Front Fender Patch Panels for 1965 Bonneville?

[AttaGirlStace]

Hi there, I'm new to this site. My grandpa has given me his 1965 Pontiac Bonneville Coupe. It hasn't been started since 1990, and we were able to get her started here a little bit ago. She's in great shape but her front fenders are rusted through just over the wheel well trim. I'm planning on fixing her up to better-than-new (not restoring her to stock/numbers matching). I've attached a photo of the car and you can see the rust on one of the fenders.

I was wondering if anyone makes a patch panel for these fenders, or if I will need to try and find some rust-free fenders to repair them with? The fenders are in perfect condition (the entire car is dent and bondo free) so I really don't want to replace the entire fender if I don't have to.

If there is no patch panel, have any of you any experience with repairing rusted-through fenders with sheet metal? I've never done body work, but I'm a mechanical engineer with some welding experience (but don't claim to be an expert on any of this stuff!)

Thanks so much for your help!

Best,
Stacie

[65WJ]

No patch panels availble. If you are good with metal working you could repair them. Or contact indiana pontiacs or pontiac heaven to see if they will ship fenders.

patrick

[AttaGirlStace]

Thank you, Patrick! My husband thinks we should be able to cut the rust out and repair with sheet metal without too many problems. Thank you also for the resources you mentioned -- I'll keep them in mind as well.

Happy New Year!

Stacie

[Larry]

It is sort of an unusual spot for the rust. It would appear snow, or ? got packed up there. I would check closely to be sure there isn't any rust down inthe more typical area in the area behind the wheel well at the bottom.

If not, then the fender should be solid enough to make a candidate to spend some time repairing. If the inner fender lip is still solid, that will be a good place to build from. If not, it will be a little more complicated.

I have seen people cut out the entire "eyebrow" of the fender to replace rust like this, but that is usually in the rear fenders. Remember anything is possible, but the impossible just takes a little longer!

The others are correct about patch panels for this area. They usually only have lower fender stuff. But if you do find you need other items, check Classic-2-Current listed under "AFFILIATES" then "Member Discounts." They have lots of sheet metal items and give our members a nice discount too. Indiana Pontiacs or Frank's Pontiac Parts are very good sources for used parts too.

Keep us posted on your progress. Pretty cool to have your Grandpa's old Pontiac to restore.

[super]

The '65 Pontiac full-size cars are well known for rusting in this area. Almost all fenders I tried to locate for my nephews '65 project had small amounts of rust here. His cars fenders did not have rust, but the car had been ran in the back of a semi when I purchased it.

I know Steve from Pontiac Heaven had some rust free fenders. I contacted him several years ago. Reasonable price too.

I personally would repair the fenders. Probably best to remove from car too. Put it on a table (saw horses and plywood) or other means to make it easier to work on. This will also allow you to paint the fender front and back to try and keep rust from coming back to this area. Nice looking car.

These cars drive incredible! First year for the turbo 400 (tough transmission!!!!!).

Good luck.

[AttaGirlStace]

Thanks for all of your responses. Wow, what a great group. I tend to get "analysis paralysis" so this helps a lot.

I'm so grateful to have this car. Lots of memories of it... it was my grandma's daily driver up until 1990, and my grandpa took incredible care of it. The interior is really nice (he kept the seats covered with blankets and the dash covered with cardboard after he parked it). Mechanically it seems very sound (has about 115,000 miles on it) and he kept it serviced and taken care of. The rust is from the hard winters in Butte, Montana. Lots of snow and ice, and road salt. I couldn't believe that all we had to do was change the oil and filter, put some gas and a new battery in her, and she started right up. The dash lights and taillights even work! Power steering works great, tranny shifts great. SO excited for this!

I have fond memories of being strapped in the front seat with my little sister (bucket seat) -- we were both small enough to fit, and it was important to my grandma that we were buckled in (since the back seat had no seat belts).

Thanks again! I will keep everyone posted on our progress.

Best,
Stacie

[Larry]

Sounds like a great, well cared for car. Again, you are so lucky to have a piece of family history to be the caretaker of now.

The mechanics of a Pontiac of that vintage will go on seemingly forever with proper simple maintenance. They will loose a little compression as the age, but don't we all?!

Not to scare you, but the one thing Pontiacs are famous for is the timing chain needing replacement right about between your present mileage and 125k. I would recomment replacing the timing chain and at least the cam gear soon before it leaves you stranded one day. My Pontiacs seem to skip a chain like clockwork at about 120k.

It is a vert simple job and a good excuse to replace the water pump at the same time. Even someone with "analysis paralysis" can do this on an afternoon at home. Parts are probably still redialy available at your local NAPA store.