Hey guys, I'm new to the board.

Well I got a 72 malibu and it's got some rot right behind the wheel well in front of the door (the usual spot to rot). So I was thinking about getting a welder and putting in those patch panels, but after thinking it over I said it might be better just to replace the fenders entirely. The fenders are in great shape minus the rotted sections on the bottom. How hard is it to put on new fenders? do they just unbolt or will I need a torch to get em off?

Anyone got a set of fenders for sale?

thx Mike.

any feedback?

Patch panels are a lot cheaper and less work if you know welding and body work. The fenders are an easy bolt off process when new but a pain when old and rusted fittings are involved. You may need to cut off a bolt or more even but they are bolt ons for sure. The problem comes with the replacement and fit. It is not an east task to align to fender properly if this would be your first time. Do a search as one of the professionals here (Martin) has posted very good instructions on the how to do it right process. The first time I aligned a fender it took me all weekend and it didn't look as good as one I work on for a few hours now. (Yes it still takes me a few hours after about 4 times.)

By no means am I an expert on the topic but I had the same problem and chose to go with new fenders. The body work needed to get the panels to look perfect seemed that it would take more time then i really had. i picked up a set of Repo fenders for $500 and replaced them. they do bolt on/off, and you dont need a torch. THis was also a good time to clean any areas hidden by the fender. Hope this helps and good luck.

Edit: Redrum beat me too it. I agree that it is more work to replace teh fenders, but taking the time to r/r and make lines right seemed a little easier to me then the time spent trying to make a filler seem disappear, but this is also b/c i only have a flux cored welder and about no experiance with filler, at least no positive experience. Like i said this is just my opionion. hope it helps

Alright sounds like the best way to go is with new fenders, thats kinda what I was leaning towards. I like to do things the right way and it would bother me knowing there's alot of filler covering patches. I'm glad to hear that the fender just unbolt, I really wasn't about to attempt torching stuff. I've got alot of tools drills and sawzalls so if something's rusted I can get it out. I've been chcking prices of fenders and it seems that 300 a peice is the norm, I'm not restoring this car for originality so I don't care if the fenders are factory looking. I do however want them to be a good gauge steel, whats the standard steel used?

So I'll get started with my fenders this weekend, thanks for the advise guys. graemlins/thumbsup.gif