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Header panel: proper fiberglass replacement?

anthrax323

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Antonio, TX
Welp, last night I made a stupid decision and find myself in need of a new header panel and driver side fender (which I coincidentally had to replace a few years ago, but with garbage Certifit/Sortafit parts). The header panel ended up being a complete POS plastic/poly piece that quickly warped from heat.

Aside from junkyard take-offs (which I had zero luck with at 3 yards today), does anyone actually sell an OEM-style fiberglass replacement for less than $300? JC Whitney has this one listed as fiberglass for $150, but given the consolidated generic reviews of it, I'm concerned I might end up receiving another crappy plastic piece.

Anyone else had any luck with finding a proper fiberglass one?
 
Wait for OEM or go out of the area.

No A/M body panels for me.

My PnP has had no XJs for months.

I've been raging at you guys for years, I've been telling you the day will come when there will be no more parts.........that day is here.


You guys go out and trash your shit........cut.......chop.......roll it over.
You treat your XJs like shit, thinking there will always be a supply..........there won't, there isn't.
 
I've been raging at you guys for years, I've been telling you the day will come when there will be no more parts.........that day is here.


You guys go out and trash your shit........cut.......chop.......roll it over.
You treat your XJs like shit, thinking there will always be a supply..........there won't, there isn't.
Whoa - easy there, tiger. This was a negligent mistake on my part - traffic accident. Not everybody trashes their shit.

I finally heard back from a guy on Craigslist who claims to have a black OEM fiberglass unit in great condition, but I can't check it out until Monday.

To keep this thread on-point: I'd like to know if anyone has found a seller of aftermarket units that are actually made of fiberglass.
 
Whoa - easy there, tiger. This was a negligent mistake on my part - traffic accident. Not everybody trashes their shit.

I finally heard back from a guy on Craigslist who claims to have a black OEM fiberglass unit in great condition, but I can't check it out until Monday.

To keep this thread on-point: I'd like to know if anyone has found a seller of aftermarket units that are actually made of fiberglass.

I wasn't speaking to or blaming you....(speaking to this board at large)......I'm giving you a reason why parts are getting hard to find.

No, you won't find proper fitting OEM replacements........long gone.
 
FWIW to you.......

I'm dealing with this issue myself in a round about way.

I just spent $100 on Crown grill and bezel, chrome, they fit like shit, I'm doing a full restomod.........now I'm forced to go back to old OEM and do something else that I didn't want to do to start with.
 
Yeah... the funniest part of this whole situation is that earlier that day a friend was checking out the XJ, and I was bitching about the horrible fitment and quality of the parts I'd installed previously (and the terrible paint job I did and will never attempt again).

Turns out the local one is actually maroon (but is OEM fiberglass), but a friend owns a nearby body shop so I can get a deal on the paint work. Still having trouble finding an OEM fender in decent shape though.
 
Team Cherokee has one they advertise as "OME spec" for $104.
I used one,several years ago, it fit....but the holes for the grill anchors,those little white inserts,did not fit well....
 
Welp, I went to Sortafit to buy a fender and decided to have them pull a new header panel to see if it was the same poly BS I got from them a few years ago... lo and behold, it was fiberglass and only $90. It was FAR higher quality than I expected so I went ahead and bought it.
 
i also got a full crown replacement (headlights, all the plastic lights, header panel, grill, bezels, etc), being that there was no XJs in the yard. it fits ok but doesn't have the oem feel. i sanded the edge that meets the hood because it was in a 90 degree angle, ended up with a nice rounded edge that felt a lot better.

i rear ended another car in order to need that replacement, so I wasn't sure if the fitment problems were because my fenders were damaged from the accident (they bent a little from the bumper pushing in) or just because it's aftermarket.

a year later I found a color matching replacement for my fenders and header panel, so I grabbed that as fast as I could.
 
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