Needing to replace both front fenders on a 72 442 vert. Found a excellent used 71-72 for drivers side for 100.00 locally, and superb 70 passenger side for 150.00. Of course, the passenger side one is going to not have the "bumps" along the inner fender, but my paint body guy says he can put them in with about 3 hours worth of work. Has anyone else ever had this done? Even if it winds up costing 200.00 to add these in (he does EXCELLENT work - Frank Waggoner in McKinney Texas) I think it's probably worth it vs. trying to find a excellent used 71/72 fender plus shipping etc or going down the repro path. Thoughts?

 

Don't do it! Sell the good '70 fender to someone who needs it and use the money to buy a good '71/2 fender. You should have money left over, and you won't have ruined the rarer '70 fender.

 

a truly superb 70 only fender is worth much more than a 71-72. like BlackGold said, you will be money ahead to sell it and get the one you need. i have a GREAT 71-72 fender i would trade but i am in indiana. you should be able to find someone closer to trade

 

I agree with black gold. Make a small sacrifice to keep us Olds Brotherhood alive. Plus you will get good money for the 70 and then be able to buy a cheaper 71-72. Also some 70 w-30 out there may be willing to pay big money for that fender and allow his car to be correct and your also. Two birds one stone. Were in this together.

 

just to let you know, several years ago i sold a mint 70 front fender for $800. in this economy it may not do that good but will for sure bring more than a 71/72

 

I agree - that's why today I sold a guy two fenders for 75.00, and GAVE him a like new fuel pump, a new usused transmission modulator line, a standard outside mirror, and a spare new inner fender a-frame seal.

 

wow that was fair and nice of you. Yes the 70s command more but again in this market most things are way down - so that was nice of you to give someone a deal like that.

 

Lets help each other out, for the name of Oldsmobile, but jesus I am not saying get ripped off. Two fenders for 75.00 either they were junk or it was a donation.

 

You can see the pics here of the fenders - 75.00 is better than just throwing them away. I was helped out when I was young by a lot of guys like Pat Yancey, Murphy Walker, Aron Nance when I first started our Olds Club back in 1986, and just want to give back a little where and if I can.

 

you did the right thing. like i said we all need to help each other out, this is a hobby that truly "numbers is power. "

 

Has anyone gon the other way - removed the bumps from the later fender to make them the 70 style?

 

I have heard folks have snipped out a bit of metal on each bump and weld it closed to fix it - seems like a lot to me- I know I for one notice the 71 bumps all the time when on a 70 but really is it that big of a deal - yes on a car claimed to be survivor but on most of our cars, nah

 

Hey i gave a buddy of mine an original air top for a 70 cutlass OAI hood. I personally have no problem with selling stuff cheap myself so i say good for you Costpenn by not being greedy lol. If you want i can pass on that you are looking for a 71-72 Cutlass fender to some people i know to see if they have something Down here in San Antonio, Might be driving up there for the NTOC show this year so i could bring it up *IF* i go lol. Or ship it to you if i find one

 

I know you've already sold the fenders, but one more thing you should know is that the 70 fender doesn't mount to the 72 plastic wheel liners the same way. The bolt pattern is slightly different. Glad you could help someone in need.

 

Brian is right. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I "thought" I sold my 71/72 passenger fender when people were looking for a true 70 fender. 4 years later I finally sold the fender. It was rust free, just everyone wanted it for next to nothing or they didn't want to pay to ship it.

There's more than just the bumps different between a 71/72 fender and a 70 fender.

 

Allan, will any 70-72 inner fender wells work with the 70 or 71-72 fenders? That might throw a wrinkle in what I'm doing since I'll be using a 70 RH fender (see above) and a 71 LH fender with I dont know what year wells except that they are 70-72. Any other differences?

 

Not to throw a wrench into the discussion, but I have a 1971 Cutlass and a 71 442, and both do not have the bumps on the fenders. When in the model year or calendar year did Olds start putting the bumps on? My Lansing built 442 has a build date of Sept 1/70, (before the strike) and my Arlington built SX has a build date of Dec 1970 (after the strike). Olds must have used up the old version of the fenders before beginning installing the ridged ones. So, as usual it is not always as clear cut as it may seem. Maybe it was calendar year 1971 before the conversion to the fenders with bumps. Anyone know?

 

wow, I thought those were a safety feature that had to be part of all 71s so no matter when they were made the 71s had to have them.

 

I have a friend who has two fenders from a 71 and they dont have the bumps. They are available and located in Mass. Need patch panels at the bottom and have some surface rust. I can put anyone intereted in touch with him.

 

From what I know and have seen, the 71/72 fenders with the compression ridges will fit directly on 71/72 car wheel wells. Now the part about the 70 fenders/liners is information I picked up through discussion on the CO forums, so I don't consider myself to be an expert by any means. One of our members 70Post (Patton Glade) is an expert on the 70 Cutlass line, and probably has the best insight of anyone I know of as to whether you can do direct bolt in replacements. May I suggest that you send him a PM? Then post your results so the rest of us on this thread will know the answer?

