'31 front fender I.D. Q

[Brubaker]

Right front fender indentation longer than that of the left. Does not look to be poor repair/body work. Other than the indentation continuing to the edge, were there other subtle differences? Early '31 standard fordor.

[Bill Underwood]

I really can't see the seam on the picture on the right view (left fender) due to lighting. Are you sure one of them is not a converted 30? That seam is different on a 30 versus a 31.
Just a thought

[Kevin in NJ]

There are 2 different types of correct 31 fenders.

The difference is in the length of the crease and you will find one has the curve of the fender go further down towards the running board. The other will be flatter.
You will also find the crease on one goes further down towards running board.

I surfaced this to the JS committee a few years ago. None of the big names in the hobby had noticed this till I brought it up. It turns out a known factory untouched original car had one of each on it so they were used interchangeably on the line.
No other details are known by me as to why there are 2 designs.

[Brubaker]

THanks Kevin. Good info. I am almost certain both are original, but we'll see. The difference is very subtle.

[Marco Tahtaras]

The length of the crease varies at the REAR considerably. It's actually uncommon to see this matching on the same car. The '31 fenders tend to be the shortest. The front end of the crease however seems to be consistent among two versions. All '30 types I've seen had the crease fading out a couple inches from the front as shown on your right (passenger) side. All late '30-31 fenders (requiring the long running board shields) I've seen had the crease coming to the front edge of the fender.

[Brubaker]

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Thanks Marco. The driver front (pictured) indentation stops roughly at the beginning of the running board shield, whereas the passenger side goes farther down toward the running board. Perhaps that's a better clue.