Front fender rust prevention

[mikesacs]

I'm installing new fenders and am looking for ideas to prevent the lower corners from collecting dirt/moisture and preventing the rust. The best idea that I can think of is to paint the underside and use rubberized undercoating. I still feel that won't prevent rust behind the fender support. Any better ideas?
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[Palf70Step]

Personnal I coated/painted all mu stuff with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator, then in some areas use spray on undercoating. It will be hard to get and keep it everywhere, but a good solid HD paint is a darn good start.

When I live in the north, I used to use Rustolium industrial and it did a good job, especially for PA and the land of constant road salt. Once you get it painted/coated, the real key is keep the underside clean, especially those nooks and crannies that the mud/salt/etc stays there it will promote the rusting.

[vin63]

I sprayed an epoxy primer on the backside of thefenders, scuffed it and then coated it with 3M Body Schutz to help absorb some of the chips that might occur from road debris.

[dracko]

My plan is do my best to spray some epoxy in behind the brace, cut pieces of sheet metal to fill the opening at the top of the fender where crap gets in. Seal around the filler piece with seam sealer and also spray 3m rust fighter 08892 in behind the brace.

The filler piece idea I stole from another thread on the site, should be easy to find with a quick search.

[markeb01]

I definitely didn’t want my front fenders rotting out again, so back in 1998 when I painted the truck gloss black, I completely sealed the back side as can be seen in the attached photos:

The intake hole at the top was sealed shut with a piece of aluminum held in place with urethane windshield sealer. This blocked out much of the crud:





Next I turned to the back side of the fender. As shown here there holes everywhere:



These openings were closed with urethane windshield adhesive, metal strips, and plastic plugs up in the top front area:



Once all the plugs and patches were in place, the backside of the fender was sealed with Body Schutz.



The tiny drain hole at the bottom was left open to allow any liquid to escape. This was all done back in 1998 and the fenders remain completely rust free on the outside of the body.

[dracko]

^^^that's the one

[65chevysub]

I'm thinking of having mine sprayed with headliner. A friend of mine used to have a Berliner business and he did the underside of my hood with the "slurry", or the leftovers of different jobs. Its gloss black and it looks good and made my hood more "solid" with the original braces

[mikesacs]

After reading the above posts, this is what I did. I sealed the vertical gap with seam sealer. Installed a metal tab that is sloped toward the opening that should divert any dirt that enters from above. Then I coated it with 3M undercoating. I did leave the 2 small weep holes at the bottom of the brace open. Thanks for the ideas!

[Captainfab]

I would drill a 1/2" or so drain hole down low on the back side of the brace, towards the door.

[vince1]

I just painted and reinstalled mine but not worried because they are fiberglass. Probably there will be a host of other problems associated with them but for the moment I am happy. The ones that came off were so rusted, and right through, especially around the headlight doors.

[Heater63]

Mike, who did you buy new repops from, and are you pleased with them? Mine are too far gone I think, new repops will be needed.

Originally Posted by mikesacs

I'm installing new fenders and am looking for ideas to prevent the lower corners from collecting dirt/moisture and preventing the rust. The best idea that I can think of is to paint the underside and use rubberized undercoating. I still feel that won't prevent rust behind the fender support. Any better ideas?
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[Fatherof3]

Grease. Not being funny. Greasy parts stay like new forever.


Now being funny

[mikesacs]

Originally Posted by Heater63

Mike, who did you buy new repops from, and are you pleased with them? Mine are too far gone I think, new repops will be needed.

I bought them from Auto Metal Direct after researching like you are doing. I will be able to bolt them on, but it isn't a great fit. The front where the fender meets the grill support doesn't meet well. If I wanted a better fitting fender, I would need to fix my old ones. They would not be acceptable if this was a show truck. In fact, I haven't thrown the old ones away in case I want to tackle that rust some day.

I think that there is just one factory for these fenders and everyone just puts their sticker on them. I did buy one rocker panel from Classic Chevy and one from AMD and they looked identical.