ive heard that some replacement fenders are not an exact match.....do yall know of any dependable sites that sale fenders that doesnt need any work.....just a direct fit................................

 

I don't know of ANY replacement body parts that are an exact match. I had a spare aftermarket fender and couldn't give it away......ended up taking it to the recycler.

 

not sure were your room but try calling junk yards in the dry area's like Arizona I live in new england so everything in my yards are already rotted

 

The replacement factory parts are usually but not always better than the off shore. I used to work in a Japanese auto plant (but the deal is the same for the NA plants) and my father used to be a body man so here is some insight...

If a "not quite right sheet metal panel" is made in the factory it will be put aside (not put on the car). The usual reason is they do not fit right because something was off (internal reinforcement is crooked, trim holes are off, etc.). Assuming the panel looks "close" it gets put in the "bodyshop" pool, otherwise it is scrapped. There could be entire batches that are off if they are not caught right away! Every once in a while the sheet metal assembly line would stop making cars and just run panels for the same bodyshop pool. In short the bodyshop pool consisted of screwed up panels and panels specifically made for the pool (which are dead on correct). When the body shop orders genuine parts there is a chance they will get the off panel(s).

The dirty secrete is the body guy has time to make the panel right, the line does not.

My father as a body man saw this from the other side. Far too often parts would come in from the "factory" that just did not fit right. The worse he had was a ford roof panel. The roof was 2 inches longer on the drivers side than it was on the passenger side, he ended up putting a wedge in the panel to make it work.

The aftermarket stuff is always a little off, but many times the genuine ones are too, and sometimes by a lot! (BTW my made in Japan new passenger fender fits better than my new drivers side made by GM front fender).

In my experience I take the "genuine" panel fit with a grain of salt.

 

Thanks for all of the info.....so it would be best to get a fender from a parts car???

 

That's got my vote.....I have gone way out my way to purchase/remove myself, OEM fenders off parts/junk cars as long as they were OEM . I even measesure the length of each fender(right and left) to make sure they match. In fact, I'm driving 15 miles tomorrow to check out a 91 RS and removing both fenders if they match just so I have spares.

 

thanks......

 

Nothing beats OEM when it comes to fenders i speak from experience.

 

I would definitely look at finding them in a junkyard. There is no fit like OEM