I bought a set of front fenders and lower extension from Bepop for my 48 Ford F-1. The fit doesn't seem correct. Both fenders are higher/taller at the front than the original and the right fender is wider than the left. Has anyone had any problems with fiberglass fenders and the fit as compared to original?

 

The ones sold here are perfect....fit like a glove.

Doesn't help you much, other than to show it IS possible to build good tupperware.

 

What brand are the good fitting ones?

 

read my answer on fiberglass in the 47 and older section

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=447121

 

Made here by "Hughes Stepsides". $880 a pair. Brilliant fit and finish

 

That's distressing news. I have heard only good things about Bebops fiberglass products until now and was planning to get my fenders from them. Now I'm not so sure. Have you contacted them? Perhaps you just got a bad pair. I know that fiberglass fenders do not fit as well as steel ones and due to the thickness of the fiberglass you have to do some adjusting but I don't understand why one would be wider than the other. How much wider is it? Do the uppers and lowers fit together okay?

Vern

 

I bought both front and rear fenders for my '52 from Gibbons in South Carolina or whereever. They do not have a sterling reputation, I found out after I ordered, but after getting them and mounting them up, I have found that they are actually well-made, fit near perfect, and overall are satisfactory. I say "overall" because I would be hesitant to recommend them to anyone.

While the body shop was prepping them for paint, they were blowing them off with compressed air and a chunk blew out of the front corner. It was a section that is essentially made up of two pieces that had a resin-poor area, about the size of a silver dollar. The body shop patched it in about an hour and it's good to go.

The other thing that is perhaps more of a problem is that (at least a year and a half ago) Gibbons appeared to be having financial problems and would not return any of my phone calls about delays in shipping and the problem with the blown-out chunk. Of course, their order line was always quick to pick up the phone! I heard that they were moving operations to a different shop was the reason, but there's no excuse for ignoring customer calls for weeks.

But bottom line, the 'glass is stout, fits well, and was priced competitively.

Note also I went with the one-piece front fenders; I wouldn't try to go two-piece in fibreglass (although it does help with the mounting to the fender brace -- when you go one-piece, you have to make a wooden bracket and glue it in, something they don't tell you!)

 

I have a pair of Gibbons front fenders on my 55 and they are fine, for what it's worth.

 

It is about a half inch wider, wide enough where the brace will not fit. The biggest gripe is the fenders are taller in the front than the original. This poses a problem to get all the pieces aligned and enable the hood to sit flush. I sent photos to Bebop but they want more. I think they think this is some master scheme to discredit their fenders. Also, when the lower fender extensions were cut from mold, they did not leave enough space to bolt to grill. They are sending replacements but the fenders I am still unsure.

 

There is a very big difference in fiberglass a originals. I have seen bepop's fenders go on before. As to any fiberglass fender they are a pain to get the right fit on a 48-50 truck. My quess is you got ahold of a crappy set. Bepop's, Wescott and Early Ford has a good fiberglass fender. Just bought 4 fenders and a set of running boards for a 47 ford truck and they look good. Stay on them hard about the fenders, for the money you spent on them they should be better than that. I want to give "ALL" you guys some advice on your Fiberglass Fenders or any fiberglass parts you buy for your trucks. When you buy them and they are shipped to you, one thing you need to keep in mind is they are NEW of course but they are still GREEN to. GREEN means they are not all the way cured out. What you need to do to correct this is this- if you know someone who paints cars for a living and has a good drying room that holds heat real well, if they will let you put your fiberglass in there for a hour or 2 and heat them up real good to cure them out that is the best and fastest way to do it. If you don't know someone who has a drying room you can do it yourself. The way to do this is pick a couple of good hot days in the summer, lay them out in the sun all day for a couple of days letting them get good and hot and that will do the trick to. Know for the guys like me who buy this stuff in the colder months there is a way of drying the fiberglass out to, BUT your wife might not like it to much. Bring your fenders or what ever you have bought and put it in your house somewhere out of the way, and let it set around at room temperture for 1 month. "Yes" I said 1 month. Remember I said your wife wouldn't like it. But really you need to do this in order to cure or dry out the fiberglass. If you don't do this and put the fiberglass on your truck and go ahead and spend all that time working on it and all that money to get it painted, then when summer hits and the truck rolls out of the garage for all the shows and all the drives here and there. And one day you look down and your paint has a crack in it or the bottom of your fender has a crack and it is starting to pull away from your running boards. Talk about peed off, that would be a bad day at home. You don't want the fenders or your boards to cure while on your truck. B/c as they cure out when they get hot and cold the fiberglass will contract and expaned. You don't want them to do that while they are bolted to your truck and a fresh paint job on them to. That's the #1 reason why people don't like fiberglass. So just take the time to cure or dry your parts and you should be fine. I know this don't help answer the problem that was posted, but I just wanted to give some advice that was giving to me at a car/truck show buy a guy who I bought some fiberglass running boards from. Thanks Scott

 

Scott,

I knew about fiberglass curing but I had always heard (don't remember where) that you should install them immediately and let them cure on the vehicle because they shape themselves to the vehicle so to speak. You are saying the opposite. Any other comments? There's no way I'd stink my house up with fiberglass smell for a month wife or no wife. I'll wait until summer to order mine so I can put them in the sun...

Vern

 

Vern, I'm just passing along so advice that was given to me buy a fiberglass dealer. As far as the fiberglass shaping it's self to the truck I don't think it will move that much, but it will move enough to crack paint and crack around bolt holes. I have 2 fiberglass rear fenders and a set of running boards in my bonus room in my house right know and as far as a stink or smell in the house we don't smell anything. Maybe you have got ahold of a good green set before or something. I know fiberglass has a smell to it don't get me wrong but it hasn't stunk our house up and they have been there for 3 months. Scott

 

Scott,

I think I'll start a new thread about this. I'd like to hear some more about fiberglass curing. Perhaps we have some experts here on the forum...

Vern

 

Thanks for the responses. I definately like to here more especially what I should expect from fiberglass fenders like fit, quality and joining original pieces to fiberglass pieces.