Inner fenders for my 1986 CUCV Blazer

[tom lovinggood]

Hello--both of the inner fender wells on my 86 Blazer CUCV have a lot of rust on them, and I have decided I need to get some new ones. LMC makes them for the Blazer, but I was wondering if anyone else has swapped them out and can pass on some hints on installing the new ones, so I don't have to rip up my knuckes so much. Thanks in advance

Tom Lovinggood

 

[cucvrus]

Easy. Just take off your front wheels and let the front suspension hang. Support the frame. You can get the inner fender aprons out from each fender very easily. You will need to drill the 5/16" holes for the battery trays on the right fender and the oil cooler lines on the left inner fender. I would highly recommend that you spray a good quality under coating or a prime and paint on the inner fenders before you install them. i installed new inner fenders and just left them with the wash primer that they come in and they rusted thru in 5 years of Pennsylvania winters. I have some that I did the right way and they are going on ten years and looking as good as the day they were installed. i also clean and coat the battery trays. I done a few for a couple people on this site. they can vouch for my work. Take care and if the bolts are bad replace them with 5/16" bolts and flat washers. Happy Holidays.

 

[Rvitko]

As Cucvrus said, I would add though that the Cucv passenger liner has 3 reinforcements that are spot welded, I drilled out the welds and welded them in the new one. That is optional unless you plan to use 6tmf batteries or are a stickler for keeping it original. I got my liner from Jc Whitney and there were already dimples for where the battery tray holes need to be drilled.

 

[cucvrus]

I used a grinder and ground all the old inner fender from the reinforcements. Then I just stitch welded them old reinforcements in place and it looked 100% OE. But some of them have a lot of spot welds holding them and would look like Swiss cheese if you drill all the spot welds. But the upside is you can weld all the holes shut and attach them to your new inner aprons. I remember back in the day when the reinforcements were sold separately. I think I still have a few. But grinding them out is a real hoot and a nice spark show. And on a budget if the aprons are only rusted at the rear reinforcements you can just cut a nice piece and add it. I used Plastic mud flaps to patch up Terminus M1009's left inner fender. It had no place on the out fender left to attach the inner fender. Ouch. I cut a few strips of 12 GA steel and stitch welded it to the outer fender inside so I could attach the existing inner fender. I like making things work and fabbing inexpensive solutions to "it don't matter as long as it holds up" vehicles. I feel the fender and aprons are already rusty and it don't really matter. I just want to keep some of the mud off the engine. I am NOT building museum pieces. If I was I would just park one as is and it would be more authentic looking. Happy Holidays.

 

[Drock]

I replaced my passenger side inner fender a little over a year ago do to battery acid rotting it out. The original braces were rotted and unsaveable. I was in a hurry and just installed the fender as is, with no braces and have had no problems. That being said I used optima batteries rather then the big heavy "tractor" batteries these trucks came with.

 

[nyoffroad]

Make sure you get all new hardware, meaning the 5/16 bolts and the u-nuts that mount in the fender itself! If the inner fenders rusty then the u nuts will be too, some will break and spin be prepared to cut the bolt when that happens. Like cucvus said leave the axle hang and just lift the new one in place and start the two bigger bolts (3/8 thread 9/16 head)and leave ALL bolts loose till you have all of them started. If you tighten them as you go you'll run into alignment problems.
look around on amazon or ebay for the hardware mounting kits, lot better price than buying one at a time at the auto parts store or getting a box of a 100 at some other places.

 

[tom lovinggood]

Does anyone know of a source for the battery supports that are welded to the passenger side fender well?
Thanks in advance

Tom Lovinggood

 

[cucvrus]

Do you have the old inner fender? If NOT just use fender washers. That inner support is not needed unless you plan on air dropping the vehicle. Just make sure you have the upper supports correctly attached. I have changed many inner fender aprons and have had no failures if everything else is in place and properly fastened. I mean properly. Ratchet straps and perforated pipe strapping are not correct support methods. And sheet metal screws and pop rivets are also frowned upon as providing support. If you have the old inner fenders grind the inner fender side and remove the old supports. Duplicate the old supports with a vise and some strips of 16-12 gauge metal. Preferably something that is thicker then the inner aprons themselves. Good luck. Happy Holidays.

 

[tom lovinggood]

CUCVITIS--I purchased an inner fender for the driver's side from LMC Trucks and I painted it with two coats of Rustoleum. However, I noticed that on the side nearest the engine, there are no holes drilled for mounting on that side. I presume that I will now have to drill holes to bolt to the frame??

