[tom406]

I don't know if you can trust even "old" NOS panels to live up to original specs. I distinctly remember a story on a '69 Camaro Stocker race car written up in the '80's that said the front fenders were replaced, not because they were bad, but because the GM over the counter replacements weighted something like 4 pounds less. This never made sense to me until I read another article or story not too long ago that quoted a factory parts guy stating the replacement panels were made out of thinner gauge metal, in order to save on shipping expenses, since they had to be shipped all over the country. It may seem trivial, but you know their economies of scale, if GM could save $0.50 on every panel shipped, the bean counters would be very pleased.

I agree that Ebay is killing off the swap meet, but I don't mourn the loss too much. I think a lot of material is coming onto the market that never would have seen the muddy field of a swap meet without ebay, and if you're not holding onto gold (NOS '69 Camaro fender) and instead have fools gold (NOS '53 Nash fender) you might actually sell it instead of dragging it to swap meets for five years trying to find the right guy.

I do mourn the loss of the screaming deal you sometimes get at the meet, though. The only time you get that on ebay is if the seller can't spell or list properly ( "New Camero Fender" listed under Automobilia).