Heck of a good comment. As we know GM would tool up and start producing the new model lines in about June/July so they could have them available (in limited numbers) at dealerships across the country in time for the fall buying sprees. Now, with the strike limiting production, it is very likely that inventory of fenders had to be used up before installing the new compression fenders. I would also benefit if anyone can supply a direct answer to your question. It's part of the continuing mystery of Oldsmobile's production records that aren't available from GM.

 

the 71/2 fenders bolt into a 70 Just installed two 71/2 fenders w/o any issue. Yes I too would have loved to put 70 fenders on my car, but the prices are way too high.... If I had a dollor for every realy nice fully restored 70 Cutlass or 442 with a 71/72 fender on it- I could buy a set of Nos 70 fenders. It seems to be the norm. I will hold onto my 70 factory fenders though, as maybe these two are going to be worth alot someday..but I suspect I will waiting a long time for that...

 

I have a 72 fender on my 70 F-85 (while I repair the original 70 fender). Everything bolts up fine, no issues

I also know of an original owner 71 W-30 with flat ridge (normally referred to as 70) fenders. I don't recall the build date of the car though.

 

Hi Guys,

Now I can't prove this entirely, but when I went looking for an answer as to why my 72 W30 didn't have the seat belt warning indicator that all 72's had I was told that safety features mandated by the Federal Government were incorporated by the Calander year, not the model year. So 72 442s made before Jan 1 1972 didn't get the seat belt warning indicator. I would assume the same principal held true for the crumple bumps on the 71-72 fenders....meaning they weren't put into cars build before Jan 1 1971.

later,
bob

 

Not sure if that's 100% true or not. We had 2 1972 Cutlass S's. One was built in the early production run (don't have the VIN or car anymore, but it was bought new locally in September 71. It also had drum brakes all around. That car had the seat belt warning light with the other idiot lights. I don't think it makes any difference that it was exported to Canada for sale. The 72 that I kept was built in April of 72 and definitely has the warning, plus disc front brakes.

Was down at ProMax today and they had a 70 W30 in for an engine overhaul. I looked closely at the car to see the 70 fenders up close. Not that spectacular really. BTW the 455 was rebuilt and converted to fuel injection and the tranny was a B&M (rebuilt GM 400). Very nice car with stock OAI hood that will only be on the car for looks. Some rust in the usual places.

 

Hi Allen,

I sure could be wrong, no doubt. My 72W is a 10A car (built first week of October 1971) and all original. Since it has a Rally Pak the seat belt warning indicator should be on top of the dash pad in the center, but the dash is clean. When I bought the car I contacted both the original owner and the second owner (the guy I bought the car from) and neither replaced the dash pad. So MAYBE they started installing the safety equipment mandated for the upcoming year a bit earlier than the first of the year to ensure that any car sold AFTER Jan 1 had the equipment. Remember, it cost money to put this kind of junk on a car, so why would they put it on before they had to? Again, just a guess. Hopefully one of the Old guru's will chime in on this one.

Take care,
bob

 

Rallye pac gauges are cool. So if your car has them and no seat belt pod on the dash, that's how it was built. I've had discussions with a few others about the pod on the dash and it's pretty much agreed that depending on when the (72) car was built, that would have determined whether the fasten seat belt option became mandatory. As we all know legislation doesn't always go into effect immediately - unless it's taxes - so I wouldn't lose sleep over this. I do know that some of the 72 Cutlass cars that were produced with the rallye pac had to have the seat belt pod because there is no room on the gage cluster for it. Still has the annoying buzzer.....did you notice that it only works in DSL, but not R?

 

I know a guy...pm me if interested. He's in Austin.

 

Ah64 pilot - thanks for the offer, but I went ahead with my original idea. See the attached pics about how my paint and body guy put the ridges on a 70 fender - he custom built a tool out of a pair of vise grips and went to town. Talk about a specialized tool!!

 

I offered to trade you some mint 71-72 fenders for those 70 fenders.There are other differences with those fenders.The way they are cut around the bumper,and the fenderwell flange.

 

I TRIED with several people to conduct a trade so they could have the 70 fender - offered to trade straight up if they would take care of the freight - never heard back from anyone.

 

I never got any pictures of them.I thought you needed to take some.

 

It's good to see someone else with a 71 without fender bumps. I got into an argument with a guy at a cruise night who was telling me I had the "wrong" fenders on my car. I've had it since 1987 and the owner before me patched the fenders in 1983 when he painted it. I also have a 71 SX (parts car) with the smooth fenders, so they're out there.

 

Hey All,

This thread hasn't been alive for awhile, its time to bring it back!

What is your guy's opinion of reproduction fenders? I'm slowly looking around for a set.

I dont want to get my car painted, and then have to mess around with already damaged fenders..

 

Well Tony, fact of the matter is if you wouldn't be able to afford NOS front fenders now. I've heard most of the repro's are decent and only need minor adjustment for gaps/fit. Goodmark should be ok. The other thing you can do is get ahold of Eric or Scott in Indiana and see if they have decent OEMs that you could just blast, prep, fit, prime and then paint.

Goodmark fenders are 450.00 http://www.goodmarkindustries.com/c-1851-fenders.aspx

Fusicks - 429.00

Give Eric or Scott a shout first. OEM always fits better.