Freak_Z

Hey everyone, the name is Bill. I come from thirdgen.org and just sold my 85 Iroc. I went ahead and picked up a 98 Z28 for $3,200 with 140,000 miles. Car runs strong but has some body damage. I notice there a splits in the front and rear bumper but they cant be noticed without crawling under the car. I was wondering if I should go ahead and order a new front and rear bumper or should I just have the current ones repaired at the local body shop when I send the car in to be repainted.Any input? Also currently I am undecided on a hood option for the car. The car had ground effects that I removed. Finally, a damaged fender that also was removed and but have not decided on either a Ebay fender or OEM. Any advice? I will post some pictures so everyone has an idea what I am working with. Sorry for the long post.

Freak_Z

wow good stuff. Good to know this thread has 59 views with 0 replies. Perhaps I did something wrong. Either way thank you LS1tech for the support.

Silver6sp

iTrader: (2)

OEM fender, I have aftermarket fenders and they just don't line up right. Did you remove factory ground effects? I'm looking for the front pieces

Thumpin305

iTrader: (5)

OEM fenders will ALWAYS fit much better than anything aftermarket. Buy the correct GM fender once and don't worry about it.

But I am a fan of VHN fiberglass products. They have a very nice hoods, fenders, etc that might be cheaper.

And don't get so ancy on the lack of replies. People don't reply when they don't have an answer or know how to help. Zero replies are better than 59 crappy ones that don't help ya.

Freak_Z

I did remove the ground effects. I currently only have the rear bumper and side I believe the passenger side skirt. The others were junk. Thank you for your advice bud.

Freak_Z

You have a very good point. Would you happen to have any idea on how a Sunoco hood fits while we are on the subject of VHN. And I will go OEM.

LT4vert

iTrader: (3)

I would rather re-finish a junkyard used OEM fender than use an aftermarket. Ive never had much luck with any car. There always seems to be anomalies. As far as the front bumper is concerned, if the shop in question repairs the cracks correctly for less than the cost of an OEM I would go for it. Correctly, meaning plastic welded and build up with proper flexible urethane filler. On urethane traditional body filler or fiberglass is not the correct solution, yet is seemingly the most widely used method.

Zark

iTrader: (1)

+1 on the use of an OEM fender. I have an aftermarket rear fender on my V6 and it doesn't fit for crap. I vote for a plain old SS hood if you can find an OEM one for a decent price.

Freak_Z

Thank you everyone for the replies. I found an aftermarket fender for $20.00 on craigslist. I will end up giving it a try and if it does not look right I will drop the coin on a OEM fender. You cant go wrong trying for $20.00

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

FWIW I had an aftermarket fender on my old car because it was cheaper than OEM and I had a tight budget, and it actually fit quite well after some fiddling. Not all aftermarket are created equal, and I know some are really bad, so YMMV. I may have just lucked out.

NnOoSsSs

iTrader: (1)

Yea not a bad move with the aftermarket for that price.

The_Bird

That's the way these forums work. A lot of people check out threads, but only a few people tend to respond. That might be for the best, since not everyone is an expert in every problem.