Finally got my 71 GS conv back from the body guy..... The pass front fender is low thru the middle in relation to the hood. I see a full 1/2 in. of the hood side even though the overall length of the hood and fender is the same. Is there a way to shim the middle of the fender up? Or should the hood be tweaked? Would seem that it would end up longer than the fender then. I'll take pics tonite..... Bruce
Most NOS fenders are crap factory rejects. Lots of thread info here in the past. The only way to fix these was before you put them on. The factory welds have to be broken and then the fender re-welded in the correct position. I think there is some info on the Buick Performance site on this. I think you are kind of screwed if the body guy painted the car like this. Shame on him.
Yeah, he blamed it on the core support. It wasn't perfect but not that bad....bushings in place, etc. He also painted the trunk lid that came off a Skylark without filling in the emblem holes. Car was 2.5 hrs away so it wasn't on my radar..... Oh well maybe a small BPG sticker will cover the one exposed hole after it gets the GS and BY BUICK enblems...... ou:
Thanks. That sucks.....I should have put the $$$ into the old fenders but the bodyguy kept on pushing for NOS. I tried to tell him there were problems but he didn't seem to think it was possible. He's an OLds guy, I guess they don't have such problems.
Could the body guy "fix" the fenders as described (drilling out spotwelds and re-welding) without having to repaint the afflicted fender? He wanted to elongate the hinge adjusting holes on that side to drop the rear but then it would be low in the rear. Might look better than it does now though..... Another frustrating bodyshop experience! They say boats are money pits....not in my experience compared to bodywork! No wonder I am a racer......
Don't try to bend the hood ... I think your body guy should have recognized the problem and fixed it. If everything else came into spec and the fender was/is low than the obvious thing to do is unstitch the fender and re-weld it. If this is done during mock-up, he would have had a "floating fender" and been able to put it right on the perfect spot for optimum panel alignment. This can still be done and probably should be if you have a full half inch of reveal along that gap line. He probably blamed the core support because quite often the front fender brace that meets the core support (three screws behind outboard headlamp) was also installed incorrectly also and caused other alignment problems. This brace needs to be un-stitched and rewelded, too. Most shops miss this part. Hopefully your shop used basecoat/clearcoat paint system and they can fix your fender and trunklid without too much problems. I hope the shop is willing to work with you and not do the job as a greivance repair, otherwise, find some other place to have the work done or live with the problems. Cranking on the straight hood is not the answer. Matt
I know that NOS 70 Chevelle fenders suck equally as bad, as well as the NOS 70-2 Skylark/GS h/t quarter panels. On my 70 Chevelle, you can almost stick your finger in the door to fender gap. And on my 72 Stage 1 coupe, we installed the NOS quarters without fitting the doors or the decklid. The door to quarter gap is tight in the center, but about right at the top and bottom. The decklid sticks up considerably higher than the quarter on the LH side. Also the wheel opening moldings don't fit the NOS quarters without really forcing them. We should have known better, as we have been in the body shop business for lots of years. :spank:
Bruce, I put nos fenders on my 71 GS and ran into the same problem - I think mine was about 3/8 in. difference at the worst point . I decided to tweak the hook to match the fenders. It took some time pushing down the middle area of the hood along the edge after it was painted, but it came out pretty good overall.
Here's a pic of the situation. But what the heck are the marks and smily face scratch??? Looks like a freakin key job. I give up.... All I did was tow it from the bodyshop.....but I did stop to get a bite to eat. There was some dude checking the car out as I went in the place. GRRRRR Can't wait to go home and see what that is!!!The car must be posessed! ou:
I would not be happy with that result. And for your info Olds NOS fenders have the same problems. Years ago I had an NOS 442 fender and ran into the same problem and never could figure out why.
I don't know what the heck that was on that fender pic but there are no marks on it. Pretty weird..... Here is another crappy pic in the garage....... This was the GS that was being held hostage for 4 years at another body shop and was retrieved and sent south to be worked on for 8 months.
When I painted my 71 stage 1 way back in 89, I used NOS fenders. I have some of that but only about 1/8"..the big issue I had and I have seen others is the drivers side fender is too high at the front so you end up with a big gap over bezel and have to lift hood up to match the edge. Also you lose the curve downwards toward the hood, it is pretty much flat across the top. I would not accept that, didn't they even look at it before spraying??? If you (they) are careful, they could drill out the spot welds on the inner edge and lift outer fender up, then simply tig the holes quickly and some touch up paint , would be pretty much invisible. Not sure what it would do to paint on fender though, might crack if moved too far. But it should have been done before paint...and hood would have to come off of course. There is a reason I went through the pain of trailering car home and doing panel alignment on orange crush with my freinds, then trailering back for final paint. Been there. I feel for you.
At least this guy is a big A-body fan. Usually GTOs and 442s in there. Better than the MOPAR bozo that had it for 4 years screwing it up. Like I said he was sure it was a core support issue so he seemed to think I got what I deserved for not replacing it. I was tired of replacing stuff on this car. Only original body panels are the hood and one door. Plus I told him I was going to race/drive it.... not show. Oh well live and learn......
I would love to hear how the rad support which only supports the front of the fender could cause that gap halfway back to the windshield, ESP if the rad support area of the fender fits fine (which it looks like it does)??? ou:
Bruce, I don't real think you are totally scewed here. There may be a way to repair the problem with out repainting the whole fender. If your new body shop is good they could remove the fender and drill out the spot welds and reset the inner support. Spot welds only heat a small area and that could be touched up. Please don't let the body shop do anything to the hood to mask the problem with the fender, AL.
Bruce, If you try to flatten the hood then it gets "longer" in the front-back dimension. Then you either have the choice of making the front line up, which makes the back longer, or the opposite. Then once it's done and you aren't happy, because the hood will never line up, you have a damaged hood, and a pair of fenders that still need fixed. I was in the same predicament years ago with a 70 Stage 1 coupe. The best thing to do is fix the fenders now and be done with it. Otherwise you will hate it everytime you look at the car. Believe me, I have been there. Duane
I should have been more suspisious of these fenders. They were NOS but had been painted before and I'm at least the third owner of them. ou: Paid $900 for the pair. Duane maybe these were yours? :shock: :laugh: Talked to the bodyguy and he says sure he can fix but more $$$. Just can't afford it right now. Need to sell some stuff. I guess I'll start putting the car back together over the winter. And....I'll try shimming at those 3 bolts underneath. Bruce
