Shoutout to the guy at the Puyallup swap meet who sold me a 'perfect' fender

I bought a replacement fender for a 2008 Civic from a guy there, and he swore it was a direct fit from a donor car. Got it back to the shop, and after an hour of fighting with it, I realized it was for a 2006 model, the mounting points were off by about half an inch. Had to cut and weld new tabs, which added a whole afternoon to the job. Anyone else have a swap meet or junkyard story where the part was just wrong enough to be a huge pain?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_moore9d ago

Ugh, the "direct fit" promise is the worst. That half inch might as well be a mile when you're trying to line everything up. I feel your pain on having to cut and weld, it turns a simple swap into a whole project. It's that specific kind of frustration where the part is so close to being right that it tricks you. Joel's right about the tape measure, but sometimes you just trust the guy saying it's perfect.

hall.joel9d ago

Always bring a tape measure to those things.

robin5919d ago

Trust the guy selling it to tell you it's perfect... right up until you're holding a part that looks like it was made for a different car. I swear they use a special "close enough" tape measure at the factory. Bring your own and save yourself the headache of a project that was supposed to be a simple swap.