Are there any other chevy cars that are perhaps more common that use the same front fenders as my 5th gen elky? Thanks!

Any fender from a Malibu - 2-dr, 4-dr or wagon should identical to a 5th gen Elky from 78 to 87. The header panels changed, but the fenders remained the same . . .

The only difference I can think of is possibly the hood hinge setup. Can anyone out there verify this with a parts manual?

A few differences here:

78-81 El Camino and Malibu not only have single headlamps per side, they also have the side marker lamps to each side of the headamps as can be see in this image.

http://elcaminocentral.com/users/acauth1/Lside1.jpg


82-87 Have dual headlamps per side, and move the marker lamps to the side of the fender as seen here.

http://elcaminocentral.com/users/acauth1/Lside2.jpg

The fenders are different, not only are the side markers moved to the side as seen in the second picture, the way that the header mounts to the fenders is also different between the two.

I ran in to this putting an earlier header on my 83 model. It did ultimately fit after notching the backside of the header to match the mating surface of the later fenders. Not sure about the later headers fitting the earlier fenders.

You can see what I wound up with here.

http://elcaminocentral.com/users/acauth1/Lside3.jpg

I stand corrected - sorry. I have owned both a 78 and an 82, and I forgot about the marker light position.

So let me rephrase that . . . .

A Malibu fender from a 2-4 dr or wagon will fit an Elky, however you will need to stay within your year's "fender family"

78-81 (no marker light hole) or 82-87 (with marker light hole)

Good visuals Acauth1 . . . . .

Thanks. I kinda like the way mine looks....didn't figure in the side markers until I was halfway there.