Are these OEM?

[Blazerowner]

Can anyone tell if these inner fenders are original or aftermarket? They need a little work but if they are original it’s worth it to me to keep them.

[Boog]

They look real clean to be originals.

[Sheepdip]

The real question is how did they fit? If they fit good don't worry about it, clean them up and use em.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Unless it's obvious they're not genuine, it might be tuff to be sure. If they fit well they're probably original.

That said, here are some pictures of what I'm mostly sure are GM. The RH fender has a stamp of some sort. I couldn't locate a stamp on the LH side, I'd expect to see one for a match. But the material and mounting plates are identical. What are the odds repops. would have the same mounting plates as original? Here are some pics., next post too. Interested to see what yours look like.

[toolboxchev]

If the pass. side doez not have a rust hole from the battery its not oem

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by toolboxchev

If the pass. side doez not have a rust hole from the battery its not oem

Ha ha ha ha......Not exactly wrong. Mine was pitted and the battery box was toast. Near as I can tell the inner on my driver is real good, going to be pulling that soon. It has the original battery box and it's solid, I may need that as well

I suspect top mounted batteries are more prone to acid leaks.



Three pics showing the mounting plates. They're the same on both my inner fenders:

[Blazerowner]

It does have some holes from the battery. Thanks for the pictures I’ll have to look for those stamps in the morning and I’ll update.

[special-K]

The only thing that matters between OEM and repro is when you go to mount them. You will either have a fit or you will have a fit!

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by Blazerowner

It does have some holes from the battery. Thanks for the pictures I’ll have to look for those stamps in the morning and I’ll update.

If anything, my guess would be my RH inner is a replacement. That's the one with stamps in two places. But IMO, if the plates match and the fenders appear the same, they're GM. That and what Tim said.

Evidence is the original owner banged up the camper mirror at minimum, perhaps two wrecks. Bondo on top of door panel where the mirror mounts. The inner door had black undercoating of some sort, missing some of original door screws. I doubt GM would use a common washer to shim the RH side of the cowl with a bolt they abused and....

rather than lining up the inner fender, they sunk a sheet metal screw into the outer fender pocket. The screw is vintage, kind of cool. I was able to line things up dead-nuts, though that was without the cab. I'll bet they mounted the big bolt first........At least they didn't drill through the inner, but I'm probably not using it, too much damage.

By the pictures, you can see RH fender is banged up nicely. If memory serves me that rock is on me. I have a good sense of the history on this truck, 30 years to me come September. The original owner lived 17 miles away, which is where he bought it. Small town "car lot". As an old man he traded it in for ?. Dumb luck buying it, I was young and ignorant, didn't know what I was getting.

[Blazerowner]

I looked all over and don’t see any stamping. The odd thing is all the brackets look the same as your pictures. They seems to have lined up good other than the rear bottom fender bolt was missing on both sides. Neither of the holes lined up and that was a bit of a cue for me they may be aftermarket.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by Blazerowner

I looked all over and don’t see any stamping. The odd thing is all the brackets look the same as your pictures. They seems to have lined up good other than the rear bottom fender bolt was missing on both sides. Neither of the holes lined up and that was a bit of a cue for me they may be aftermarket.

I may be off on plate ID. At this point I can only say mine fit. Positive it's not something else? Kind of odd aftermarket would be burned through already, but they could be old replacements.

[Blazerowner]

I looked everywhere but It's a little hard to tell where that stamping is in your picture. I looked at all the edges and nothing. I would rather just buy replacements than spend the time to fix a hole on an aftermarket inner fender.