Fender questions?

[radioman]

I believe my front fenders are replacements. They fit and look fine...however...my rear fenders have what appears to be Bondo or liquid steel laid inside the area where the fender's edge is folded in the stamping process. These fenders seem stronger (to pressure against the edge) than my front fenders which do NOT have this "filler". I can very easily clean ,sand and fill the front fender "fold under areas" with bondo and make them more structurally sound, particularly on the edge. I know bondo has no structual strenght in itself but in this application, I think it would help. Please go feel this lip on your fenders and tell me what you think. I suspect this filler is only on original Thing fenders. I look forward to a report and advice from my fellow "lip feelers!
PS: Yes it is true I don't have much to do at this time.
_________________
It's a Southern Thing, 73, stock.
Bill

[suntour]

Sorry but my NOS fenders do not have any filler under the rolled edges. However welding up a ¼”-3/8” cold roll rod behind this fold would increase there rigidity a lot. I should look into that. Thanks for the idea!
_________________
Order of the Voodoo Spoon

[vdubjim]

both mine have filler/sealer in the lip

[Big Luni]

My originals had that too- Though I replaced all four 12 years ago, I remember the filler because alot of the original metal had rotted away, so the filler was all that was left in many places. We've had the Thing in the family since day 1, so I know that the filler was original. I don't know if it was put in by the factory or the dealer, though- I just know that after 12 years without filler, my replacements have resisted rust better than the originals did after 12 years, so I wouldn't recommend copying the technique. My guess is that it was dealer-applied "rustproofing" that, in retrospect, did more harm than good.