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Does anyone happen to know of any manufacturer that makes lower 70-72 fender patches with the braces?
Unfortunately, none that I know of. The frustrating thing is that obviously the dies for the braces exist, since they come on the repro full fenders. No one wants to sell just the brace.
even the patches suck i would advise against them. I made my own patches and made my own braces. Granted some fenders are worse than others but the body lines on the repops are rounder vs. crisp and cornered. I maintanined a 3/16 gap top to bottom on mine last time i used the patches it was very hard to keep it consistent. the only the patches are good for is for base work meaning you use the basid shape but will have to cut and shape as needed. I would only use the face and try to keep the edges in place so you dont loose the factory width as the patch stampings are very inconsistent.
Last edited by coppercutlass; December 9th, 2015 at 10:50 AM.
Nice work. I will say that there are now higher quality patches available for the 70-72 fenders. I bought both sides from Autobody Specialties at Carlisle last spring. They are about 50% thicker than the old ones and stamped from new dies that are MUCH closer to OEM shapes. I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, many vendors still sell the crappy ones, so you need to be careful when you buy them.
Nice work. I will say that there are now higher quality patches available for the 70-72 fenders. I bought both sides from Autobody Specialties at Carlisle last spring. They are about 50% thicker than the old ones and stamped from new dies that are MUCH closer to OEM shapes. I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, many vendors still sell the crappy ones, so you need to be careful when you buy them.
Not that are any different than the others on the market. They DO have better floor pan patches, however. Again, about 50% thicker and much better definition on the stamping. I bought those as well.
Hello coppercutlass. Thank you very much for the information and photos. I will try to copy them so I can send them to my friend who is much more talented with metal working and welding then I am. Hopefully he can replicate the procedures, at least for the brackets. In the meanwhile, I will look into the Autobody Specialties patches and maybe have the brackets made for them. Thanks, Anthony
Thank you Joe for the information. I am going to look into the Autobody Specialities and their fender patch panels. The fenders on the '70 442 are OEM and would hate to replace them, especially since the bottoms are only bad. It is hard to believe none of the sheet metal manufacturers have not seen the large market for fender patch panels with the braces, especially since most want to save the OEM fenders. I'm sure they rather sell their full fenders, but I tried that and wasted hundreds of dollars on aftermarket fenders that were not usable without hours upon hours of metal work to make them fit. Even after all that work, they would still be the incorrect gauge and without the crisp lines of an OEM fender.
Im sure if your buddy is handy with metal he can pull it off. Im just a bodyman with enough fab skills to make stuff. I have seen some serious patch work by amazingly talented fabricators where the patch work needed no filler work. Everything was but welded ground down and smoothed to shape.
Im sure if your buddy is handy with metal he can pull it off. Im just a bodyman with enough fab skills to make stuff. I have seen some serious patch work by amazingly talented fabricators where the patch work needed no filler work. Everything was but welded ground down and smoothed to shape.
If you were closer, I'd have you work on my car. Thanks again for the tips.
I had the problem and ended up getting a NOS set of fenders out of AZ. I have a pair of the patch panels if you are interested...I either got them from OGPI or Fusick.
Update - While looking at the Buick Performance Club website, one of the pages noted reproduction lower fender braces. It seems the club president asked Sherman Auto Parts to make the replacement lower fender braces for their Buick fender patch panels.
Maybe some of the members who do body work can take a look at them to determine if these reproduction lower fender braces can be used with an Oldsmobile patch panel or fender.
December 9th, 2015, 09:51 AM
