Fitting Fiberglass front fenders to a 1931

[james.heider]

I am trying to install a pair of fiberglass front fenders to my 1931 Victoria.
Could someone please give me the measurement from ground to the fender brace bolt hole on the outside edge of the fender.

Since these fenders are fiberglass will letting them sit in the hot Florida sunshine, once bolted into place, allow them to form fit due to the heat of the sun?

Does anyone have any suggestions on fitting these fenders.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by james.heider

Since these fenders are fiberglass will letting them sit in the hot Florida sunshine, once bolted into place, allow them to form fit due to the heat of the sun?

.

I hope not. I'd hate to think the fiberglass will "melt" and form fit.

[bart78]

If you are worried about it getting that hot. Which I don't think it will. I would get real steel fenders.

[Keith True]

The measurement you are asking for won't do you any good.I have three 40's,and every one has a different measurement there.Sagging spring,sagging frame,just a different tire brand will change that measurement.If you used the measurement from one of my cars on yours the fenders might end up drooping down,or they might end up sticking up like a bat wing depending on your situation.What you really need to do first is to bolt the front braces to the frame,then fit them so the bolts drop right through the headlight bar and through the fender braces.Then drill the fender to those.I've really had a much easier time fitting fiberglass fenders than fitting steel ones that somebody reworked off the car.

[SAJ]

Hi James. Whilst I have no experience of fibreglass Model a mudguards, I do manufacture the polyester resins used in car bodies, mudguards, camper vans etc.
There are many different resins in the polyester group. They have a property called “heat distortion temperature”- HDT for short. This is the temperature at which the resin softens enough to form new shapes under gravity and installation stresses. “Ortho-“ resins typically run from about 140 deg F up to 240 deg. “Iso-“ resins a bit higher. Ortho resins are normally used for mudguards (cheaper, in general and easier to process).
More to the point, the colour of your mudguard will profoundly influence how hot it gets and black is the hottest. In NZ, black reaches 200 deg F easily in summer sun, and we make special high HDT ortho resins for black camper bodies to avoid heat distortion of the panels.
A similar property to HDT is sometimes quoted instead. This is “glass transition temperature”, the temp. at which the resin turns from a “glass-like” i.e inflexible, to plastic solid.
If you ask the moulder about this they may not know what the HDT is. Most non-high-end moulders rely on us to decide what resin to supply. They just order a general-purpose laminating resin and we look at the job and decide resin properties for them.
Fresh ambient-cured (room temperature cured) objects can take a long time to develop their best potential HDT (weeks, months or never). So a fresh part could distort if mounted up under stress too early. A cure (no pun intended!) is to strap up into the correct shape and leave out in the hot sun for a day or so. The straps are to hold its shape while finally curing – to avoid sagging under gravity. Some moulders leave on the mould and put out in the sun or oven cure the part on the mould to achieve this.
Some just don’t bother, and this is likely with “back-yard” operators.
Please pardon my spelling. I see I have called fenders “mudguards” and there may be other non-American Anglicism’s used. Oh yes, fibreglass instead of fiberglass too!
You can see a bit more on resins on our web page at http://www.chemspec.co.nz. Go to the“Synthepol” tab for resin and gelcoat data
SAJ in NZ

[Big John]

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Nix on fiberglass,,,, There are still lots of good steel original fenders out there....

[Mikeinnj]

Originally Posted by Big John

Nix on fiberglass,,,, There are still lots of good steel original fenders out there....

John, Tell me where and I'll gladly buy them......

[Big John]

Good fenders are still available from vendors, hershey, swap meets, your buddies attic, farmers barns, flea markets, hemmings motor news, granted it can take some searching, but they can be had. Half of the fun is hunting..... lotsa luck...