Fender Differences?

[aj81spider]

I am new to the forum and a new owner of a 1981 Spider 2000. In studying my new car it appears to me that it has two different fenders (other than the obvious left and right!). The pictures below show the fenders. I've been doing some research and I have not found any references to this. However when studying pictures it does appear that there might be differences between cars that have chrome around the grill and cars that don't.

Am I fooling myself or do I have two different fenders on the car (or has the car simply been in an accident that distorted the driver fender)?

If there are two fende types how do I identify which I am getting when I get a "new" fender?

Thanks for any and all help!





The pictures don't seem to be displaying. Here are some links:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60643179@N07/5529664050

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60643179@N07/5529664158

[azruss]

looks like the drivers side has been hit. you can verify by getting out your flashlight and inspecting the back side of the fender at the nose and headlight dish area. I'm sure you will find the backside will look beat up with wrinkles and hammer marks. look at the passenger side as well. the edges look like they are radiused larger than factory, so it may have been bondo'd as well. looks like you've got some bodywork to do on the DS to get it right. I suspect that the fenders did change shape over the years, but the change is in the nose shape below the grill. I also think the craftsmanship on these cars went down the drain on the newer models. Fit sucks on a lot of the 80s

[aj81spider]

You're right. Last night I went over the fender in detail. A good portion of the part that is "different" is not metal (magnet test). That explains why it is different. Looks like I need a new fender.

[azruss]

Those fenders are welded on and require a lot of work to change out and get it right. I know a lot of guys just splice in a new headlight section. check your wheel flares and the bottom of the fender for rust. a new fender would fix those issues as well.
Find and old body and fender guy and have him look at it. may be fixable.