# AFTER MARKET FENDERS



## Guest (Dec 27, 2017)

Does anyone have experience purchasing aftermarket or salvaging sheet metal for older tractors? Does anyone sell truly faithful reproductions? Original style brackets, same heavy gauge skins, etc. I have what are probably the best OEM fenders for a 68 Ford 2000 available in my state but they are 50 years old. While this is a "working" tractor, I am trying to eradicate the abuse levied by the original owner, who was apparently a heavy drinker. 

The right side fender is only suffering from age with rust running out from between fender skin and the bracket. Paint shop says that once started, this will continue regardless of what is done to the visible areas of the fender assembly.

My left side fender is in tougher shape due to a previous owner being careless with operating the tractor at some point. The fender is actually bent forward and inward at the rear as well as the rear curve being misshapen as well as the edge wrap being shoddily repaired. My intention is to get the tool box sand blasted to place on a new fender and reconstruct the tubing to carry the electric wire for the fender mounted warning light (already restored).

Any advice is appreciated.


----------



## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Graysonr,

The fenders on my 3600 were rusting through where the brackets were spot welded to the skin. There is no paint between the bracket and skin, so it is prone to rust. I drilled out the spot welds on the brackets, cleaned & painted the brackets, and bolted new skins on them. Used 1/4" stainless steel bolts. Worked well, but the skins are rusting 10+ years later, especially the right fender, where my sweaty arm rests on it. Rust never sleeps.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

sixbales said:


> Rust never sleeps.


That's the rumor! Couldn't you put some neoprene between the bracket and the skin to prevent moisture entry? This of course after yet another reset of new skin and all! (laughing)


----------



## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

I buy nearly all of my parts from yesterdays tractors. Have purchased 3 sets of 3000 style fenders from them over the years. They are probably Tisco products. They are good, heavy fenders and are pretty much identical with OEM.
You can buy just the skins and bolt them to your brackets or buy them complete with brackets. I bought the complete ones twice as there's no monkeying around with brackets. The last set I bought the skins and bolted them to my 4400 brackets because the spacing where they bolt to the axles is wider.


----------



## Guest (Dec 28, 2017)

Thank you sixbales, tractor beam, and Ultradog. Your advice based on experience is invaluable. Seems no one sells just the brackets, so perhaps the best long term solution is to remove the skins from a pair of OEM fenders, sand blast and paint the brackets, and then bolt on new, painted skins.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I really hate sandblasting steel if you can help it, because the surface pitting just predisposes the metal to rust in and of itself, but if you already have rust to begin with, then I'd blast the brackets only where there is the rust, then have someone who does bedliner, coat them. I did turboliner for a time, and those products are insanely tough! Maybe even have the spot that rusts through on the skins bedlinered then paint, in addition to the neoprene, and you should be fine forever!


----------



## Guest (Dec 28, 2017)

Yes tractor beam, I agree on the durability of the spray on bed liner. I had this put on a pickup years ago and never had a scratch in it or rust under it. Bought an '84 Mercury that had a similar coating factory applied up to the first contour line on doors, fenders, and rockers. Looked new at 12 years of age. Had not thought of putting it on the tractor, but would be an ideal coating for the inside of the fender brackets.....on the bottoms that sit on the axle as well for that matter.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Graysonr said:


> Yes tractor beam, I agree on the durability of the spray on bed liner. I had this put on a pickup years ago and never had a scratch in it or rust under it. Bought an '84 Mercury that had a similar coating factory applied up to the first contour line on doors, fenders, and rockers. Looked new at 12 years of age. Had not thought of putting it on the tractor, but would be an ideal coating for the inside of the fender brackets.....on the bottoms that sit on the axle as well for that matter.


Yup! Just have it applied to those areas to hold the cost down, then paint the rest yourself. If you do have someone apply the bedliner product, just have them shoot it smooth without the pebble finish. I accomplished the pebble finish by pointing the gun up toward the ceiling and tapping the trigger so that the mist fell on the coat and set. If you skip the pebble finish and go smooth, it'll be easier to paint over and blend in to your regular paint job.


----------



## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

I used shiny black, rattle can stone guard on the inside of the fenders and under the hood of every new MF we sold back in the 70's-80's.


----------



## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Graysonr said:


> View attachment 37080
> . The left one is gonna be a challenge to add the electrical conduit all the way to the dash cluster.


Can you use flex conduit? I'm speaking of the water tight sort. I assume this is for the lights?


----------



## Guest (Feb 16, 2018)

Ended up returning these fenders.


----------



## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Grayson,

I think that shimming the fenders would be the way to go. Maybe use epoxy on the shims to ensure they don't move once you've got them the way you want them.


