Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?

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    Author Topic: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?  (Read 3701 times)

    Offline KillerBee

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    Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « on: December 12, 2005 - 07:06:51 PM »
    Got a call tonite from a guy who's restoring a 1970 R/T Challenger.
    He said his car currently has nice 1970 fenders for a car with 14" wheel and he needs fenders for a 15" wheel car  :dunno:
    I have a set of 1970 Challenger fenders that have been sitting in my basement for many moons and he wanted to know if my fenders were for a 14" wheel car or 15"...I don't have a clue.
    I always thought the 14" vs. 15" fenders was just an unproven rumor and really if there was any difference it was just a slight tweek or rolling in on the inside lip on the fender.
    So for the experts was there a real difference that can be proven?
    How can I tell if my fenders or anyone else's fenders were for a 14" or 15" wheel Challenger?
    Any specific part number, special marking or modification on the fenders?
    If it matters my fender were off an original 1970 440 sixpack R/T SE Challenger.

    Thanks in advance.  :clapping:
    « Last Edit: December 12, 2005 - 07:09:53 PM by KillerBee »
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    Offline 70Cuda

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #1 on: December 12, 2005 - 11:27:34 PM »
    I've heard this too.  Here are a couple pictures off of my V-code car.  Do yours look the same?

    These look kind of notched to me.  If I could get to my parts manual I'd take a look.

    You might review this thread http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=1183.0 and and see if Grrreen can answer you.
    « Last Edit: December 12, 2005 - 11:34:19 PM by 70Cuda »
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    Offline js27

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #2 on: December 13, 2005 - 10:11:42 AM »
    I believe the notched fenders were for 15 inch wheel because the 15 inch tires rubbed on a full turn. I also believe the fenders are the same except for the notch. I am  sure you could notch the 14 inch fenders yourself.
    JS27
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    1967 GTX
    1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Conv.

    Offline Street_Challenged73

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #3 on: December 13, 2005 - 10:30:54 AM »
    To my knowledge, I think the only difference were the 15"s were rolled up more than the 14"s.  I don't know about the notch being the only difference because I know my '73 had 14"s from the factory, yet I have that notch there.  Perhaps they did notch them out for the 15"s in the earliler years, found out it works well for 14"s too, so they just began doing that in the later years. :dunno:
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    1973 Dodge Challenger......................The ongoing project. (00/----\00)
    1991 Dodge Stealth R/T Twin-Turbo....The sunny day cruiser (RTBoost)
    1990 Toyota Celica GT Liftback...........The new daily & winter driver.
    All-American Muscle: 'Cudas and Challengers...Still the Elite and always will be.

                                                                                                 
                     
    Street_Challenged73 from Wisconsin

    Offline GoMango

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #4 on: December 13, 2005 - 01:37:00 PM »
    From what I understand, if the car was ordered with 15" wheels the fenders were "supposed to be" rolled on the assembly line (there are 15" cars out there that did not have the mod). My 440 6-pack car came with 14" magnums and only have the notch at the top.
    This was 1 of the BIG questions since repop fenders are coming out but the fenders are the same, just depends if it needs the rolled lip or not.
    Hope this helps...
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    70 Challenger R/T
    (Back on the road--1st time since '96)

    Offline 70Cuda

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #5 on: December 13, 2005 - 07:43:17 PM »
    Do my pictures above look like the 15" fenders?  I have yet to find my build sheet and that was the only way I found out my '71 is a ralley rim car since it wasn't on the fender tag.
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    Offline jshoop

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #6 on: December 13, 2005 - 08:06:40 PM »
    I am curious about this as well.  This is a little off topic, but when Ii bought my 1970 Challenger it was a basket case.  It came with the chrome things that go in the wheel wells.  They look just like ones I've seen on other Challengers and follow the same shape as the fender but are roughly 1 inch to small.  My car was a six cylinder three speed low option car.  However it could have different fenders on it.  I was always curious if the wheel well size was true or not.
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    Offline cudacharlie

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #7 on: December 14, 2005 - 01:05:01 AM »
    The 15-inch fender, or "hemi fender", is the same part as the non-hemi fender, and the only difference seems to be the rolled lip.  I have seen the notches also, but not in all cases, could that have been a user mod?  I saw NOS rolled fenders with no notches.... hmmm.  The wheel opening itself is not a different size.  If you see a survivor hemi car, it should have the rolled lip fenders and an extra fender tag that says simply "HEMI FENDER", similar to the extra tag on T/A and AAR cars that says "TRANS AM".  (Were T/A and AAR fenders rolled too?)

    But what about wheel well moldings on "hemi fenders"?  Was it cut back, notched, narrowed, or trimmed?  Anybody got a survivor hemi-fender car with wheel well moldings?  Anybody seen a "hemi fender" tag on any non-hemi cars?

     :popcorn:
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    70 Cuda convert
    70 Charger R/T
    06 Magnum SRT8

    Offline jshoop

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #8 on: December 14, 2005 - 10:41:57 AM »
    I forgot to add on my last post that my car had the 73-74 louvers on them.  They could have been off of a later model Challenger.  Could they have slightly enlarged them on later year cars?   
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    Offline 71 shaker

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #9 on: December 18, 2005 - 07:57:47 PM »
    years back i saw a totaled 70 cuda 340 with the tag that said hemi fenders .this was a 340 car four speed,yellow,black top with window louvers.back bumber was pushed under rear window.hit preety hard but fenders were sold to someone looking for hemi fenders.couldnt see the diff
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    Offline JeffAARy

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    Re: Special Challenger fenders for 15" wheels.... fact or fiction?
    « Reply #10 on: December 23, 2005 - 07:28:44 AM »
    Rolled fenders are a fact, and are necessary.  AARs and TAs were supposed to get them (don't know if they all did), although they did not come with the Hemi Fender tag.  I've owned two AARs, an original that needed a resto and one that was resto'd already.  The original had the rolled fenders.  The restored car was redone with standard fenders and I could not crank the steering wheel all the way or my tires would rub the fender lip.  If you had 15" wheels, you needed the rolled lip.  What got really interesting was if you had wheel lip moldings on a rolled fender.  I've seen an original unrestored Hemicuda with these.  It looked like they took a grinding wheel to the molding and cut a groove in it and then bent what was left out of the way.
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