Ross,

I have the same thoughts about the window of demand starting to close because there were just so many trucks built and their numbers are dwindling. But I think there is also a growing demand for steel fenders. I would bet there is a decent number of truck guys who settled for glass fenders because that was their only option who would change to steel if they were affordable.

Also, there seems to be at least 2-3 posts a year from some one who is looking for repairable steel fenders, who don't want glass. These are the 2-3 that we know of, I would think there are 10 times that many people looking for them that don't post here. There are also a lot of people out there who have mudded up their fenders because their crappy fenders were all they had. Also, think of all the truck owners who bought their trucks 10-20 years ago, patched their fenders and now their fenders are showing deterioration and need to repair them again, repatched fenders are rarely any good. Maybe 10-20 years ago they didn't have the money to buy new but now they're older with better paying jobs and now can afford new. Also, we all know it takes a small fortune to have someone else repair even a decent set of original fenders. The cost for a nice, solid new set might be about the same price.

 

I hadn't noticed THAT trend!?

Seriously I agree, but if they'd brought them out back when 53-56 steel fenders were available, they'd have cleaned up (if the quality was there, another "if").

 

Ross,

I agree with you on that point.

Maybe there have been improvements on production that make it more feasible to make them now. Most likely they have found a off shore manufacturer who can pump them out. I also suspect with new manufacturing techniques using computers it's a lot easier to reverse engineer a part and easier to design and make the needed tooling than it was 10-20 years ago. Locally we have businesses advertising on the radio fast turn around in designing and producing prototypes and short run manufacturing to the general public, before it would have been a industry only service. 10 years ago we didn't have all the 3-D CAD programs we have now.

 

Another reason why the 53-56 fenders have been readily available all along is that Ford was still stamping and selling them over the counter clear up through the 1980's, so the tooling was still in existence. Carpenter bought the tools from Ford when they no longer wanted to support the old car/truck hobby in the early 90's, and the rest is history.

The tooling for the Bonus Built trucks was long gone, and the expense of remaking the tools to do the job would be enormous for the aftermarket and difficult to recoup their investment. As we know, the Bonus Built's have never been as popular, historically, as the 53-6 trucks, dampening demand.

Someone, somewhere must have decided that there is enough interest in BB trucks today to make it worthwhile, along with the reduced costs of computer aided manufacturing and offshore production that Bob mentioned. Maybe this global economy thing will work in our favor afterall.

 

I think that my truck (F-1) still being in a pile of collected parts I would most definitely spend that much on a pair of new steel fenders when I get to the point of bolting them on if they were available new.
I have a pair of used steel ones that have had the metal rust repairs done but still need lots of work.

I'm with Bob though, I doubt that an F-1 fender will be in the $300 range, but we can hope.

 

Wayne, I have to wonder what shape Dennis C's dies for the mid-fifties are in now?

 

I have never had to buy tooling for sheet metal stamping, but I did run a number of projects that required tooling for injection molded plastic. The tool making process is similar. What I found was that the US tool makers charged me (well...my employer) $250k for tooling for a medium sized part...then another $100k to adjust the tooling for perfect parts. I had a tool maker in China make the same tool for $10k with adjustments included. It turns out that a huge number of engineering students graduating in China specialize in tool and die making. I tried like hell to keep as much production as I could in the US, but for that kind of price difference it was hard to make a case.

If one of the truck parts companies were interested in metal stamping in China, they could keep the cost in line. As much as I hate to infuse cash into the Chinese economy, a company could buy just the tooling and stamp parts in the US. A fender is a big part...it would require big tooling.

On that note, when I was helping my son put together his 66 Mustang, we bought Scott Drake fenders for that for $140 each...plus shipping from Oxnard CA. They were made in Taiwan. That was 6 years ago, so I'm sure they're more now.

 

Couldn't swear to the exact specifics of the effie fender dies, but DC has a long history of picking up the dies from Ford in pretty bad shape, then restoring them to create good parts again. While I haven't seen the parts up close and personal, I'd guess they're probably at least as good as the parts Ford was turning out in the 60's-early 70's before they were worn beyond reason.

 

Well, DC is selling whole 40 coupe bodies and I saw whole tri five ch**y bodies for sale as well. Those are certainly complicated parts and they seem to be selling. Around 11-12K for the 40 body. I wonder how that would translate to the cost of one F-1 fender.

 

I think they can charge that much for a Chevy body because some people are willing to pay for it.

I would be willing to pay a little more for some decent F1 steel fenders IF they didnt need to be screwed with so much to get them to fit. Historically, Repop body panels are terrible.

 

Just bringing this thread up again after searching the 'Bay for truck fenders. There are a couple of vendors selling repro front fenders for same vintage Chevy trucks for around $400-500 apiece.



They are about as complicated and the Bonus built fenders so I would guess they would be about the same price. You'd still probably have to buy the bottoms separate. So a complete set will probably run around $1500, still a lot cheaper than having someone fix up a beat up set and a lot better than searching for years and not finding a set.

One added benefit about them making new fenders is the value of used ones might fall and make them more affordable to buy a decent repairable ones.