Fiberglass fenders

[david w.]

Are fiberglass fenders a good or bad idea for a restoration project?
Would carbon fiber fenders be better?

What are the pro's and con's?

[dtw]

Hmmm...this is an oldie but a goodie.

Do a search on the site, you'll see lots of good info. But the short story is, it depends on what kind of car you're building. Concours prep/garage queen type deal? Forget about anything except OEM steel. Lightweight track car? Go for glass or carbon- But you'll never get them to fit 100% perfect (although I've seen some come close with agonizing hours of work)

-d

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Dave
'72 911T to '73 RSR Replica Project

[motion]

They're only suitable for racing, in my opinion. Stick with OE.. paint will last much longer and fender will stand up to much more abuse.

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-Richard
'84 Carrera Cabriolet
'74 911 Widebody 3.6 Project

[david w.]

Where is the best place to buy factory fenders, and what should I expect to pay?

Thanks

[not_sure]

What year are you looking for?

[david w.]

73

[cstreit]

They really are only suitable for racing. They all crack eventually from thrown road debris and never fit like steel...

Unless you have tons of money and your own paint, skip carbon fiber. It saves very little, heat and light deteriorate it, and it will crack eventually. Fiberglass repairs, CF never repairs well.

[Jack Olsen]

If you're looking to get rear flares to give a 73 a Carrera RS look, then you can either get authentic RS flares (rare, expensive) or SC or Carrera flares, used, or new from a place like restoration design.

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Jack Olsen
My Rennlist page • My Pelican Gallery page • My Porsche Owners Gallery page

[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 09-07-2001).]

[pwd72s]

You did say "RESTORATION", right? The choice of road on a project is yours. But "restoration" IS "restoration"...on a '73 (other than RS or RSR) fiberglass or carbon fiber doesn't enter in...I mean, either "restore" or go hot rod. Your car, your thing. I have an "owiginal"...if the bucks were there? I'd be hotrodding in a heartbeat...but not with my "orwiginal" car. We pay our money, take our choices...

[This message has been edited by pwd72s (edited 09-07-2001).]

[david w.]

Where is the best place to buy factory fenders, and what should I expect to pay?
Thanks

Anybody??

$1,900.00 pair -best price so far.

[Jack Olsen]

Paul's right. You should explain the goals of the project. If you're just doing rust repair, I'd look into a good used set.

Email Peter at Rennspeed Motorsports ( Rennspeed@4dcomm.com). He's a very resonable source for new and used 911 body parts.

For new aftermarket sections, check out Restoration Design.

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Jack Olsen
My Rennlist page • My Pelican Gallery page • My Porsche Owners Gallery page

[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 09-07-2001).]

[dtw]

I'm with Jack- come on, cough up some details on this project (we are CURIOUS!!)

Sounds like you're not building a hot rod, though. So yeah, metal's the way to go. Where did you see the ones for 1900? You must be careful- I have had heard two different stories with respect to so-called "new" fenders.

Story 1: Porsche got rid of the original tooling for the fenders, and is now selling replicas as "new." They don't fit.

Story 2: Porsche got rid of the original tooling for the fenders, and is now selling leftover factory "seconds" as new. They don't fit.

Either way, I've talked to several people about this, including two reputable pro restorers. Your best bet for price and fit is to hunt down a nice used pair- if you're set on steel (good choice!)

Nice pairs can still be had, 750 to 1000. I hunted for a year and found a near-perfect pair for 450 that I was able to drive and pick up. It can be done.

Now, you were telling us all about your car...

-d

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Dave
'72 911T to '73 RSR Replica Project

[david w.]

The car is a 73 T coupe.

The extent of tho project is a restoration- bare metal paint job. I have some early Recaro sport seats I want to have redone in leather. I will also re do the entire interior.
My goal is to keep the car almost stock. I will keep the original 6x15 Fuch wheels, maybee an S front spoiler. I know it may sound boring to some, but the early style 911 has got me by the balls!
The best part, is that the car is my favorite early color- Tangarine.
It is a long road ahead-but the fender mounting flange's along the hood seal area are gone. The sooner I find a solution, the sooner I get to drive it.
I did call restoration Design and they do not make fenders. He is however considering a making a replacement flang for the fender.

Any other fender sources would be great!

Oh-the 1900.00 was from Stoddard.

[This message has been edited by david w. (edited 09-08-2001).]

[cegerer]

"I know it may sound boring to some, but the early style 911 has got me by the balls!"

You mean Porsche continued making 911's after 73????? Gee, I had forgotten all about those ..... -- Curt


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1971 911T - 2.5L Big Bore

[cegerer]

As to fender sources:

Doc & Cy's Porsche Restoration Parts in Indianapolis have been helpful in finding some very hard-to-find stuff for me. 800-950-0356

Stuttgart Haus of Parts in North Carolina is a source for used fenders - 704-664-4708

GT Racing is a source for all sorts of fiberglass parts - http://www.gt-racing.com/main.htm

Also, if you're planning on a genuine 'S' metal spoiler, they're $1300 from Stoddard (and probably anywhere else you can find one)!! Might want to go used on that too.

-- Curt

[This message has been edited by cegerer (edited 09-08-2001).]