Thread: Fender brace replacement---The Thrash Begins

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Brian, on my 'glass '29 the pressed steel brackets extended about 3/4" beyond the edge of the fender so as to put the edge bolt hole outside the fender. I puzzled over this for a while and called the Bebops folks about the mismatch. Their immediate answer was to just cut off the excess which I have done. The cause is that the fiberglass is thicker than the stock steel fender and so bunches up the distance along the inside of the fender. It may be that you may just have to cut off the eyelet at the end of the cast brace and grind off the stub in a smooth way. Depending on the thickness of the fiberglass of the fenders, the outer hole probably will not match up with the edge of the fender. As far as I can tell my 'glass fenders are sufficiently thick to hold their shape without that outer attachment. So the question is whether the stamped steel braces used that outer hole in the previous installation? It does look like the length of the pressed steel brackets are the same so maybe there is no problem? Since the headlight bar holes can be slightly enlarged and are further down on the brace there is less of a problem there. I guess all I can say is that the 'glass fenders are thicker than the steel fenders and that may be a problem. I am not very happy about using 14" wheels on the front due to a low axle scrub line, but when I measure for 15" wheels I see there would be a clearance problem on a bump or tight turn.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder