Front fender advice

[Costjo]

I bought brand new fenders from Nissan 2 yrs ago and they don't line up well with

the doors. At some point I'm going to have to take the car to a body shop and have them fix it.

If I could do it over I would have tried harder to find old fenders in good condition.

Chris

Thats good to know. They are available by the way but I just cancelled an order for one. $417 shipped. I think I am going to keep my original and get the bottoms welded for now. Or like you said, find older good condition ones.

Thanks, Joe

[EhlersRS]

Joe,

I test fitted the new right fender and it lined up well, but it needed to be tweaked where it wraps around the rocker panel and lower mounting bolts. I was checking for overall fit and didn't intend to get it snug, since that will be worked out when the car is ready for paint. Since I've been unable to find good used fenders in the Midwest and my original fenders would require too much work, I decided to spend more and get new ones. However, I think buying used ones in good shape is also a good option, especially if you're working within a budget. The most recent person I know that has used a new Nissan fender on his project is E-tek, and it seemed to work well for him: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/check-out-my-ride/36032-e-tek-racing-71-parts-car-resto-2.html

I'm glad to see you're making progress on your Z. I know David, the former owner of your car, but never had time to visit before he sold the car. At least it's out of the rust belt and in good hands!

Robert S.

[Mikes Z car]

The pictures look good.

Back in the old days I bought a pair of fiberglass fenders from JC Whitney. They didn't fit well enough for me to make them look good with the body work skills I had back then so I sent them back. That would have been around 1978.

[Costjo]

Joe,

I test fitted the new right fender and it lined up well, but it needed to be tweaked where it wraps around the rocker panel and lower mounting bolts. I was checking for overall fit and didn't intend to get it snug, since that will be worked out when the car is ready for paint. Since I've been unable to find good used fenders in the Midwest and my original fenders would require too much work, I decided to spend more and get new ones. However, I think buying used ones in good shape is also a good option, especially if you're working within a budget. The most recent person I know that has used a new Nissan fender on his project is E-tek, and it seemed to work well for him: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/check-out-my-ride/36032-e-tek-racing-71-parts-car-resto-2.html

I'm glad to see you're making progress on your Z. I know David, the former owner of your car, but never had time to visit before he sold the car. At least it's out of the rust belt and in good hands!

Robert S.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]71517[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]71518[/ATTACH]

Thanks for the info. I am on a budget and would like a lot of other things done so, I think in my best interest would be to take my time and not get a new one so I returned it.

I am taking my time on repairs and sometimes get carried away on purchases. I will probably just buy a lower patch panel from the zstore for around $50 for one side and I think I can fix other side with a piece of metal welded in.

David did give me a great deal. I am very happy with the car and he was very friendly and helpful on this purchase. I think he let a little too much salt get to it but it is manageable.

I will post some progress pics soon.

[tlorber]

I may have a couple of patch panels at the shop that were taken off of good fenders if you need them. I'm not sure which side I have though.

[Costjo]

I may have a couple of patch panels at the shop that were taken off of good fenders if you need them. I'm not sure which side I have though.

Thanks.

I just bought a passenger panel. I still might need a drivers panel.

[tlorber]

I'll check to see what I have next time I'm up there.

[280zzzzz]

I just recieved 2 fenders from Nissan - Made in Japan. "Packed" in nothing but bubblewrap Japanese Nissan Graphics - but perfect condition. Ordered from Applewood Heritage Nissan - Kobi Schtelzer - Very helpful parts manager. One came from Cakgary and one from Toronto. I bought Tabco rear fender repair panels, they will take quite a bit of work to make them nice. I would buy the new ones if you can.

[takayuki]

I purchased new fenders from the dealer 2 years ago and had them installed recently. It initially didn't fit all that well. My bodyshop messed around with it for a while, turns out, my chassis alignment was out of spec. Had it straightened and now the fenders line up much better. If your fenders dont' fit well at all, it might be worth looking into checking your frame alignment.