Not sure I -would- do this but I'm curious, who offers this service? (embossing the fenders) Also, do those that offer the service use a set of dies and a press or something like a pullmax?
You can (or could) buy the fenders from the factory that come with the indents. I haven't seen anyone doing this to a car with painted fenders - hence the popularity of the Yoshi stick on enamel shields. I like the indents. Robb
I have read here before that someone in California is able to do this. If you search the forum you may find the person.
Very expensive and not typically worth it. Best bet: procure an OEM fender -- with the indents already, naturally -- from a dismantler. I also saw a new-in-wrapper one online. Not cheap and it's really hard to find BOTH sides. (I looked once and gave up. Could only find one side, which would be weird...) Of course, you'd still need to have them painted to match and fitted to match, which is not a small undertaking on these cars. ketel
We were one of them, I be damned if I can find the press. I remember it was a 360 press slightly different curvature. Was 2 pieces that bolted together in the middle and left a 3/4 inch hole in the middle of the emboss. Maybe my partner knows I will ask him
A few years back, I got a great deal on the OEM shields... I think I got both for around $700. Anyway, as such, I decided to get the OEM indented fenders. The driver's side is easy to find... you'll see eBay auctions for $1500... I got mine for $1300, new. The passenger side is really tough to find... new or used. I had to order from Europe and I think I ended up paying around $1900 for a new one, delivered. Kind of crazy to pay $4K for the oem parts... plus spraying, but I really like the look and I don't plan on selling my car!
Wow! That is serious commitment to getting something done. Kudos to you! I have Yoshi shields on my car but am becoming less enthralled with them as they aren't indented. I don't think I would do what you did but the appearance of them OEM is far superior.
Thanks for the input guys. I think if I pursue this I will buy a set of factory shields and have a set of dies made so I can do it myself. (unless it turns out someone local can do it)
I would think it would cost less to find a set of factory fenders than making a die... Certainly less risk.
Well if it costs me the same as Judd10 to buy fenders it would be less to make a die set. I have a few friends that own machine shops. Once made and tested I don't see that there would be any real risk involved.
I have had some great deals over the years. I do EFI tuning and they do machining so it's easy to trade favors.
I know a shop that does them by cutting out a hole slightly bigger than the shields, shimming the edges to make the recess the right depth, then laminating a new piece of metal across the opening and filling/sanding the edges to the exact OEM shape. Once the fenders are painted, you can't tell it form OEM. Its a perfect duplicate! Clever and much cheaper than any other way! I'm going to do this to my car when I start the restoration paint job this winter. I have Yoshi shields and am going to have a machine shop make 2mm thick polished SS blanks just slightly bigger than the Yoshi's so when laminated to them, there will be a very slight shoulder around the Yoshi's and they will be the same overall thickness as the OEM shields. I'll try to take and post some pix. They have done this before on a 360 and trust me, you can't tell it from OEM. In my case, with the Yoshi's, I actually like it better than OEM because the OEM shields are the older lighter yellow, not the same yellow as the body paint. The Yoshi's on the other hand are the new darker yellow, almost the same as the body color.
Guys, to each his own but I really don't understand the desire. Yes, if my car came with factory shields that would be great. However, I think the Yoshi shields look awesome. Even with the fenders recessed, I do believe the shield projects a little. And, the factory did not even get the recess correct in profile. See these photos of a member here who provided them to me for dimensional placement. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just think it looks much more finished with a recess for the shield. hjp- are they welding the layers together or just bonding with 3m panel adhesive?
I agree but when you see them from a viewing distance Yoshi shields are just fine and look great. Here is the Yoshi on my Argento 550 and OEM shield on my Rosso 550. Also the Yoshi can be slightly massaged to fit the curve of multiple models while still being a high quality enamel badge. Yoshi stands off the fender 1mm. OEM is about 2 mm. Sorry for the lame pictures. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The polished SS blank will be bonded to the Yoshi with the 3M adhesive that the Yoshi comes with. The laminated assembly will also use the same ultra thin 3M to adhere it to the new recess. The SS blank is being made very slightly larger than the Yoshi because it would be very difficult to get them to match perfectly and not have an obvious glue joint. The slight shoulder will be about the same width as the polished edges on the Yoshi itself. Very subtle. Not sure what the shop does with the metal they put back but believe they use epoxy to laminate everything back together and then body compound to dress the recessed edges.
Jim, if you got the dies made and were happy with the end result, this might be something that could be offered to other owners as well.
