I had a friend tell me the other day he widened a set of steel rear fenders for a friend of his out west last year , and I asked him if he could do a set for me. He said it might be a few months to get it done because he's pretty busy.The only problem is he didn't say what it would cost me. Does any one have a ballpark figure of what this would cost me. I have all the metal fenders to do this with but don't have any idea of what I should expect to be charged. Any help welcomed. He said he bartered the set out west for a wind generator , didn't say how big it was,but would have to have cash from me. He wants to buy some new metal forming tools and needs the money.Doesn't sound too cheap for me but I want to pay what it's worth.

 

53 -

3" wider fenders are available in fiberglass. B/BFord has some and they look very nice. I don't remember the price or who has them, but others here do know and will be along shortly to fill us in on that. So, one option is just to buy what you want.

As to widening the steel ones, it isn't a really tough job. I realize that you haven't learned to weld yet, but it is fairly easy with a MIG. There are some important but simple techniques to understand about welding sheet metal, but if I can learn it, so can you.

The idea is simply to cut the fender within an inch of the verticle flange that bolts to the bed (nice and straight), clean up that edge on both parts to be straight, then shear a piece of sheet and weld it in as a filler (spacer). I have seen this done where the filler sheet is not rectangular, but is wider at the back than the front. This pushes the back side of the fender out to where the front is and eliminates the tapered shape of the fender. Looks really nice. A roll (or piece of tube) is added at each end to continue the fender's shape. New attach holes are made for the running board and you're done.

BTW, 3" is a lot of stretch. Mine are (pushed out) 2" wider than stock and cover 12" wide tires nicely. Unless you are going to run monster slicks, 2" is probably plenty.

Bottom line, this guy doesn't sound like he's gonna do any favors for you. Sounds like he'd like to finance his new metal forming toys off you. Ask him a price. I'll bet it will be very high and you'll be motivated to look for some more ideas and/or leads.

On the other hand, if I had a buddy who wanted to give it a whack, we'd be doing it together, sharing tips, learning stuff, throwing down some frosties, etc. Might be some barter for something I could do in return. That's the way I'd love to do it.

And then remember....bondo covers a lot of novice welding.

 

Thanks again Randy! I think your right on his price. I have a few classic truck articles maybe I'll try and if I cant , looks like a set of glasses.

 

53 -

Don't discount the help you can get right here for a project like that. Plenty of us owe a lot to our resident experts.

If you choose to try and widen them yourself, I'll bet one or more FTE'ers have done this and/or can point you to magazine articles, etc. that will help a lot.

 

Bebops fiberglass makes the wider fenders. Midfifty also sells them but I don't know who makes theirs.

 

53, Randy's post is right on the money on how to widen those fenders. What I want to add is this: Why pay someone else to do what you can learn to do? Research the cost for fiberglass vs your buddy, then spend that amount on a good mig welder. When your done with the fenders, you'll still have the mig welder AND the skill to tackle the next project.