Front Fender Dimensions

[Brett]

I'm having some clearance issues with my passenger front tire. It scrubs when nearly straight.

The Car: 1971 Swinger
Tire Size: P225/60R15
Wheels: 15" Cop Car Rims
Mods: '73 K-frame and lower control arms, front discs w/larger bolt hole pattern, '74 440 w/Schumacher mounts, Firm Feel adjustable strut rods (had the issue prior to install)

Other: Driver's fender seems to have been replaced - no undercoating. Unknown if OEM or aftermarket.

Dimensions in Attached Pic (all taken from bottom of fender):
A - Driver: 2-1/2" Passenger: 1"
B - Driver: 7-1/8" Passenger: 8"
C - Driver: 6-1/4" Passenger: 7"
D - Driver: 8-1/8" Passenger: 8-1/8" (this goes back to the point where the fender meets the rocker off-camera)

There seems to be a difference in the sheet metal itself. I thought I'd ask here before chasing unibody/subframe issues. I would expect minor differences in sheet metal dimensions, but nearly 1" seems excessive.

Thoughts?

Thanks in Advance,

Brett

View attachment 1715021566

 

[6pk2goDemon]

Is your ride height the same from side to side? Is the passenger side lower by chance?

 

[72bluNblu]

Well, you learn something new everyday! I focused only on the "B" measurement shown above, the length of the front lower fender from the wheel opening to the valance. The "A" and "C" measurements would be different car to car, and possibly even a little bit side to side with adjustable strut rods. The D measurement was the same on both fenders so I ignored it too.

So, I have a bunch '71 Dart fenders because I have a few '71 cars. Since I have easy access to several of them I pulled some measurements. My Duster has '71 Dart fenders as part of it's Demon conversion, plus I have my butterscotch GT handy, plus a pair of extra fenders I pulled from another '71. All of those "B" measurements were the same at 8". That's 6 fenders, all OE, all '71, all measuring 8" for the "B" dimension.

I also have a couple of '72 Dart fenders (I was collecting fenders for my Demon clone for awhile). Both OE, both passenger side fenders. The "B" measurement on both of those fenders was just under 7 1/4".

So, if the 8 OE fenders I measured are of any consequence, the "B" dimension may have changed somewhere between '71 and '72. What do you know about that fender? Any chance it's had work done to it?

Also, just for reference, a 225/60/15 on a 15x7" OE cop rim isn't a slam dunk for fender clearance on these cars. I had to adjust my lower fender to bumper brace all the way out to clear them when I was running them on my Duster.

 

[Brett]

Is your ride height the same from side to side? Is the passenger side lower by chance?

I checked the heights: Driver 27-3/4" Passenger 28-1/4"

I thought they'd be closer but I assume that can be taken out with the torsion bars adjusters.

 

[Brett]

Well, you learn something new everyday! I focused only on the "B" measurement shown above, the length of the front lower fender from the wheel opening to the valance. The "A" and "C" measurements would be different car to car, and possibly even a little bit side to side with adjustable strut rods. The D measurement was the same on both fenders so I ignored it too.

So, I have a bunch '71 Dart fenders because I have a few '71 cars. Since I have easy access to several of them I pulled some measurements. My Duster has '71 Dart fenders as part of it's Demon conversion, plus I have my butterscotch GT handy, plus a pair of extra fenders I pulled from another '71. All of those "B" measurements were the same at 8". That's 6 fenders, all OE, all '71, all measuring 8" for the "B" dimension.

I also have a couple of '72 Dart fenders (I was collecting fenders for my Demon clone for awhile). Both OE, both passenger side fenders. The "B" measurement on both of those fenders was just under 7 1/4".

So, if the 8 OE fenders I measured are of any consequence, the "B" dimension may have changed somewhere between '71 and '72. What do you know about that fender? Any chance it's had work done to it?

Also, just for reference, a 225/60/15 on a 15x7" OE cop rim isn't a slam dunk for fender clearance on these cars. I had to adjust my lower fender to bumper brace all the way out to clear them when I was running them on my Duster.

Thanks for checking - that is curious... I replaced the side marker lights with OEM type units and they fit no problem. I bring this up b/c I thought they went to the all plastic front side marker in '72. The originals were in such bad shape they wouldn't even hold the bulbs in place. I wonder if there was any difference in the openings?

The only fact I know about the fenders is that the driver side doesn't have the undercoating that was on the rest of the car including the passenger front fender. I've attached photos of the stampings. One difference I noticed is that the passenger side has six "dimples" on the top under the hood while the driver side has five. I don't know if this varied by year or was part of the original design.

 

[72bluNblu]

Thanks for checking - that is curious... I replaced the side marker lights with OEM type units and they fit no problem. I bring this up b/c I thought they went to the all plastic front side marker in '72. The originals were in such bad shape they wouldn't even hold the bulbs in place. I wonder if there was any difference in the openings?

The only fact I know about the fenders is that the driver side doesn't have the undercoating that was on the rest of the car including the passenger front fender. I've attached photos of the stampings. One difference I noticed is that the passenger side has six "dimples" on the top under the hood while the driver side has five. I don't know if this varied by year or was part of the original design.

The 72+ marker lights are completely different than the 70/71 markers. They're completely plastic (no metal bucket), the hole in the fender is much smaller and not recessed, and they're actually in a different spot than the 70/71 markers were. You can't interchange any part of the 70/71 markers with the 72+ markers except maybe the bulbs.

As for the stampings on the mounting rail, all of my fenders have 6 regardless of the year, the two '72 fenders are the same as all of my '71's. But both of my '72 fenders are passenger side fenders.

Are there any weld marks on the back of that driver's side fender? If you wanted to switch a '72 fender to a '71 you'd have to weld up the '72 marker light hole and weld in the recessed marker light area for the 70/71 marker light. Regardless it sounds like your driver's fender isn't a match to your passenger fender.

70/71 fender

1972