How many bolts on the rear fenders

[Rob Reilly]

Can anyone tell me how many bolts hold the rear outer fenders to the inner fenders?

[Tom Wilson]

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0270/ ... 1652107280

[Rob Reilly]

Thanks Tom.
Apparently TA is different. I have four 1/4 BSF caged nuts spaced at 10.5" plus the 1/4" bolt and nut at the bottom of the rear side.

[Tom Wilson]

Rob, I can't picture where the captive nuts are located. All the original ones I've seen have wood screws attaching the wing to the wood frame of the body tub
Can you enlighten me?
Tom

[Rob Reilly]

That's interesting, as I assumed they all would have them.
This is what I mean by a caged or captive nut, in case anyone is not familiar with the term.

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I have 4 on each inner fender.

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My confusion arises due to the fact that there are about 20 holes in each outer fender.

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I can think of 3 or 4 theories as to why there are so many.
This is the 20th car down the line from when they changed from the B269 narrow fender wide tank body to the B270 wide fender narrow tank, so I have to allow the possibility of a factory mistake/cover-up/rework; then there is accident damage repair; rotten wood repair; replacement fenders?
Or even a combination of all of these.
Anyway, I'm just about resolved to make plugs and MIG weld any holes that don't match the caged nuts.

I don't understand this hole, about 3/4" and both outer fenders have it. They don't seem to line up with anything else on the car. There was melted and hardened rubber dripping down from them.

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[Rob Reilly]

What are these holes for?

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[Steve Simmons]

Hard to tell exactly where it is from a photo but it looks like the hole to secure the wing to the petrol tank.

[Tom Wilson]

Rob, I've never seen a TA, TB, or TC with captive nuts on the rear wings like you have. It's most likely that this was a modification done in a previous time.
The bolt holes would have to sit inside the inner edge of the body tub wood. Unless there was an unusually long tail on the wing piping or additional wood screws are used, it's possible that there wouldn't be enough pressure along the wing-body opening joint to hold it tight enough to hold the piping in place.
As always, fit and test, fit and test. If you're after originality, remove the captive nuts, repair and fill all the holes (or replace the metal on that section of the wings), and use wood screws as original.
Tom Wilson

[Rob Reilly]

Tom & Steve, thanks so much for your responses.
There were niches in the wood above the fenders on both sides corresponding to the caged nuts, which leads me to believe that the caged nuts are original.

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Your comment about holding the fender welt/piping/beading makes sense, and leads me to speculate that this was a case of factory rework, that on the first batch of B270 bodies from Morris, the Abingdon foreman discovered the problem, and chose to solve it with extra screws. Maybe we'll never know.
I'll look around for the screws I took out of there and see if they give us a clue.

I believe this is how they were delivered from Morris, no outer fenders and no firewall.

I see what you mean about the screws to the gas tank. I see the brackets on the sides.

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[Rob Reilly]

Apparently I have a limit of 5 pictures per post.
Note the pile of TA firewalls behind this tire guy.

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[Steve Simmons]

Great photos! Very different times for sure.