camaro89dude

I'm in the market for a couple of new front fenders. Is there a special kind I should buy that would take advantage of the extra weight loss of the V6 compared to the 8?

Fiberglass would take off a lot of weight I've heard, but for a daily driven car, would they begin to warp?

Since the front of our cars is lighter anyway, should I just get new metal fenders?

Is the quality of "bargain fenders" good enough to last me a year or two without any warping? Is there some kind of catch to them being so cheap, like having to do special body work to put them in?

I'm doing a total redo of my car (I have a horrible old front end off an 84 that needs replacing any way, and some minor collision damage). I'm getting a new front end, fenders, and perhaps a hood, only it would be stock style. Would getting all lightwieght fiberglass parts give me a definate advantage? Is there such thing as being too light?

thanks guys
Jason

GhostRider84

Jason, I'm holding a finder in my left hand while I peck this out with my right - I don't have a scale but I figure 25 / 30 lbs max. I think that the weight loss with glass would be tiny.

camaro89dude

Cool....Do you think the lesser priced fenders would be of ****ty quality? Worth buying?

TomP

Usually those imported fenders aren't as thick, or as well formed, as original GM steel. For instance, know the body crease halfway down the door, that the molding runs along? I knew a kid that redid his Cavalier RS back in '94... he bought one of those cheap fenders. Turned out it didn't have the body line in it, it was just a smooth curve. Wasn't very noticable unless you looked at it, and hey, why doesn't the fender match the door? I'd say hit the junkyards for some original fenders, you'd get them for even cheaper than an imported non-GM fender.

And there was no difference between V8 fenders and V6 fenders...

85f-bird

we put a certi-fit hood on my friends mom's lumina after my friend got into a bit of an accident with it. The quality of the material was decent, it was thinner and lighter than the original GM part though, but all the lines were exactly the same. This winter when i add the gfx to my firebird, i' going to go ahead and grab a certi-fit front bumper cover and rear cover to put on the car. actually, now th i think of it, i know where i can get the rear bumpper, so nevermind that, hmmmm, might have a front one in mind too. My only thought was how wrong could certifit go with a piece of plastic, since it shouldn't be any thinner than the other plastic. Oh, and that certifit hood bent at the corner when we had laid it on the ground, don't know how likely it is for U.s. steel to do the same.....hmmm, dangit, just remembered, both of those black t/as in the yard are front end accidetns, eh, least i have a rear bumper, and part of the gfx, the kid hasthe rest in his garage. :-d

camaro89dude

What would be a good junkyard price on some fenders? The one round here rips people off; so whenever I go in, before they even give me a priceon a part, I say "this is what I'm gonna pay, don't charge me any more". and It usually works.

And I didnt' mean to imply any difference between V6 and V8 fenders, I just had exxagerated the weights (somehow I had come up the the idea of 65 lbs. per fender!!) and I was trying to find out if there were any advantages/disadvantages to using lightweight or stock weight fenders between 6 and 8 cars. If you didn't understand that last sentance, I didn't really either I'm not good at explaining.

Anyway, I'll hit the yard this week and see what I can find.

Does Certifit have a site?

TomP

Oh, I get it... sorry bout that, you want light fenders because the V6 car is light to begin with... I thought you meant that there were differences between fenders.

I actually have two fenders and a front bumper in my backyard, if I think of it when I get home, I'll bring one inside and stand on the scale with it.

I bought a fender back in '95 from a junkyard for $90, with some small dings in it that Bondo fixed. (Bondo is used properly in THIN layers, not thick blobs like most people use- and those people gave Bondo it's bad reputation.) Recently, I got two fenders for $15/each, and a front bumper for $20. I wouldn't pay more than $90...

Look too, for a parts car. When I totalled my car in '96, my dad found me a parts Firebird for $250. I've got the whole front clip on the car right now, including the front subframe, windshield, and doors. Imagine buying all that separately! Ouch.