72 Duster fender compatibility

[DusterMike72]

will eventually need fenders for my 72 Duster but get soo many mixed options when i see them for sale or even the re-pop ones. ive also heard theyre a 1 year only thing. the fenders on my car were replaced when i bought it and someone said theyre not the correct ones.

so i guess my question is what front fenders fit the 72's?

 

[HemiSSDart]

will eventually need fenders for my 72 Duster but get soo many mixed options when i see them for sale or even the re-pop ones. ive also heard theyre a 1 year only thing. the fenders on my car were replaced when i bought it and someone said theyre not the correct ones.

so i guess my question is what front fenders fit the 72's?

Yes one year only with the surface mounted marker lights, 70-72 Valiant and Duster will fit, but you would have to fill in the 70-71 marker lights and cut holes for the 72 lights...

 

[DusterMike72]

so the first pic would be 70-71 and second pic would be 72? i guess i could just run the marker lights from the 70-71. also do 73+ work cause ive seen those mentioned as fitting?

 

[WymanV]

'73+ have a relocated bolt on the firewall and the tab mount for the header under the hood (that the latch mounts to) is not on the fender.

 

[HemiSSDart]

Like said above, there are a few differences in 73-76 fenders. If you run those fenders you have to run the grille and hood too I believe...

 

[DusterMike72]

thanx for the help

 

[72bluNblu]

'73+ have a relocated bolt on the firewall and the tab mount for the header under the hood (that the latch mounts to) is not on the fender.

Correct. There's a bracket you need to add to the 73-76 fenders to mount the earlier grille. Also I believe if you use the earlier headlight buckets you have to drill a new mounting hole or two. It's a fairly minor deal to use the '73-76 fenders for a '72.

This is the bracket needed

@Kern Dog has done this swap, he may have more insight. But it's pretty easy to use a 73-76 Duster fender for a '72.

Like said above, there are a few differences in 73-76 fenders. If you run those fenders you have to run the grille and hood too I believe...

Not at all true. You add the bracket for the upper grille support and everything else works just fine. The Duster/Valiant fenders have very few changes from '67-76. Marker lights, a bracket or tab here and there. Adding the bracket would be easier than changing the marker lights.

 

[DusterMike72]

only pic i can find at the moment but this is what it looks like in that corner. also thanks

kinda funny cause theres acutally another 72 close to me for sale that im almost thinking of buying. it doesnt look like things have been changed like my current one.

 

[HemiSSDart]

Correct. There's a bracket you need to add to the 73-76 fenders to mount the earlier grille. Also I believe if you use the earlier headlight buckets you have to drill a new mounting hole or two. It's a fairly minor deal to use the '73-76 fenders for a '72.

This is the bracket needed
View attachment 1716479170

@Kern Dog has done this swap, he may have more insight. But it's pretty easy to use a 73-76 Duster fender for a '72.



Not at all true. You add the bracket for the upper grille support and everything else works just fine. The Duster/Valiant fenders have very few changes from '67-76. Marker lights, a bracket or tab here and there. Adding the bracket would be easier than changing the marker lights.

Well that fact it is you don't have that bracket you need to make one, or have someone make you one if you don't have the skills. Most people nowadays do not have the skills...

 

[72bluNblu]

only pic i can find at the moment but this is what it looks like in that corner. also thanks

kinda funny cause theres acutally another 72 close to me for sale that im almost thinking of buying. it doesnt look like things have been changed like my current one.

View attachment 1716479171

Looks like your fenders have the brackets.

So even if you do need new fenders for other reasons, you could take the brackets off of that set and weld them onto whatever you find. The '70/71 fenders will have the brackets but different marker lights, the '73+ fenders would have the right marker lights but would need those brackets. I don't think the '67-69 fenders have the brackets either, and they have different marker lights as well.

Well that fact it is you don't have that bracket you need to make one, or have someone make you one if you don't have the skills. Most people nowadays do not have the skills...

Even if that was true, it has nothing to do with needing to run a '73-76 hood and grille.

The OP has the '72 already, so even if he used '73+ fenders that don't have the brackets he's far closer to being able to use his '72 parts with the '73+ fenders than he is to converting to a '73 hood and grille, which would take the hood, the grille, the lower filler panel, hood latch support, bumper and bumper brackets. All of which would be needed if you use the '73+ grille.

The fender skins are essentially the same, the bracket for the upper grille and hood latch support is the biggest difference and as you can see that's a VERY simple bracket. A piece of flat stock and a harbor freight welder and you're good to go.

 

[HemiSSDart]

Looks like your fenders have the brackets.

So even if you do need new fenders for other reasons, you could take the brackets off of that set and weld them onto whatever you find. The '70/71 fenders will have the brackets but different marker lights, the '73+ fenders would have the right marker lights but would need those brackets. I don't think the '67-69 fenders have the brackets either, and they have different marker lights as well.


Even if that was true, it has nothing to do with needing to run a '73-76 hood and grille.

