VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 '37 front fender welting

Hello Everyone,

I have started reassembly of the nose of my '37. The hood is on and I'm getting ready to mount the fenders. I've run into a problem with the welting kit I received from Cof's.

The rubber parts that go on the inner fender panel aren't even close to lining up. The diagram / instructions claim they are good for '37 to'54 and the parts bag reads '37/'38. The hockey stick shaped piece is too short and the long flat pieces are also too short.

I'm asking those of you have done this work, did you use the Cof's kit and did you have the same problems??

The welting for the fenders appear to be of the correct length but lack a "canvas" extension that is on what I think are original welting but appear to have new rivets. I know the nose has been apart before, so the welting may have been replaced.

I bought the same kit for the 38 and also had some trouble with the gaskets. For me they were too thin so I ended up buying a section of neoprene from McMaster Carr and cut gaskets of the same shape but of the thicker material, 1/4 inch. I also used the neoprene to make gaskets for the back of the front fenders where they mount to the running boards.

For the fender welt I put tabs of masking tape on the tongue of the welt at 8 to 10 inch intervals. Once the fender and the welt were put back on the car, before tightening the bolts, I used the tabs to pull the welting tight to the gap as I tightened the bolts, moving down the fender, front to back. That made it easy to get a tight fit of the welting to the gap.

I made a rivet tool to rivet the gaskets to the fender. It ended up working good though.

Brian

Hello Brian,

Thanks. I accidentally bought 2 kits. (Forgot I had it and ordered a second.) So both kits were exactly the same.....short. I guess I'm going to combine both and punch my own holes.

It would be nice if parts fit as advertised.

Ain't that a fact!!

When I took the front fenders off my '38, a few paper clips fell out. Looks like the body shop that painted it black many years ago used paper clips to hold the welts in place.

I have a couple 25' rolls of it ready to put on, will use the old ones as a guide.

I can take pics of the old ones if anyone wants to see 'em.