70 fender on 71 car

[dcmoore2]

I am in the process of using 70 fenders on my 71. I have noticed the difference in the mounting location to the rad support. My plan is to remove the front section/hole of the brace so the rear section of that flange will sit on the rad support. I believe this will take care of my headlight alignment issue inside the bezel. is this the proper path forward, or will this make the front of the fender sit too low?

[MC1of80]

Hi. I would change the tie bar. The panel that the fenders bolt to and the grille. As far as the nipples/ nibs/ alignment dowels, either cut the ones that don't lign up with the bezels or punch/ hammer them into the fender or drill holes in the bezels. I feel changing the tie bar to a 70 one would be easier and quicker. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[sredmyer]

I would see if there isn't someone who has a set of 71-72 fenders they would trade you for your 70's.  Good 70 fenders are pretty hard to find (71-72 seem to be a bit more plentiful).  I actually have a set of NOS 71-72 fenders but my car is a 70.  Unfortunately, we are not very close so a trade with me probably wouldn't work out. 

 

That said, if you decide to keep and use the 70 fenders, why not just remove the core support mounting portion from the 1970 fenders and remove the same piece from your fenders (piece is just spot welded in) and then just swap them.

[dcmoore2]

Thanks for the info.

I understand the difference and reasoning behind the step in the mounting bracket. I also know that if I leave it the way it is, the bracket of the 70 fender sits on the highest section/hump of the rad support, and the headlight doesn't align properly. So, in my mind, the fender needs to be lowered by removing the front section of the fender mounting bracket, so the bracket sits down on the rad support. Would this place the fender in the proper location with the surrounding features? This appears to be about the same distance that the headlight is out of alignment with the bezel. Also, notice the bracket of the headlight extension has a gap under it. I have already modified the extensions to fit, but that doesn't change the alignment with the headlight. I will probably remove the bracket from the old 71 fender and re weld in place, but I want to make sure i have the fender aligned properly first.

[MC1of80]

Again, just put the 70 tie bar in and the headlights will be sitting where they belong. Seems easier than all the welding. I would swap the tie bar. Just bolts in. Good luck!

[Jared Richey]

Yes use upper tie bar of the year of your fenders.. 70 did not have a step up in the tie bar.

[Canuck]

I agree that the mounting bracket on the fender has to be modified. I don't think the 1970 tie bar works with the 71/72 headlight location which is why GM changed the tie bar in the first place. There is a clearance problem with the front bolt which is directly above the centre of the headlight on a 71/72 so they had to raise it up a little. In 70 the headlight was off centre a bit from that bolt which gave more clearance. If it was me I would look for 71/72 fenders that will bolt in without modifications.

[Monteman1971]

I've had the same issue on a prior restoration of putting a 70 fender on a 71. Drill out the spot welds on the 70 fender that hold the mounting bracket and pull the bracket out, modify it to fit the rad support, fit the fender, position it and weld it back together in the same spots you drilled out. It's work but can be done and then look factory.

 

Steve