----------



## Guest (Feb 16, 2018)

Ended up returning these fenders


----------



## Guest (Feb 17, 2018)

Thanks sixbales and tractorbeam for your inputs. I thought the leaning fender situation over through the evening and when I woke this morning, I realized I'd made the decision to not continue "jury rigging" the RAParts fenders. Shimming the inside edge of the fender bracket properly would have required another tapered shim under the bolt heads as well. Real machine shop work......enough is enough.
Two weeks to get 2 non dented fenders here, a week for painting and curing time for the painting, cutting a slot in the fender bracket for the lighting conduit....I set up the return of the fenders through Amazon this morning and then went to the New Holland parts counter and ordered a pair from them.
Lesson learned. At first sight of the new fenders, I will measure the bolt hole pattern and immediately upon returning home with them, do a test fitting on the tractor before sending them out for paint.


----------



## Guest (Feb 21, 2018)

New fenders "in the mail" due by Friday. Will measure 4 3/4" bolt hole pattern upon arrival. Will test fit to tractor. Dealer will take them back if they don't stand up straight. Defective fenders "in the mail" to the original supplier.


----------



## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

I'l mention them again cause I really like the site and have ordered thousands of $ worth of parts from them and never had a problem. Yesterdaystractors.com
As to the spacing on the bolt holes somehow you got fenders with brackets for a 4000 style tractor. Those have wider spacing for the wider axles.
About a year ago I traded for a very nice set of British style fenders for my 3000. They are different than the US style. The Brits used a wider step plate and the fenders bolt to them.
I had been running N Series fenders on it for about 10 years before that.


----------



## Guest (Feb 22, 2018)

Thanks Ultradog. NH dealer had his supplier measure bolt holes in the ones he ordered (4 3/4" ctc) and has agreed to let me mount them on the tractor to ensure correct vertical positioning. If all is not correct he will let me return them....no charge. I never thought this would be this hard.....apparently the word "fits" has a different meaning to my first supplier. Fenders from the NH dealer should be here today or Friday, so I'll know soon. I haven't disregarded what you have advised, and the English style is of some interest to me also.


----------



## Guest (Feb 22, 2018)

BTW Ultradog, any thoughts on what the color of the tool box should be?


----------



## Guest (Feb 24, 2018)

Thanks to all who offered advice.Fender update.....2 piece shipment and 1 piece got left behind at the transfer point onto the FEDEX delivery van. However, 1st fender came and fits bolt pattern on my 2000, sits vertical, bracket material is heavier gauge, better welds, better finish of cut metal where fender skin abuts bottom bracket. 2nd fender to arrive Monday. Plan to drill holes for light, light conduit, and tool box on left fender this week and have them painted next weekend. Seems all the appropriate type tool boxes come painted Ford Corporate Blue. ????? Seems the Gloss Gray would be more appropriate?


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2018)

One fender arrived Friday. Second got separated (ooops) at FEDEX delivery point. Over the weekend I temporarily mounted to axle, good fit. Drilled mounting holes for hazard warning light and wire, and tool box. Will work on wire conduit over the next day or so. 2nd fender should arrive today. Bracket is size of original fenders and heavier, better welds and better finishing where sheet metal meets bracket at bottom than 1st set that I returned. Hope to have these painted on the weekend.


----------



## Guest (Feb 27, 2018)

Fenders from (aftermarket) NH parts arrived Friday and Monday. True to his word, I brought the one home Friday and it fit perfectly on my 68 2000. So I proceeded to drill holes to mount the hazard/warning light and tool box for left fender. Cut the slot for the light conduit (3/8") in fender bracket and installed tubing to bottom of fender. However when I attempted to form swage joint at bottom of this tubing with a punch type swage tool, I messed up the tubing and will have to replace the tubing today. Joints in tubing will be formed by inserting a short piece of 1/4" tubing inside the 3/8" tubing and holding in place at the joints with "121 gutter sealer" (super tack and remains flexible). In the meantime 2nd fender arrived yesterday and fit/sat perfectly on tractor axle. Totally impressed with quality/gauge/sizing and workmanship of these fenders with the originals to compare to and also the poorly/cheaply made 1st set I returned.

Original equipment rear lights were definitely sold with tubing protecting wiring to rear fenders from the firewall area.

Painting scheduled for this weekend.

I hope lessons learned in this process so far will aid and inspire others to conserve their working tractor (this is) if not restore these older machines.


----------



## Guest (Feb 27, 2018)

Finally FEDEX has let me have both fenders. They are great, good quality and workmanship, fit well , and stand straight. Have trial fitted both. On left fender have mounted toolbox, drilled holes for hazard/warning light and wire feed through, and installed 3/8" tubing in fender to the feed through. Looking good and now after removing tool box, both fenders ready for paint.


----------



## Guest (Mar 1, 2018)

A quick update on the fender project: Fenders now out to the paint shop....feels good to have my work done. I feel the preps to mount the hazard/warning light, running the tubing to carry the hot wire, and mounting the toolbox (will have 5 bolts holding it) went well. Should have the fenders back by Monday. Next step after reinstalling light and toolbox is to continue conduit to the firewall.


