Flaring the rear fenders with a bat, pipe or ?, Is this more than just an "Urban Legend"? Options

[ahdoman]

Due to a 5 lug conversion in process I am going to need to flare my rear fenders to fit some 225/16's on the rear. I have heard and been told by people that it has been done using all sorts of implements; from baseball bats to lead pipe to old strut cartridges! I also have yet to see the results look decent. So does anybody have and personal experience and pics to back it up or is this truely an "Urban Legend"?

[LvSteveH]

Good timing, I just finished up a car tonight. Lots of good advice so far. One thing I've never liked about the bat method is that you usually end up with a deformed lip that flares out to accommodate more tire. It can look decent if done well, but typically doesn't have that flat look of a stock fender.

I wanted to keep the stock contour and fit 16x7's with 205/50/16's. Rather than use a bat I mainly worked the inner lip. Any time you significantly bend the metal the paint is going to crack, it's a given. So I opted for controlled cracking. I took a razer blade and scribed the opening, where the inner lip and outside edge meet at the corner. I used blue tape on the outside to help protect the paint and give me someplace to mark where and how much to bend. I marked the center of contact, about 2" either side of that, then another 2" outside of that. The center 4" got the most severe bend, a full 90 degrees. No way to avoid cracking the paint there.

Then I used a pair of sheet metal pliers that are about 3" wide and allow you to grab the inner lip and bend it up about 45 degrees. Do a little at a time and work your way across the lip.

From there, I used the palm of my hand as a dolly and with a hard rubber hammer worked the inner lip up. The center to 90 degrees, and the rest of lip gradually transitions into the stock lip. Like with any method, there is a risk of cracking the paint. The car is very dirty in the photos, but the paint is pretty nice, so I took my time.

There's about 3/16" of clearance, give or take, and thanks to the 914's negative camber it should never hit. You don't need miles of clearance.

In the end I painted the inside black, and used red touch-up paint to seal the line scribed by the razor blade and create a smooth edge where any small chips formed. I'll color sand the lower edge in the morning to blend in the touch up paint. All in all I'm very happy with how it turned out.