry, I don't have any at the moment and can't get any till tomorrow afternoon. If it's the front that's different I could tell by comparing it with the original, right?

[faribran]

yes, no doubt

[lolife99]

Sounds like the poor fit of an aftermarket fender.
Maybe the previous owner took it off of a '72,... GMC.
(they are the same as a '68 Chevy fender)

[Longhorn Man]

i did't realize you still had your old fender... orr for that matter, you could compare it to the fender on the other side of your truck.
As far as the bolt holes not lining up properly, either a lower cost repro fender, or damage on your frame/core support/ cab that hasn't been fixed properly, but the old fender was able to line up with

[justagoodolboy]

The reason I wanted to replace the original was because the po had hit something that shoved the corner of the bumper back into the fender and messed up the cup on the bottom, so maybe Longhorn Man is right about something having been damaged. I didn't notice anything but I'll look again, and if I still can't get the gaps right I'll post some pix.

Just wondering, is there any obvious way to tell an aftermarket fender from an original? Besides the poor fitment?

[sameyrasmea72]

Here is a 67-68 STYLE fender or GMC fender. I try to find a69-72 chevy.

[sameyrasmea72]

Originally Posted by justagoodolboy

Just wondering, is there any obvious way to tell an aftermarket fender from an original? Besides the poor fitment?

A aftermarket might have some sort of stamp on it.

[sameyrasmea72]

69-72 chevy

[sameyrasmea72]

This is a cheap aftermarket fender with poor fit. Is part of your problem like this?

[justagoodolboy]

Hey thanks a lot for those pix. I'll see if mine has a stamp tomorrow. I didn't put the grill surround on so I don't no how it fits. I had to fight for every bolt that I put in and the fender/ door gap is to wide at the bottom. And I think I stripped out the bolt on the side at the top where the radiator support and fender go together bacause I was trying to tighten it and it would not get tight then I couldn't loosen it so I'm not sure what I'm gonna do there. I changed the support mounts and I got to thinking it may not be quite centered. The hood does'nt fit right either but I didn't feel like trying to fix it and just decided to leave it till tomorrow. This is my first attempt at getting body panels to line up and the orininal went on real easy and nice but this one gave me fits so I just left it. Gonna get my buddy who's better than me at this kind of stuff to take a look and if we can't get it I'll post up some pix.

[justagoodolboy]

Well like several of you thought the fender is aftermarket- at least it has a stamp similar to the one in the picture above. So much for the "original" fender I bought on CR for $20. O well I know now. I'm going to use it if I can get it looking half decent since I went to the trouble of filling the trim holes and painting the back side.