fender welt for a 1947

[Gary Blakeslee]

I am ready to purchase the rear fender welt and ended up with a few questions.
     !.  What diameter is correct, I can buy it in 5/32, 3/16,  or 1/4 inch?
     2.  Which is the correct covering,  vinyl or plastic?
     3.  Are there other locations on the car where this would be used?
     4.  Was it painted to match the car when it left the factory?
I was unable to find anything on this in the authenticity manual. So all the help I can get will be appreciated.
      Gary B

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Gary: The pictures below are from the Master Parts Book and what you and I call fender welt, the book calls it Anti-Squeak and it is shown under 25.0027. They don`t show width of the top of the welting roll and I don`t have my car close enough to double check but I think I used the 3/16 welting. The only place the welting was used was between the rear fenders and body. The welting I used I believe was vinyl and was black.  Any welting that I have seen on any 47 series Cadillac has always been black and not painted to match the color of the car.    Bill

[Martin Michaels]

Talking about fender welt,how does it attach when I took mine apart to paint what was left of the welting was stuck on.Does it stay in place by pressure or contact cement?

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Hi Martin: Most if not all fender welt is held on by compression between the fender and the body. The fender is loosely fitted to the body, the welting is cut out similar to what you see in the attached sketch to prevent any bulging of the welting as it is shaped to fill the rounded fender opening. The welting then is pushed down between the fender and body, positioned evenly as to depth and then the fender is tightened to hold the welting. The use of any adhesive to hold the welting to either the fender or body would seem to me to make it difficult to get the welting positioned correctly while tightening the fender to the body.  Bill

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

The exception to just compression holding the welting is the short pieces on the front fenders.  This applies to late 30's and early 40's cars and not sure about the 47.  The welting for the front fenders is held on with some small split rivets to the fenders.  These are often ignored on disassemble but you can see the small holes in the fender for them.

[Martin Michaels]

Thanks Bill and Brad.