NOS?

[70cobrascj]

What’s the best way to determine if this fender and tail light panel is NOS?
The fender has remnants of the yellow and white Ford sticker but not much.
Thanks

 

[Bentworker]

No idea on the fender. Tail panel is easy. All the repop tail panels have holes for the 73 bumper filler, no holes and it has to be NOS. If the tail light mounting brackets are square and usable out of the box it is probably NOS. The tail light brackets on the repop panels often need to be reworked / relocated. Another big tell is the uniformity of the sheetmetal where the tail light hole is stamped. If it is OEM the lip near the gasket will be uniform, somewhere around 5/16” the repops are spastic, the sheet metal around the tail lights will vary from about 1/4”-7/16”.

 

[Rick@NPD]

I'm 99.99999% certain that both are NOS.. Bentworker nailed it on the taillight panel. And the fender, 71-73 reproduction fenders haven't EXISTED long enough for one to gain that level of patina LOL... And indeed, that's an old yellow/white Ford shipping label, Taiwan labels/stickers are always monochrome, whether they're yellow or pink or whatever...

NOS...

 

[70cobrascj]

Thanks Rick I don’t doubt the guys story that he bought them a long time at Jennings Ford in Woodbury TN. He was also a long time Mustang guy. They cleaned up pretty good for now. The fender just had light surface rust.
I guess 400 for both isn’t too bad.

 

[Rick@NPD]

Thanks Rick I don’t doubt the guys story that he bought them a long time at Jennings Ford in Woodbury TN. He was also a long time Mustang guy. They cleaned up pretty good for now. The fender just had light surface rust.
I guess 400 for both isn’t too bad. View attachment 82255

Not too bad at all... You got both panels for less than the price of one reproduction fender. And if it was local enough that you picked them up yourself, there's another $250-$350 you saved in freight, not to mention the risk of damage when shipping TF. You did quite well!!

 

[70cobrascj]

Not too bad at all... You got both panels for less than the price of one reproduction fender. And if it was local enough that you picked them up yourself, there's another $250-$350 you saved in freight, not to mention the risk of damage when shipping TF. You did quite well!!

Yeah they were 20 minutes from me that’s one of the reasons I jumped on them and didn’t even haggle with him.
Best thing is I also made a local Mustang guy connection.

 

[MikeGriese]

Avoiding shipping is a Good Thing. I bought an NOS '71 convertible left side rear quarter panel years ago for super low money. Yellow Freight folded it in half cramming another box into the trailer. Fortunately their insurance was good for it.

 

[70cobrascj]

Avoiding shipping is a Good Thing. I bought an NOS '71 convertible left side rear quarter panel years ago for super low money. Yellow Freight folded it in half cramming another box into the trailer. Fortunately their insurance was good for it.

Yikes
I bought a mint A/C box and blower box off eBay cheap and the guy just put them both in one box and both showed up busted.
Hard to find a nice one.

 

[bkdunha]

Repro fenders have a dimple every few inches pressed into the bend where it transitions from the top of the inner apron in the engine bay to the vertical area that creates the relief for the hood to set in. They added these dimples to meet current crumple zone requirements based on new government standards. The original parts do not have the crumple reliefs on fender.

 

[947166]

I believe that fender is an original because the original Ford fenders had a date code stamped into the lip of the fender on the hood side, just like in the second photo. Reproduction fenders do not have the date code.