TexasKnucklehead
Jedi Knight
Offline
Sometimes it takes a lot of clues, and when you least expect it, the light comes on.
If you’ve followed my posts, you may remember my mentioning some of these issues. As I was removing paint from the rear apron, I noticed a lot of bondo along the bottom edge, but I wrote it off as an effort to make the spare tire cover fit better. Then I saw where the lower edge had been pounded and drilled and repaired as if it were hit just above the tailpipe. My driver side door opening was too narrow for a replacement door, and the original door had been ground to fit. I had to find two rear replacement fenders (for the same side) before I was satisfied with the fit –and still had an issue at the bottom rear where it should meet the rear apron. There is a 1” hole in the front bottom of the rear fender well (behind the seats) (that should have a rubber plug) in case the rear shock ever has to be removed; the bolt can come through (perhaps only on pre TS60000 cars?). The hole on my driver side is almost an inch forward from where it should be. Today, after securing my inner rocker panel patches and fender patch, for the fun of it, I tried the 1st rear fender I found. Now that most of the bolts can be installed, it looks great along the front edge where it meets the dog leg (and my new bolt hole lines up). The trunk line matches well. The tail light fits snug the whole way around. But the rear bottom sticks out about an inch farther back than the rear apron (just like both other fenders). That’s when it hit me. The lower rear apron was hit hard enough to bend it forward about an inch. Both rear fenders stick out an inch at the bottom but fit fine all the way until just below the taillights. If I try to bend the fender to fit, the fender will buckle outward.
I happen to have a ‘bottom closing piece’ and when I put it against the car, I can see how the apron is significantly bent towards the same area as has been patched. It was ‘fixed’ last time by building up the apron with filler. I’m entertaining ideas on how to get this bent back to where it should be –hopefully without messing up what I’ve already done.
If you’ve followed my posts, you may remember my mentioning some of these issues. As I was removing paint from the rear apron, I noticed a lot of bondo along the bottom edge, but I wrote it off as an effort to make the spare tire cover fit better. Then I saw where the lower edge had been pounded and drilled and repaired as if it were hit just above the tailpipe. My driver side door opening was too narrow for a replacement door, and the original door had been ground to fit. I had to find two rear replacement fenders (for the same side) before I was satisfied with the fit –and still had an issue at the bottom rear where it should meet the rear apron. There is a 1” hole in the front bottom of the rear fender well (behind the seats) (that should have a rubber plug) in case the rear shock ever has to be removed; the bolt can come through (perhaps only on pre TS60000 cars?). The hole on my driver side is almost an inch forward from where it should be. Today, after securing my inner rocker panel patches and fender patch, for the fun of it, I tried the 1st rear fender I found. Now that most of the bolts can be installed, it looks great along the front edge where it meets the dog leg (and my new bolt hole lines up). The trunk line matches well. The tail light fits snug the whole way around. But the rear bottom sticks out about an inch farther back than the rear apron (just like both other fenders). That’s when it hit me. The lower rear apron was hit hard enough to bend it forward about an inch. Both rear fenders stick out an inch at the bottom but fit fine all the way until just below the taillights. If I try to bend the fender to fit, the fender will buckle outward.
I happen to have a ‘bottom closing piece’ and when I put it against the car, I can see how the apron is significantly bent towards the same area as has been patched. It was ‘fixed’ last time by building up the apron with filler. I’m entertaining ideas on how to get this bent back to where it should be –hopefully without messing up what I’ve already done.