----------



## Guest (Mar 8, 2018)

At the moment, really tired of kneeling at the back of this tractor fussing with the fenders. Thinking of placing votive candles on the draw bar bracket and at least use the time wisely. Painter fell down on the painting this time, a lot of orange peel on the left fender. Later I will attempt a combination of color wet sanding and rubbing it out or repaint. But for the time being, it's time to move on with installing tubing to carry hot wire down the left side of tractor to the fender mounted hazard/warning light


----------



## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Graysonr said:


> View attachment 37279
> View attachment 37278
> 
> Painter fell down on the painting this time, a lot of orange peel on the left fender. Later I will attempt a combination of color wet sanding and rubbing it out or repaint.


Looks good from here!


----------



## Guest (Mar 12, 2018)

Thanks pogobill. Just waiting on sunny days to get it out of the shed to add the light and run the conduit to the firewall.


----------



## Guest (May 20, 2018)

Ok, painter is going to redo the fender paint job this coming weekend and I had decided not to run wiring conduit from the fender up along the side of the rear end housing and transmission case until the paint on the fenders is "right". In the meantime I saw a video of a 2000 with remnants of the conduit sort of still in place on the side of the transmission housing.


----------



## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

FYI electrical supply companies have a flexible, flat, plastic product that sticks onto walls etc. that you can run wire through. It's called something like; InstaConduit???? might look good and could be painted. We used a lot of it to retro fit hard wired 120 volt smoke detectors. It could go on the 'tire' side of the fender.


----------



## Guest (May 21, 2018)

Thanks for the idea deerhide. I've already installed the conduit in the fender and drilled the mounting holes and access hole through the fender into the conduit (it will end up being hidden under the mount). It goes from the light down into the top of the rear bracket and comes out near the axle. Actually, I forgot it shows in the photos above. Shown clearly with the fender still in red primer and a little harder to see after gray paint. I have a smaller diameter tubing that fits inside this to make up the joints and will use 121 gutter adhesive to secure the joints.


----------



## Guest (Jun 7, 2018)

Ok another lesson learned. I had been relying on an "afterhours" painter to do my painting. He had performed adequately until now. When he painted these new fenders his texture and coverage varied and was not overall a satisfactory job. He offered to redo them free of charge and in fact insisted to also buy the paint from NH. However after 2 weeks sitting in the shop, I gave up and picked up the fenders (he gave me the paint). I took them to the body/paint shop that has kept my autos looking good and they agreed to take on the job (costing just a bit more than the part timer, but also had to clean up the mess left by the part timer). I saw the fenders at the shop yesterday and they are fantastic. Shop owner recommended I pick them up after lunch today so the paint could cure. Once home, I will let them cure another day and install them tomorrow. Looking forward to running the conduit for the light from the fender forward to the firewall.


----------



## Guest (Jun 7, 2018)

Ok site working better. Got the fenders home this afternoon. NH paint is still a bit tender so am letting them cure in the sun and an occasional cold water bath as advised by the body shop.


----------



## Guest (Jun 10, 2018)

Got fenders home Thursday, mounted them Friday and added light and toolbox on Saturday. Conduit and wiring in progress. Meanwhile the light switch failed sometime in the past few months while the fenders were off. Waiting for new switch.


----------



## Guest (Jun 14, 2018)

Got the electrical conduit to the fender light installed today. Learning to use the tubing bender was an uphill battle, but I think I'm pleased with the result


----------



## Guest (Jul 5, 2018)

I learned a lot about the theory of "what can go wrong usually will" in this project.


----------



## eddie0225 (Aug 19, 2018)

oh was just reading this if you run into an area of metal that wants to keep rusting there is a way to stop it. I learned this a long time ago working on metal used for knives and stuff. if before you paint the area get a buffer and a drop or 2 of really good high temp oil, flaxseed is what I found to do best and buff that into the areas that are prone to rust hopefully you've got a high-speed buffer as you'll need to buff it till the metal dis-colors doesn't take as long as you think. If you do this and then paint it with a good metal primer then paint it with a good paint it won't start rusting from there again or at least I've never seen any unless it gets water under the paint somehow. As long as it is sealed good it doesn't start to rust anymore


----------



## Guest (Sep 8, 2018)

thanks Eddie.


----------



## eddie0225 (Aug 19, 2018)

just trying to help return a little of all the help you all have given


----------



## Guest (Sep 8, 2018)

I do appreciate that Eddie. I am probably more dependent on tradesmen than most guys on here. I consider myself fortunate though in that I found a small independent tractor repair shop for mechanical work I can't handle, an auto body shop for spray painting I can't handle, and a machine shop for the odd bit of fabrication or sand blasting. All with older owners who for some reason like to see my 50+ year old Ford preserved. Also a diligent guy at the parts counters of my CNH dealer and NAPA. The guys at the used parts place I told you about have come up with used oem external parts that were well worth refinishing. I'm using oem paint obtained from the CNH dealer. Even the auto repair shop I've used for 20+years has helped by ordering and mounting both front and rear tires (and recommending the tractor mechanic).


----------



## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

I 'painted' the hood of a walk-behind David Bradley with fish oil. It was practically rust,for finish. It brightened it up and it stayed that way for years..............


----------

