Fender id please - MTFCA Forum (2024)

I'm going to call them late 13fenders, but by the book it doesn't seem like they are a square nose on the front. They look like 14 fenders but then there's no bead on the inner fender well. Please help. Thank you

Probably 1950s or 1960s reproduction fenders. Maybe predating Rootlieb's taking over that business. Some of the other reproduction sheet metal vendors were not as conscientious and detail oriented as the Rootlieb family. We as hobbyists were very fortunate to have them take on the task of making replacements for many thousands of fenders!
They could also be some era after-market replacement fenders. Ames, Apco, Peerless, and several other companies made replacement fenders sold through mail-order, Western Auto, and many other local auto parts suppliers during the mid to late 1910s through the depression years.
That combination of features was never used by the Ford factory. The squared/blunt front edge like that was only used by the Ford factory for a few months on the early end of the 1909 model year. All 1909 and 1910 model year fenders had straight/parallel upper to rear surfaces. Those two years did not have the wide middle on the sloping rear half of the fender. The wider rear area came about during 1911 (1910 calendar year?) model year (very early in the model year if I recall correctly?). 1911 and most of 1912 model years did not have the anti-vibration bead in the middle of the wide area, nor did they have the beads inside the skirts of the front fenders. Late year model 1912 saw both of those beads being added on some fenders, and fenders for a few months could actually have either, neither, or both, of those beads. Those variants continued into early 1913, even after the 1912 front fender bill was dropped.
There was a discussion several years ago with pictures shared on this forum. I counted at least five different variant combinations used in very late 1912 and very early 1913 model year cars, and I suspect that there may have been a few more. It was a time of transition for Ford as more and more of the production was being switched to inhouse at the new plant, and the moving assembly line was being built. I suspect fenders were being produced by several local companies and that that accounts for all the variations.

However, I have never seen any indication that a blunted square front edge was ever used by Ford on anything other than the early 1909, or pre-T models. I have seen a few 1950s reproduction fenders with similar front edges.

John Warren wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 05, 2024 10:37 pm

Speedster fenders?

Why not?
I certainly would not throw them out. If they were mine? And I had an "appropriate" project? I sure would use them. I think I would like to use them on a 1912 T. Drive the purists crazy.

Wayne Sheldon wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 06, 2024 6:16 am

. . . Why not? . . . Drive the purists crazy.

First glance, I thought they were rear fenders, then did a double-take ! They look to be very nice ! Like Wayne, I wouldn't think twice about putting them on a restoration project. It would be more fun if they could be proven to have been an after-market offering "in the day" for sake of the history Wayne recounted. No matter. These days when even self-confessed "purists" are putting starters, alternators, oil lines that butcher "tea-cup" pans, distributers, electronic gizmos and LED lighting on brass-era cars, why strain over fenders "that never were" (but here they are !) ?? We're all pretty conflicted over "originality" in these late days !

I ran across this photo on FB - very nicely restored '14 runabout, appears to be in a collection or perhaps a museum. There was no information explaining the photo.

Note the front fender ! Interesting !

They are out there.
Interesting to see another set of these odd fenders. They could have been a late 1910s or 1920s after-market replacement fender (set?). But I don't think the old fashion flat top fenders were very popular as an after-market item. Junk yards were usually available to replace accident damage by the time more than a few were needed. And Many people wanted to "update" their "old fashion" earlier model T, making after-market newer style fenders more popular.
I remember conversations around antique automobile meetings when I was a young kid getting into this hobby. There were a lot of discussions about how incorrect the reproduction fenders for early model Ts were. There were several small companies scattered around the country making such fenders. Most of them using crude jigs and making them mostly by hand. And I remember talk of this new upstart family over in Turlock that was just getting going, and how they were trying hard to make reproduction fenders more correct looking.
As a hobby, we are very fortunate to have had the Rootlieb family providing such a fine product for such a long time!

The now two sets of fenders in question on this thread? It would be interesting to know for sure who made them, and when. I still suspect they were reproductions made in the 1950s or early 1960s, before the Rootlieb family became the go-to supplier of reproduction model T fenders and so many other fine products and custom orders.