Front Fender Replacement

[Nicolas Aristodemou]

I am about to have my front fenders of my 1970 280SL replaced. Apparently during a previous restoration some "unprofessional"  work was done (I am only trying to be polite) , headlamp buckets missing completely and a lot of filler used to mask repairs and prepare the fender for a gleaming paintwork. The car being a US model had European one piece headlamp lenses covering the original US headlamp unit, with hand painted reflectors and missing headlamp bowls.

When I bought a couple of European complete headlamp units they wouldn't fit into the existing cavity and looking deeper and deeper the whole problem became evident.

I have therefore sourced 2 complete front fenders and headlamp buckets plus the whole front end of the car which joins the 2 fenders together and houses the front grille. All these parts came from Poland (Warsaw supplier as mentioned in this Forum) at a "reasonable" cost compared to other suppliers in Europe.

Now however, I am being advised that it would not be correct to remove completely the old fenders, especially the welded seam along the length of the engine bay (where the outer fender is welded to the inner fender) and instead to cut pieces form the new fenders and use them repair the existing fenders. I am told that the lines and gaps of the car will not be perfect as they are now and that it would be very difficult for the repair shop to get everything right.

This seems strange to me having to butcher a new part, if however, that is the way it has to be done I would ask my body repair shop to do this. Is there indeed a serious problem with removing the whole fenders and replacing them with the new ones? Or should I ignore this advice and proceed with full replacement (as I would like to do).

Any views appreciated.

[MikeSimon]

Nicolas: I am not a body expert and I have no direct experience with replacing W113 front fenders, but here is what I know:
When I shopped for my 280SL in 1982 in Germany, I was given some pointers by a Mercedes guy. One of them was to look for front fender rust and replacement. He said I should make sure that any fender replacement was done properly, i.e.: a whole fender replacement all the way back to the windshield corner. Sure enough, I saw a couple of cars during my hunt, which had the old front fender cut at about an inch in front of the firewall and then the new part welded on to that. The car I bought had been through an accident with  front right corner damage and the previous owner had it repaired. The fender was properly welded on as a whole. There is no vertical weld seam visible on the inside fender.

[jeffc280sl]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wqk7515rg19cv5i/AACucDQghyYile4kJriz_GxWa?dl=0

Maybe Stickandrudderman will see your post.  if you haven't seen his post maybe his photos will help

[Shvegel]

Virtually every exterior panel on my car was replaced and all were done as whole panels with proper spot welds and seams.  The repairs are undetectable.

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures with me.  I may have some after E-coat primer dip was performed.

[Shvegel]

Here is one showing to fender top seam with proper spot welds.  The inner fender was also replaced as well.

[Pawel66]

Working on body is a science-fiction to me. Similarly to other types of work, actually...

I did all my chassis using the parts from the same supplier as you mentioned. I am attaching pictures - nobody cut any fenders into pieces...

[stickandrudderman]

You need to find a body shop capable of doing the work properly. Replacing complete front fenders is a very difficult job to get right; one has to be mindful of not only correct gaps but correct headlight fitting and alignment. Pay attention to the fact that the mounting points in the headlamp buckets are M4 thread; so many body shops will just use self-tapping screws, even in a brand new headlamp bucket. Nobody should be considering cutting up a new panel to weld part of it to the old one. The use of a spot welder does create the right "look" but unless the rest of the car is perfect then I would consider it an aesthetic detail rather than a requirement. See my pictures in my other thread and be warned.

[Nicolas Aristodemou]

Thanks to everybody for valuable inputs. It seems that the consensus is to remove completely the old fenders and replace them with the new ones.

I hope my body repair shop is up to the mark.

Nicolas

[dirkbalter]

Removing the old fenders will also allow you to thoroughly inspect the cross members running along the inner fenders.  These are known trouble areas. Mine were paper thin. These tend to rust from the inside out. A little poke with a screw driver created a hole. A great time to replace them if necessary.