i have not found a thread on this yet ....so lets start one, i love old fender covers and i just did some horse trading and got this one from a very serious collector. it was a prize from winning at Lions drag strip. does anyone know what year or class?
The Lions cover is very cool, must be rarer than all get out. Here's one that I'd like to find. I don't have the fender cover but I have the car, so would like to find the cover to replicate the picture someday when the car is finished again. Anyone have one?
There was a mechanic at the shop where I used to take my wifes daily to to get oil changes done on had a Minnesota Dragways "Class Champion" fender cover that he used when he was working on a car. I always wished I'd asked about buying it. Somewhere in my boxes of "priceless collectibles" aka "Junk" I have one from the now defunct local parts chain Champion Auto. It doesn't seem like guys use fender covers when working on stuff like they used to!
If you were around Alberta in the 70s we had a few serious speed shops. One of the best was Pacemaker Automotive. I have a pair of these that I bet are not too common anymore.
Bringing back this super old thread because I think old fender covers are cool. It's the kind of automobilia you can actually still use. I'd love to find that Hot Rod Magazine cover featured above. Here are a few I have. I also have a matching Snap On extra large cover, it's great for covering the seat in and old Ford with the toe board removed for engine or transmission work
I use old car show shirts...size medium...cuz for some reason, they don't seem to quite fit me anymore
This one was well loved; didn't realize I had two of them. They don't work real well on the coupe however,,,
I have a fender cover with AC Delco on it, and there is another one here, but I can't remember what was printed on it, I believe maybe it was an auto shop though. The AC Delco is pretty stiff, and the print isn't great. The other one is more soft, but got against something hot at some time (before it came to me) and has a corner a bit melted. They were both given to me by my old boss at the gas station I worked at in high school. They have been hanging around here for around 40 years! Don't use them much, they don't stay on the fenders very well, Definitely made for the 60s cars with the short more squared fender tops. Makes them a pain to use on older, or newer stuff.
Lebanon Valley Dragway used to give trophy class winners a choice of a trophy or nice gold colored fender covers with the NHRA class winner type sticker in very large style printed on them. Had two but got left behind when I left for overseas.
Be careful about leaving one on a car for an extended period. There was a thread on another car site where the unfortunate car owner got a bad case of "freckles" transferred into his paint from the vinyl breathing into it. The marks didn't come off with the many cleaners he tried or was suggested. That may have been fairly fresh paint and fairly fresh vinyl, I don't recall.
My dad won this but I don't know what year or class. It's crunchy and torn, the soft stuff on the back is hardened and crumbling. I love having it though. I have a Valvoline one somewhere.
Hello, We were given one of those cool looking heavy fender covers to work on our 58 Impala. It looked good and fit nicely. But, over time, we noticed that there were some scratches on both fenders. When replacing spark plugs, one fender was covered during the exchange. Then moved over to the other side to finish the changeover from warm up plugs and one trial run, to new to newish plugs for the elimination round races. Things just got scratched. So, at home, we got one of our mom’s fluffy comforters and spread it over the whole open hood compartment. Then figured out and measured the rough opening for access to the plugs and timing area. We finally cut a hole out and sewed up the rolled edges to make a smooth rectangular finished hole. The neat thing was that once the custom comforter was thrown over the raised hood area. Then it covered both fenders and left the motor exposed for actual tuning or replacing any item necessary. We never started the motor initially, but realized the opening in front of the radiator was fine and the fan would not catch the comforter edges. Jnaki The neat thing was once we threw the puffy comforter over the whole open engine compartment, both fenders were covered and there was plenty of space to work on what ever. The blue outlines and red stripes designate the covered area by the thick comforter. The clear, no line area is "open" to do work. The soft puffy fabric and filling protected the black Impala paint. If the comforter got stained or dirty from whatever, it was easily cleaned and washed in the local commercial laundry shops. The comforter had small sewn in lines to keep the filling from moving in transport, usage or washing. The puffy comfortable was softer and easier on us while leaning over to work. Plus, there was no need for weights sewn in as the large size gave enough weight to keep it in place. Sometimes, the soft surface was enough protection to gently place small parts on top to keep them from rolling off. (on a small white hand towel sitting on top of the comforter) Or necessitate going back in the garage for a part or tool. Open the hood, throw the large comforter over the whole motor compartment, it protected + allowed a nice area to lean and do some good work…YRMV changes
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