Please, don't jump all over me for asking this question ! I have original steel fronts, but even with all my skills and equipment at hand, I could never make these much better than "POOR" examples at best. There is rehbar, threaded rods, washers and heavy odd steel plates welded everywhere behind all the old cracks and damage. I will end up keeping these for parts and sections for future repairs on other fenders etc, but for now I'll just take the cowards way out and just install fiberglass fronts and live with them. So, "Who" in your opinions makes the best 1931 fiberglass front fenders ? Thanks for your help, Steve
I've seen some really nice looking A fenders in the classifieds for what seems like nice prices...would guess they may even come in less expensive than new fiberglass ones bought and shipped as well.
Why not go with new steel? Mike's has them: https://www.mikes-afordable.com/category/1104A.html. If you're going to pay $450 for fiberglas you can get steel for $525. I'm not opposed to 'glas-just asking.
You might check with Brookville Roadster....They make really good bodies so I would imagine there fenders are pretty nice and they offer glass and steel...
Brookville's catalog prices their fenders at $460 each, but clearly state that there fenders are NOT made by them.
I have Wescott glass front fenders on my 30 pickup and they are 20 years old, sit outside and use it as a daily driver. My avatar is a 28 I built in the late 80 and it had Wescott fenders all around, was happy with them. They are thick and held up great. I have Brookville steel rear fenders on the 30 Coupe I'm building and they fit fairly well so can recommend using either. I don't know what the prices are now but would go with steel unless the price difference is huge.
So you've got Westcott's glas' vs" Brookville's" steel and $70 difference for the pair. Plus shipping.
Brookville does not make the steel fenders they sell, as stated on their web site. There is only on manufacturer of 30/31 front fenders and they have serious issues with the fit at the splash aprons and also the running boards. The fenders need to be split at the body form line and material added, and the end needs to be cut off at the running board and completely reworked. It's not as simple as just paying another $75 or so and be done with it, as so many accomplished people have explained over on the Barn ; it's literally dozens of hours of tedious and meticulous work for an experienced body man to accomplish.... So, unless I run across a fantastic deal on a pair of mint steel fenders, I'll probably end up with the Wescotts fiberglass fenders......
Steve If you are lucky enough to catch that rabbit it may prove very expensive, so much so that the best (Wescott) and probably the most expensive fiberglass fenders out there will seem like a bargain. Yeh, I'm biased (note my avatar) but that is based primarily on the fact that Wescotts' 32 roadster bodies were long considered to not only be the strongest but also the most accurate body on the market. Happy hunting.
You might as well get Wescotts because you “want a fantastic deal on a set of mint ones” sounds like you expect the world but don’t want to pay a fair price.
Not that I doubt you and I am no metal magician, but clearly folks are buying, and using the "Brookville" fenders on their Brookville projects. If they truly are as bad as you state, then Brookville would quickly have been inundated with serious complaints. Yet, they don't seem to be. So does that mean Brookville bodies are altered so the fenders will fit-or are they sourcing better fenders?
So, who makes the fenders? Gaslight makes these, in the US. http://www.gaslightauto.com/items/Model-A-Parts/Ford-Front-Fenders/list.htm Howell's lists these: https://www.fordor.com/search_results.cfm So, that would seem to indicate at least two US made sources, unless they're trading
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