71 TA Fenders - are the 74-81's all the same?
 

So I need a couple of fenders for my 71 I just picked up. All of the repro's I see have the same description, 74-81, must weld on old valence brackets, something about a "hump" style. Prices vary from $330 to $570 +/- shipping. Are these all the same or is there a preferred version out there? I think there's a place in Huntington beach that has em and I was considering making the drive (600 mi each way - ouch). Maybe I should take my truck and pick up a T/A hood at the same time. (Driving the truck vs 2012 Genesis Rspec 5.0 448 hp 8 spd - not likely but a tight fit for the fenders alone)
Thanks.

Not sure what the "hump" is about but 70-72 fenders were more "flat" on the inside framing, 73 up had provisions for the fender to core support brace bars, the core supports changed for 73 up also. there may be other differences in the inner frame shape but the fenders themselves are the same dimensions & fit. what is specific to 71 is the rectangle vents on the lower sides.

Probably cheaper & easier to pay shipping for whatever you buy, 600 mile each way would be close to or more in gas than shipping, plus your time to drive 20+ hours round trip.

1971ta fender
 

I have one original ta fender ill share pics. They are out there but not cheap.. you can also get 70 to 72 firebird fenders and remove all correct bracing and put on later style straight fender skin. I have that too.not sure what I'm going yet. Notice no 73 hump at inner bracing and they do have date codes too. I believe they are found stamped on vertical part of inner bracing

I have a nice 1980 passenger side fender up here near Reno if that is something you might be interested in.

1972 formula fenders
 

I believe these are 1972 formuka fenders with all correct inner bracing. You can also get this style and cut the vent hole and fabricate the vent bracing for the ta style fender.

I would avoid using repop fenders.. hoods... sheetmetal... etc...

I have a buddy with a bunch of oem T/A fenders. They are all the 73 and up versions... which will work. He is here in the central valley. He has a bunch of other parts too.

If you want the car to be 100% correct... you should find the correct 70-72 fenders. They run about 1500-2000 a piece for nice originals. Sourcing correct original parts for these cars can be time consuming and expensive.

1972 formula fenders
 

I believe these are 1972 formuka fenders with all correct inner bracing. You can also get this style and cut the vent hole and fabricate the vent bracing for the ta style fender. These have some rust spots that can be fixed I hope. My original fender has small rust bubbles on drivers side.

Is that what you would recommend. as opposed to buying repops? Do those have front lower valence brackets?

1970-72 front fenders
 

I believe all 1970-72 fenders have same front brackets for the mounting if front valance . The later outside ta fenders I believe are the same too only different was they changed the front end design. I'm not an expert and not sure what the cost and time to reskin correct bracing on later skinns but I know it's possible.

70-73 TransAm fenders and hood
 

my reproduction fenders and hood were -to me- excellent quality. believe I ordered thru AMD pretty sure would be the same manufacturer from whomever is closest to you.

only alteration I did building my 72 TA clone was welding in the lower valance bracket as you mentioned. easy. fits in fender perfect, no need to remove the entire bracing from the reproduction just cut where you need.

the hump thing is just the irrelevant inner bracing that effects nothing unless your building a museum car. and even then, you could cut that short hump and properly welded and smoothed (like a lot that want the original look have done) it would look like the early inner fender bracing.

got my fender vent inserts from ebay nice and cheap. lots out there.

I’ve used much repo sheet metal on first gen’s and second gen’s. The second gen stuff is really nice fitment wise. Everything from fenders to quarter panels. For a high quality resto, you’ll want to change the inner bracing with your originals. I am pretty sure the flare holes in the fenders are for the 79-81 style, so either one or both holes need to be welded and re-drilled.

Front lower valence mounting is 70-73 , not 70-72.
1976 fenders have a different bracket on the lower front of fender for the front Bumper alignment.
Repop fenders are pretty good, the quater panels at the back end are WAY Wrong ( 70-73) . They have no recessed mounting shelf for lower tail panel, and are not finished at all around the tail lights. I have seen a few nice cars and after running a scope on the inner tail panel drain, you can see they are just bent and welded and a very wrong install, but looks fine outside.

Formulabruce,

The Goodmark quarters I used were fine. There is a sheet metal filler piece that has the be reused at the upper area around the tail light.

I was extremely pleased the Goodmark quarters. I have never seen or used repop front fenders. The 79-81 front fenders are too easy to find and modify vs make junk fit.

my understanding is that the fenders are minutely specific to each of the following types:

• 70-73
• 74-75
• 1976
• 77-78
• 79-81

Now in addition to that above list, you will read people here get into the minutia of original versus replacement stamping variants, but I am NOT going to touch on this;
With those above types, it all comes down to the presence or absence of bracketry to align the bumper cover or lower valance, and bolt holes drilled to align with the header panel or bumper cover with the fender's edge.

