Hey a quick update.
Pulled my fenders and started to mock them up.
I'm in need of extra fender lips and some other sheet metal to make the model for the molds, so waiting for that.
In the meantime, I'm going to make the molds for the supports on the back of the fender for the people that want truly bolt on applications.
I'm making separate molds for that inner support, as I'll be offering three variations of each fender.
1. Just a fender skin with the larger opening. These would be grafted to a cut metal fender like discussed above.
2. A full fiberglass fender with stock mounting points. They would bolt in at all the stock locations, and have a fit and look just like a GM part(what I'm aiming for anyways), but with a larger opening.
This variation will require a steel support to be fabricated to run from the Cowl mounts(or the firewall) to the Radiator support. The steel will be needed to support the radiator support, the hood, and anything else that would normally mount to the fender, as a fiberglass fender, no matter how strong will probably not support a steel hood on stock hinges.
Something like this would be needed:
I made them out of 1.25" box tubing, when I reassemble the truck I will run any wiring through them with caps to hide the wires.
You could easily weld a plate on this type support to have a location to mount the stock hinges/hood, or anything else you would like to mount there.
I have noticed alot of the 4x4's have cages or some sort of added tubing to the chassis, and could be easily modified or added to in order to accommodate the hinge/hood mounts.
3. A full fiberglass fender with an inner support that has a piece of plate steel laminated in that inner support mold. There would be a jig shaped piece of steel laminated in the inner support, which in turn will be laminated to the fender.
This variation would be a true bolt on part, with more than enough strength to support the hood, the radiator support and anything else mounted on the inside of the fender.
Senator- the little nip you are talking about is not a problem at all. I can incorporate a full lower cup, or a cut cup, as much as you would like. The design of the mold and the method of layup will allow me to custom 'tailor' the fender to each individual's needs(with a trade secret!) and still have a factory finish with no sloppily cut edges.