fillers for 1975 eldo

[david rothman #11752]

I want to replace the fillers for the front fenders and the the rear bezels (under the truck lid).

Id like to locate a source for replacement fillers.  I havent been able to find NOS parts.    If anyone purchased these parts, please let me know the vendors you used and if you were satisfied with the parts.  

David

[Mike Josephic #3877]

David:

For my 1973 Eldo I used two sources. Ted Holcombe in
Bensalem, Pa for NOS stuff and USA Parts in Virginia
for repro parts.

I had to use a combination of both to get the best fit.
The advantage of the USA parts is that they are ABS and
paint easily, but some fitting is required (easily done
with a Dremel tool).  Also, you can paint them with
standard lacquer paint without the flex agent, a great
advantage.  Mine still look good after 5+ years.  

USAs number is 703-335-1935.  Teds number is
215-245-4560.

Call me if you need more info.  Regards to Toni.

Mike

[Tim Groves clc 23586]

I can get them from my supplier.  They are made from ABS plastic.  The front fender extensions are $125 each, and the rear bezels are $140 for the pair.  You can call me at 864-348-3209 (eastern time zone) for more information.  Tim

[Bill Hedge CLC 14424]

David:  

   It has been my observation that there are probably as many opinions on this subject as there are people who have these cars.  Everything that I have read seems to indicate that the consensus on the ABS and fiberglass fillers is that they are better than nothing, but generally leave a lot to be desired in terms of fit.  If you use the search function at the top of this message board heading you will receive a window that has a menu of choices.  If you type in fillers as the word to search for in the search box and select All forums in the Options box and then select search, your search should reveal 66 total posts.  While not all of the posts will be relevant, you should be able to garner a great deal of knowledge, opinions, and sources for replacement fillers.

   My experience has been that if you can locate a good used filler you will have a more satisfactory result.  I have a 74 Eldo convertible and a 75 Cadillac Mirage pickup with less than 4,000 miles on it.  The 75 Cadillac Mirage is essentially a Coupe De Ville with the trunk and back seat removed and a pick up bed inserted.  I have had the pleasure of replacing the rear bumper and rear fender fillers on both these vehicles.  

   The bumper filler on my 74 Eldorado convertible is either an ABS plastic or fiberglass product.  While not a perfect fit, with a little grinding and a nip and tuck here and there, it fits very well and most people, short of touching it, would have a difficult time telling the difference from that of an original.   Fortunately, I had some time to look on Ebay for used rear fender fillers so that when it came time to replace the fender fillers I had several used fillers.  I picked the best set, had them painted to look like new, and I now have a car that has the fender fillers that were designed for the car.  The only downside to this solution is that I am sure my new filler is going to eventually dry out and disintegrate as did the original, and I will have to repeat the process.  I have already purchased a replacement set in anticipation of such an event.  

   Although my 75 Mirage pickup has less than 4,000 miles on it, the drivers side fender and bumper fillers needed replacement.   I first obtained a fiberglass or ABS plastic set of fender and bumper fillers.   Before installing the bumper filler, I noticed that the side of the filler located next to the gas tank did not seem to have any way of installing the plastic chrome piece that should be located there.  Over the last four or five years, when I observed a 74, 75 or 76, I made a special effort to see how this issue was addressed.  It seems that the original fillers had a “lip” on them which allowed one to simply slip the piece of chrome plastic over the lip.  On most of the replacement fillers I have observed where the plastic chrome has been installed, a slit has been cut along the side of the filler where it meets with the front and the plastic chrome inserted into this opening.  On my 75 I had my body man cut the slit with a dremmel tool, insert a piece of metal into this opening and then use a fiberglass gel to attach the metal to the filler.  This solution seems to have worked well.

   The fiberglass replacement filler that I purchased for the rear fender was another story.  I removed over a half an inch in width and they were still too long.  I did have the filler installed, but if you looked at the passenger side which still had the original, one could see where the replacement is deficient.  One area in which the replacement was deficient was the length of the filler.  Although I had removed over a half an inch of length from the filler, it was still too long in some places and covered up too much of the chrome bumper tail light.  Another deficiency is that the replacement did not have the “lip” on the inside of the filler.  This would probably not be too noticeable if one did not have an original with which to compare it.   However, once you know what is supposed to be there, there is a discernable difference.  I solved the problem by replacing the old filler with a good used filler which had been removed from a junk yard car and which I had repainted to match the paint on my car.

   As far as where to purchase these fillers, you can find ABS and fiberglass replacement filler sets for both the front and rear advertised in the “Self Starter”, Hemmings, and Ebay.  You can find fillers removed from wrecked cars for sale at swap meets and on Ebay.  

   You can occasionally you can find NOS sets of the plastic chrome on Ebay.  I also purchased a set at the Iowa grand national.  You will find the NOS pieces to be VERY expensive.  As Bill Edmunds noted in his post, a more economical approach would be to purchase some of the plastic chrome beading that, although not a perfect replacement, is suitable.

   As I was composing this response I could not help but think that this might be a good subject for a “Self Starter” article and/or a tech seminar at a future grand national.  This subject might lend itself to good group discussion and/or a “show and tell” type discussion at the tech seminar?  I suspect that there would be a lively discussion and probably more and maybe better suggestions/solutions than I have offered here.