BUT(!)

Just about any (OEM) fender can be made to work for any year, so accordingly, you can make an aftermarket fender work as well.

For the 70-73 cars, you will probably want to attach the correct valance bracket on each fender, but you can get away without them...

I too have read that the aftermarket parts are generally regarded as inferior to OE stampings - but my opinion is that a great deal of the remaining NOS sheet metal is stuff that was flawed and returned - so you might be dealing with similar issues with an NOS part versus a new AMD part...

I know I have pulled fenders off of 73, 74, 76, and many 79-81 cars to know that the forward edges are indeed unique to them all;
It is possible that 77-78 were shared with 76, but I cannot say with clarity, because I don't recall pulling 77/78 fenders off;
I believe that the 76 was unique in that the (?)dense foam/rubber bumper cover needed a discernable "lip" on the forward edge of the fender to hold the edge of the bumper cover in place - and I do recall that at least 77 bumper covers were the same yellow dense foam rubber...

Pretty much spot on. Jon, I would need to go back & read my old post on this. '76 was def one year. there were some original '73 fenders that were used up on early '74 production cars, I've pulled them. In the past, I have also pulled a late '80 model or '81 model fender that only had the late style front corner spoiler mounting holes. Currently, of the T/A fenders that I have ( of which originally were made as '79 & 80 T/A fenders), they all began with both styles of stamped holes to mount either style of corner spoiler. Also up in the racking I have an NOS GM replacement fender from the late 80's, it differs in having the square hole & clip nut, vs a threaded hole for the hood hinge mtg.

1973 T/A fenders are one year only. They have the boss for the brackets to the core support and the metal valance panel.

I have a pair of fenders off either a late 1970 or early 1971 car if anyone needs close up images.

Mike

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com....php?p=6415021

Seems to be a popular parts "want" on '70-72 T/A's. As more neglected early T/A projects surface, the owners really need to consider if they're adding value in a restoration, or creating a problem area.

OPH is exactly right on point! With the amount of money it takes these days to do a FULL BLOWN, 100 percent correct restoration on some of these cars, is it really worth it?
There are a few, restoration shops in my area that I have dealt with them in the past, providing the correct parts or laying out stripe tape for painted stripes, mainly on SS Chevelles and 69 Z28s. In talking with the owners of said shops, we have come to the conclusion that if the finished product is not worth over 100K to a potential buyer than it is not worth spending the money and time on the restoration. If the vehicle has sentimental value, then that is another story.

"no need to remove the entire bracing from the reproduction just cut where you need."
I ended up ordering repop fenders from summit. Where / what needs to be "cut"? Will it be obvious when they arrive and I go to test fit it?

Replacing the entire rail is one way to do it, & if you have the metal working experience, in my experience, renders extremely nice results. It is, however, a quite tedious & methodical process grinding out of the spotwelds, then the bare donor fender has to be positioned in a jig up against the original rail. The fenders I've converted, we first posititioned the rail to the bare fender in the crude jig, then tacked the pieces together, then test fit them on a '71 Bird roller that had really nice fitting doors & core support/endura nose. Last, I made a near 30 minute trip to a customers production body shop who has a VERY high end spot weld machine.

The alternative method of cutting out sections of the the thick steel rail is easier, but will require careful grinding & filler work, & unless you are truly a wizard, the results will not be perfect. There are two major areas that have to be addressed with the rail, then the simple issue of adding the early valance mtg structure from the donor early fender.

The rear area of the raised "bumps" in the later fender rails begins aprox an 1" forward of the square hole where the bolt for the upper fender to cowl attaches. That rail area has a degraded edge stamping (rear sideways depression) & a series of 3 raised "bumps" that are not are not present on the '70-72 fender rails. The whole area at issue extends about 6" forward along the rail. That entire area will have to be carefully cut out & replaced with an early donor rail piece. The other area that is different in the stamping of the thick steel rail is forward where the thick '73 & 74-75 diagonal braces attached. The shape of the rail is pooched up some, & the inboard edge of the rail is not perfectly straight like on a '70-72 rail. The later rails have 5 atrachment holes, versus just the 2nd one back, & the rear one, used on the '70-72 fenders. The later fenders rails also lack a triangular strengthening gusset that is stamped in the jamb area on the early fenders. I'm not hands on acquainted with the details of the stamping of the depressions in the rails in the reproduction fender. That could be an issue, without having a Taiwan fender here to compare the cleanness of the stamping of the thick rails, not sure what the results will look like splicing in the sections.