70 GTO Reproduction Panel Quality
 

What is the quality of the reproduction '70 front fenders, hood, lower valance, trunk lid, and core support that is currently available? I need all and am wondering if I should do OE or reproduction.

What mods are required to properly install/fit the reproduction panels?

Who makes the best reproduction panels?

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We use Dynacorn and AMD at my shop. From My experience:
-Fenders need alot of work and you're better off reworking originals
-Hoods are nice
-Valance- Never did a GTO valance so I'm not sure
-core support: fit nice
-Trunk Lid: fit nice

Like any aftermarket part they vary in quality from part to part and all need a little tweeking to get the proper fit.

Dang. Fenders. You say reworking OE ones is a better option?

What's the most recent you've seen any of these panels? within the last 6 months? Or year plus? Wonder if there's new stampings out is why I ask...

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I have a semi truck come in once or twice every month. I always get the latest stampings in. I have replaced just about every body panel available on A-body and F-body cars.

You can make the aftermarket ones work but the hours involved plus the panel cost most times excedes a decent set of originals.

Guess I'm going to be shopping for fenders then. Thanks for the heads up, that certainly has been VERY helpful!

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The fit varies from year to year but for some reason most reproduction panels for the 70 GTO fit very well. Hood, rear bumper, fenders, quarters, etc. I have heard some nightmare stories about older years but do a bit of research. I think the 70 aftermarket metal fits better than average.

I have a 1970-72 Fender in stock if you want me to open it up and take pictures. I have two 1971 Pontiacs in progress but both are down to the shell so I can't show you a mach up.

Thank you for the offer, though not sure I would be able to tell the areas that need work without it mocked up, right?

What areas need work, the trailing edge where it meets the door? The leading edge where it meets the endura?


Orion88 - Can you give more info regarding fitment of the '70 fenders?

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The front valance is supposed to be made from the original tooling, I think those fit fairly nice.
I bought a pair of repo fenders years ago but haven't used them yet. There are subtle differences from the originals in the inner fender area/inner brace but the look like a good part. A friend used a right side repo fender on his & the only issue he had was the side marker light didn't fit....the opening was too small. Fit on the door edge & endura was good.
Do a search here on the core support, IIRC the lower rail is welded on incorrectly at the wrong angle making alignment challenging.

Thanks for the input, yeah, noticed there was a comment on the angle of the lower brace on the core support, but that looked like it could be easily handled/corrected. The side marker light is a concern, since I will be trimming it out, so will provide the body shop with a lens to ensure it doesn't need to be worked or have it worked before paint.

Keep 'em coming, I'm taking notes! I drop the body off in like 3 or so weeks, so need to be prepared...

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might want to stay away from NOS fenders....lol....unless you really, really, gotta have it.

just saw one yesterday at carlisle, a driver side, priced at a cool $3K.

I was gonna go up to the GM Nationals, but decided not to. But I was thinking a good used fender if I were going to go that route.

I think I'm going to roll the dice with the repop fenders.

Now it would just be good to know if there's a difference between the AMD and Dynacorn fenders/panels...

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I lucked out I think... When I bought my '70 Judge, I was given the option of purchasing NOS 1/4 panels and fenders and decided to spring for them, regardless if I needed them or not. If they are going for that much now, then I got a GREAT price on these. They are all GM originals from the 80's...

The 70 fenders are good. They need the lower 8" reconstituted to fit the door/rocker propperly. They need the inner fender mounting holes fixed. Probably 8-10 additional hours for the pair. I have used them on concours cars and they have been used on best of show cars as well. The 68-9's are another story.

Ah, that 'dip' in needs to be doctored? Not too bad, or would be very noticeable if not corrected?

And the inner mount holes, can they be redrilled or do the original holes need to be filled first?

And just to be sure, you're speaking of the Dynacorn ones or the AMD ones?

I'm shooting for driver quality, or very good driver quality, certainly not concourse. If there are slight variations, I can live with it.
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I bought a set of fenders, 5k, but they Def seem better than the repros I have.

Lining them up now, gearing up for body work and paint

I’d get some used OEM fenders....and work them up. ....after birth fenders are time consuming

No Pontiac panel stories. But I've had a Nova and a first gen Camaro in my shop. Both took front fenders and they were horrible. The Camaro ones stuck out past the door with no shims and the Nova's lower body line was .750 off from the door. All AMD stuff.

I did end up with some 70 fenders and a core support, the fenders were as Paul commented, they didn't fit too well along the door opening and rocker panel, which wasn't too bad to deal with.

Also, the inner fender (also repops) needed the mount holes enlarged, and everything shuffled to fit good. It's not 100%, but they wouldn't work well out-of-box.

The core support was a different story, the whole top plate was shifted to one side for one. The body guy spent a couple days on it, and the hood gaps are terrible. It wouldn't even mount over the frame horns out of box, it was that bad. I needed to get it out of that shop for a number of reasons and will still have to address that at some point.

The hood is repop too, and no way will the hood line up using the OE type cowl seal, it just won't go down far enough. Could have probably worked the doors & fenders to make it happen but again, I had to get it out of that shop. The gap on the sides are pretty wide, but no one else seems to point it out or say anything to me. I see it, and it drives me crazy.

On the core support, I would have to say don't even buy the repop. Maybe I got a bad one, but have heard a couple others comment that they had issues too, so would say go OE if you can, even if you have to fix one.


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I tell my customers with aftah maahket paahts ...it’s going to get ugly ...even at a poultry sum of 75.00 ph .