 

[cucvrus]

The inner fender apron side near the frame/engine nor any part of the inner fender apron is frame mounted. The inner fender apron attaches to the outer fender inner structure and the cab floor assembly. You may have to drill holes to mount oil cooler lines. Not sure what you are referring to.

 

[tom lovinggood]

The inner fender has holes that are drilled to mount to the inner fender. The holes are my existing inner fender go all the way around, with two holes on the front flange and two on the rear. There are several holes that are drilled that will mate up to the top of the fender, the side being the farthest away from the engine. There are no holes on my new inner fender that correspond to several holes drilled on the side of the apron that is on the side next to the engine. I also have the holder for the jack that I would like to mount to the top of the fender well. I will have to dril two holes for that. If you can't already tell, I am not too mechanically inclined and I envison an evening of shouting, cursing and screaming getting the old fender well off and the new one installed.

 

[TGP (IL)]

You will have to drill whatever holes you don't have for options added.
GM replacements, and higher end aftermarket pieces will have dimples where the holes go but
Not drilled, and not all holes either.
Tom

 

[tom lovinggood]

TGP--Yes, thank you. I was hoping this project would be simple on-off, but it doesn't look like it will be. Wish me luck

 

[joshuak]

The inner fender has holes that are drilled to mount to the inner fender. The holes are my existing inner fender go all the way around, with two holes on the front flange and two on the rear. There are several holes that are drilled that will mate up to the top of the fender, the side being the farthest away from the engine. There are no holes on my new inner fender that correspond to several holes drilled on the side of the apron that is on the side next to the engine. I also have the holder for the jack that I would like to mount to the top of the fender well. I will have to drill two holes for that. If you can't already tell, I am not too mechanically inclined and I envison an evening of shouting, cursing and screaming getting the old fender well off and the new one installed.

Those holes are for the splash guard. As mentioned before you'll need to drill them.




I recently installed both driver and passenger side inner fenders, both from LMC. I found the need to do some trimming and some massaging to get them in.

Red lines on the following image shows where I trimmed, both sides needed it.



Not sure if your familiar with the Technical Manuals available for your truck, but they are available for free here and you may find Section 10-6, in the TM-34, WHEEL HOUSE PANEL AND SPLASH GUARD REPLACEMENT to be helpful.

Good luck

 

[HAWKMAN]

Does anyone know of a source for the battery supports that are welded to the passenger side fender well?
Thanks in advance

Tom Lovinggood

I have them N.O.S. PM me

 

[86M1008Cucv]

Do you have the front inner fenders NOS? I am in need of some asap.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Welcome to SS, but that's a two year old thread. You might want to PM him - he's more likely to see your message.

Lots of folks have had good success with the copies from LMC. NOS is going to be very hard to find.

 

[86M1008Cucv]

I just purchased some from LMC... but my reinforment peices are very rusty and some are even gone... can I do without them? I may be able to save the two under the battery trays.

 

[cucvmule]

Welcome to the Forum, although I am new also.

When I go to the local salvage yards I look at every 81 to 91 Chevrolet truck or Blazer, Suburban and buy the good condition doors, fenders, wheel wells, hoods, tailgates. I will never run out of replacement parts because I spend the time and source the parts when they are starting to become scarce. Have a definite affection for Chevrolet, GMC trucks.

Some parts will never be available again. If you find a replacement you may need to either pay for the replacement and help fabricate that part, or fabricate one for yourself, or use an alternate part from another Brand of Vehicle.

Think it is hard now, wait 5 more years. When the Federal Government had buyback bounties on old cars to buy new Vehicles to promote helping the car companies, indirectly killed the salvaging of parts for serviceable cars and trucks because those vehicles could not be salvaged but scraped, melted. Military Vehicles are even harder for parts because of the special need to be resilient and interchange with MV's.

The parts may be out there, you will have to continue the hunt, be patient. Good Luck

 

[86M1008Cucv]

Thanks for the reply! Good advice I will start doing that. I just bought a 86 M1008 about a month ago for a decent price. 50k miles on it underbody is a little rusty not too bad I am going to temove
The bed and get it sand blasted and paint it to stop the rust. Driver side rocker panel has rust holes in it and cab corners also. I am new to these trucks, trying to learn more about it everyday. Thanks for the help guys!