Can '73 Dart Sport fenders be used on a '68 Dart ?

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440BelII

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I've been looking for a pair of fenders for my '68 Dart. I'm not restoring the car so I don't want to go the AMD route for new ones and spend a $1000.I'm just looking to make a respectable hot rod. I haven't had too much luck finding any used ones. I was wondering, can later model Dart fenders be used on my '68? I would plan on welding up the holes for the marker lights and maybe get creative and make the round marker light holes that would be needed. I just didn't know if there is any other factors that would make these not work. I found a pair of '73 Dart Sport fenders that I can get fairly reasonable. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?
 
They fit but the grill and headlight bezels will not. If you remove the headlight area from your original fenders and the 73 fenders and weld the 68 headlight area on then they will work.
 
Dart sport has the pointy front. You would have to swap the whole front clip over, including hood and grill. Still not positive it would bolt right up but you should be able to make it work.
 
Did you look at good mark? Not sure if they sell fenders but there quarters are much cheaper than AMD.
 
I have 68 grille and headlight bezels that I am going to use. What is the difference in the headlight area between the two?
 
Cope, I looked around pretty well for the new fenders. H aven't found any substantial savings anywhere. Thanks for your input though, any help is appreciated.
 
Been there, done the swap, that is why I posted. They 73-76 fenders work fine on 69 Darts, even the grille and headlight bezels work, but not on the 68 as those parts are unique. The spacing is different with the headlight bezels and the headlight bucket areas that are welded on the fenders. Don't take my word for it, go ahead and buy them, good luck!
 
HemiSSDart, thanks for your input. That was the answer that I was looking for. I figured they would bolt on, just didn't want to end up with a surprise.
 
Dart sport has the pointy front. You would have to swap the whole front clip over, including hood and grill. Still not positive it would bolt right up but you should be able to make it work.
The outer stamping is identical from 67-69 and from 73-76. The attachment points are too except for the flat area at the core support. The headlight bucket on the later ones sit slightly different so as stated, you can drill out the spotwelds and transfer the early buckets over to the later fenders.
 
Been there, done the swap, that is why I posted. They 73-76 fenders work fine on 69 Darts, even the grille and headlight bezels work, but not on the 68 as those parts are unique. The spacing is different with the headlight bezels and the headlight bucket areas that are welded on the fenders. Don't take my word for it, go ahead and buy them, good luck!

I thought 67's were unique? So are 68's unique and also different from 67?
 
I have a '68 Dart front end on my '74 Duster now. You need the whole clip, not just the fenders.
 
The basic exterior stamping is the same from 1967 to 1969. For 1970-72, MOST of the fender is the same too except the leading edge of the fenders had a pot metal end cap. In 1973 and until the final year of 1976, the exterior stamping returned to the 67-69 style.
The horizontal/flat portion that attaches to the fender apron has the same bolt hole location. The metal panel that attaches to the radiator core support is slightly different and has attachment holes in different places. The 67-69 fenders can be used on the 73-76 cars and vice versa if a few small changes are made. Again, you may need small bits from original 68 fenders to make it work.
This same situation applies to E body fenders. Year to year changes can be reversed or changed to save a few bucks since the later ones are usually cheaper to buy used.
 
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