Anyone ever tried to match the color of new to you fenders to old paint? What's the best process?

 

Do you know what the color code is ? If so any bodyshop should be able to mix and tint to get the color right and then use clear with a flattening agent to dull it up . We used to be able to buy flattening agent for the paint but I don't think it's available anymore .

 

Back in the early 90's I worked in an auto parts store. A guy brought in a painted piece of metal that he had welded on or something of that nature. He loved what it did to the color. Our paint guy was able to match the color exactly with only three attempts. He was a master at paint mixing. Not sure how much that skill is still around though.

 

The major issue with matching this paint isn't so much the color as it is the texture of the finish. The existing paint is either old and oxidized or someone used a satin/matte finish product on it. Assuming that you are trying to preserve the "patina", I would say that anything will work...it just adds to the character of the truck. If it were my truck I would buy some House of Kolor KD3005 (blue) and some KD3002 (white) and mix them till I got the right tint. The HOK KD product is a 2K (catalyzed) primer sealer that covers and bonds like crazy and dries to a smooth matte finish.

 

Before you go through the trouble and expense to match the paint, those look like bigger truck fenders. Maybe it was addressed in another post, but I wanted to make sure you knew.

 

I agree. There's a lot of wheel showing.

 

How do you tell the difference? is their a measurement to confirm? I bought them used as my truck did not come with any.

 

It's the wheel opening. It may just be the angle of the pictures, but they look big.

 

Compare to the fender opening on my F100

 

Is this measurement for an f100 or f600?

 

Another dead giveaway is where the front of the running board mounts to the back of the fender...there's a good three inches of fender extending below the running board. Look at abe's truck as a comparison.

 

These measurements are for an F-100.

 

What's the market like for F600 fenders...don't see too many up here..

 

The conventional cab F-100 to F-600 had two different fender sizes which boils down to the following applications:

BAAA-16005/6-A / B6C-16005/6-A for F-100 to F-350 with 15, 16, or 17.5" rims

BBAA-16005/6-A / B6D-16005/6-A for F-250 to F-600 with 17, 19.5, 20, or 22.5" rims

As for the market, the following considerations mostly balance things out:

*Larger trucks are a smaller fraction of the restoration market. Generally, the smaller demand and smaller supply equalize.
*The smaller trucks are more popular, but have a selection of repops available as well. Larger supply, larger demand again balances out.
*Fenders are large costly to ship safely.
*Smaller trucks can use larger fenders, but the larger trucks can't readily use the smaller fenders.

It is probabilistic that there may be someone who has a large truck and accidental small fenders and arrange a swap.