69 front fenders

[a694me]

I am looking to purchase a set of "so called" original front fenders for my camaro.  Is there a way I can determine what is an original and what is a reproduction?  Any help would be appreciated!

[mrdetails]

You will want to buy nos (new old stock). They are expensive but the repo's will require a skilled and very experienced body man several hours to fit on the car so the price will come out the same. You can find them on ebay if you keep checking. Original fenders should have a blue GM sticker and may have a bar code. Repo's will come in a box not marked "GM".
Good Luck

[a694me]

If a reproduction fender and an original GM fender were laying side by side at a swap meet is there any way to tell the difference?  I am trying to find some originals without paying really serious money for them.

[sixt9x33rs]

If a reproduction fender and an original GM fender were laying side by side at a swap meet is there any way to tell the difference?  I am trying to find some originals without paying really serious money for them.

If a reproduction fender and an original GM fender were laying side by side at a swap meet is there any way to tell the difference?  I am trying to find some originals without paying really serious money for them.

Good luck!

[GaryL]

For the GM part, the threaded holes for the hood hinge etc. are rectangular nuts pressed into the holes. They are "T" shaped so they won't pull through. If you know where to look the GM parts have date codes. I say this assuming you are talking about good used originals. That is the way I would go vs. NOS.

[rat pack]

You will want to buy nos (new old stock). They are expensive but the repo's will require a skilled and very experienced body man several hours to fit on the car so the price will come out the same. You can find them on ebay if you keep checking. Original fenders should have a blue GM sticker and may have a bar code. Repo's will come in a box not marked "GM".
Good Luck

Actually the repro fenders for the 69's are great in comparison to some NOS GM fenders I have come across lately. What is not known in the hobby is that the very first repro fender for the 69's did not fit and had incorrect body lines at the leading edge above the grill/headlight area. Those fenders were flooded into the market by a West Coast vendor where they ended up being bought by National Parts Depot and The Paddock. Those fenders do require extensive amounts of work to make them fit by splitting them and welding in small pie shaped pieces of metal to recontour them. Those fenders are usually the ones priced dirt cheap at around $125.00 or less per fender. The second run of these fenders that came out in 1995 to present day are very good and only require removal of the extra tab for RS cars if used on a standard car. The car pictured below is a daily driver belonging to a friend of mine and it has a pair of the Goodmark fenders on it and they were installed 8 years ago

As for identifying them at a swap meet, the hood hinge bolt nuts are a good indicator, but the date coding is not. There are numerous GM fenders that do not have any "run" or date stamps on them, I have a pair here that don't have any. The repros have been out long enough that they might be hard to tell from an NOS one especially if there is a GM sticker on it. A guy at Charlotte a few years ago got caught selling repro fenders as NOS because he had GM stickers stuck to them that he had reproduced. Depending upon the cars "rarity" I would opt for the current repros from Goodmark, but if GM fenders were to be my only route then I would find a good set of used ones that may need a little rust repair before spending big $$$ on NOS ones.............................RatPack.......................

[sdkar]

Where do these repro fenders need to be "re-contoured"?  I have a set on my 69 Camaro and I find that the match up along the door pretty decent, but as soon as they get to the rocker panel, the rockers seem to dive in more whereas the fenders stick out more.  I was going to feather in the contour of the rockers with some filler, but cutting a small pie piece in the fender and bending them in may work better.  Has anyone else had to deal with this?  Is this the problem area being talked about above?

Steve

[glenn64vette]

Classic Industries has the front fenders made in the USA now.