The OP has the '72 already, so even if he used '73+ fenders that don't have the brackets he's far closer to being able to use his '72 parts with the '73+ fenders than he is to converting to a '73 hood and grille, which would take the hood, the grille, the lower filler panel, hood latch support, bumper and bumper brackets. All of which would be needed if you use the '73+ grille.

The fender skins are essentially the same, the bracket for the upper grille and hood latch support is the biggest difference and as you can see that's a VERY simple bracket. A piece of flat stock and a harbor freight welder and you're good to go.

So you now the OP's capabilities and what tools he has, good to know...

 

[72bluNblu]

So you now the OP's capabilities and what tools he has, good to know...

No, and that's not even what I said. The idea that you have to run the '73+ hood and grille with 73+ fenders is in fact just wrong. That's what you said, and it isn't true, regardless of your capabilities.

And you could BOLT a bracket to those fenders if you were truly incapable of welding them on. It's not some massive structural component. It's just to keep the ends of the upper grille support from flopping around because the hood latch has its own supports. The bracket is just a flat piece of metal with two holes in it. If that's holding you up, probably in the wrong hobby.

 

[WymanV]

Not to put too fine a point upon it (yes, I've been re-reading Dickens) but that "upper grill support" is the upper mounting point for the vertical hood latch mount. The bottom of course is the bottom of the radiator support.

 

[DusterMike72]

trying to keep it 72. my first car was a 72 and i prefer those tail lights the best over any other year. thank for the help you guys and yes if i need to i can weld on those brackets. im in the middle of welding up my floor pans in my build thread. plus i kinda fabricate at work when needed.

 

[72bluNblu]

Not to put too fine a point upon it (yes, I've been re-reading Dickens) but that "upper grill support" is the upper mounting point for the vertical hood latch mount. The bottom of course is the bottom of the radiator support.

Sure, but if we're going to put a fine point on it we might as well mention that the bottom mount carries all of the vertical loads from the hood latch mount. And those would be the only significant loads there are on the hood latch. Which is how the ends of the grille support got away with being fastened by a couple of bolts. Without the vertical mount running down to the bottom of the radiator support the sheet metal of the upper grille support would flex too much in the middle to be useful at all, and really the only purpose the upper part of the mount serves is to keep the latch lined up.

The later cars didn't even bother running the upper support out to the fenders, the just bolted it to the radiator support at the top and eliminated the majority of that upper panel. The vertical part of the mount that runs to the bottom of the radiator support does all the heavy lifting, the upper part just keeps the top end of the mount from flopping around so the latch stays lined up.

 

[Kern Dog]

My FrankenDuster was a 1974 model.

I modified it to look mostly like a '71.

Using a cheap flux core welder, I welded tabs to the fenders so I could bolt on the steel panel that supports the grille.

The 1972-76 fenders use the same outer stamping but there may be small differences aside from the 1972 models being the only ones with the tab on the fender. I thought that the last 2 years had a different type of antenna mount that changed the hole in the fender. Also, the section that attaches the fender to the core support may differ.
Going back further, I'd guess that with minor changes, any 1967-76 fender would technically fit. They aren't like the Dart where the front of the fenders were one design from 67-69 then different for 70-72 then returning to a stamping in 73 that was nearly identical to the 67-69 models.

 

[Ozyduster]

So you now the OP's capabilities and what tools he has, good to know...

given his other thread he welding floor pans in.......... most likely lol

 

[72bluNblu]

The 1972-76 fenders use the same outer stamping but there may be small differences aside from the 1972 models being the only ones with the tab on the fender.

Pretty sure all of the '70-72 Duster/Valiant fenders have the tabs, since the same grille was used that whole run.

'72 would just be one year only since it had the tabs and the 72+ marker, vs the '70/71 that should have the tabs but the early marker style.

I thought that the last 2 years had a different type of antenna mount that changed the hole in the fender. Also, the section that attaches the fender to the core support may differ.

You can actually see some minor differences in the stamped section that goes from the fender to the core support in the pictures above, looks like the 73+ part has a wider front flange on it so the grille mount can screw into it. They appear to mount in all the same places to the core support though, so it would be one of those things that would fit but technically wouldn't be "correct" if you were looking to ID a fender/car.

Going back further, I'd guess that with minor changes, any 1967-76 fender would technically fit. They aren't like the Dart where the front of the fenders were one design from 67-69 then different for 70-72 then returning to a stamping in 73 that was nearly identical to the 67-69 models.

Yeah exactly. The marker light differences are probably the biggest thing to overcome, with the other differences being the presence or absence of the tabs for the upper grille support/hood latch panel and a couple of hole locations for the headlight bucket mounts depending on which version you used (ie, mismatched late bucket and mount with early fender or vice-versa)

 

[Kern Dog]

Pretty sure all of the '70-72 Duster/Valiant fenders have the tabs, since the same grille was used that whole run.

I agree though in the sentence I wrote, I grouped the 1972-76 year model fenders together without mentioning the 70-71 because the 72-76 all use the same side marker design.