I found an original left front fender for a '71 Cutlass here in the Arizona desert. Looks like it's been repainted once with only a little spot putty and surface rust on the backside. How useable are these? Mine has the usual rust through behind the wheel well and I need one for replacement or patch duty. Any advise? Thanks

 

Sounds like a good usable find but please post some pics

 

Here's some pics of the fender (if I did it right).

 

Sounds fine to me too, I'd use it. Is it from a '71 Cutlass or fits a '71? 70-72 will interchange. The only advice I could give is make sure it's the same as the other side if it matters. The front to back inner lip on top where the hood sits is smooth on the '70 and has ridges on the '71-'72. I've seen both types on original '71's and is the reason I recommended checking first if you want use it and are concerned about it matching.

 

Must be a fender from a '70 since there's no series of bumps on the inside seam. The seller said it was from a '71 Cutlass 4 dr, and described that car correctly.
I went ahead and bought it for $70 since it was straight and only had surface rust on the inside. It's in nicer shape than most I've seen on ebay. I'm wondering how close the match is and if I can still use the lower portion to patch my '71 fender?

 

IMHO you could either sell the fender to some body looking for a 70 fender they are tough to find esp. in that shape or paint it up and put it on your car as is the bumps on the 71 and 72 were crash safety features, the fender will fit right on your car.

 

I thought it was a good price for a pretty decent fender. I'll probably hang on to it and keep looking for a correct '71 fender though. Maybe someone will have one to trade eventually.

 

Use the fender if it's clean...clean ones, "flat ridge" 70 style or the "bumped" 71/2 style are hard to come by....but....


I've seen plenty of original 71 cars that had one flat fender and one bumped...apparently Olds was using up the old inventory in '71 so it's not uncommon at all to see them on 71 cars.

Of course, the cosmetic mismatch may bug you forever. Other than that cosmetic difference, they are the same fenders. Cutting up the fender you found to get donor parts is the last thing I would do.

How bad is the rust on yours? It's not to hard to make a patch out of a piece of new flat sheetmetal..the curvature of the fender is not complex down at the bottom.

 

After taking a closer look, my '71 SX must have originally came with the 70 style fenders since that is what is still on the left hand side. The right hand fender was replaced by the second owner due to same 'rust' issues and has the correct ridges. I'll try not to be **** about the match and just consider myself lucky for the great find. (no cutting on the new fender either)