I finally have gotten some time from work and need to get moving on getting the teener ready for the warm weather. One of my biggest problems is the fact that I have empi's and my tires rub in the back. Now I know I could replace the wheels with the correct offset but since I will be working the fenders or possibly flaring the fenders at a later time I just want to get rid of the rubbing so I can check out other aspects of the suspension without the horrible noise and damage to the tires.

So what are the best ways to pull out a fender slightly without cracking the paint too much? I've heard of the baseball bat but what is the actual technique? Should I remove the wheel and use a hammer and dolly and forget about keeping the paint perfect?

Oh and the lip is already rolled underbut I need just a little more about 1 inch.

Check out the beginning of trekkor's paint thread. He had a nice method there.

I used a 2x4 that I shaped at une end and used it as a prybar and gently ptyed the fender away from the car. Took many itterations of jacking the car up, lowering it a little, prying against the wheel, and repeat...

Trekkor used a portapower and made short work of it... Looked good.

-Josh2

Hmmm Porta-power hmmmmmm

there is a company on the web called eastwood(not the ins.co.)they have a tool that will flare the fender by attaching it to the hub. Runs about $250.

It's not the insurance co.

That eastwood product is just a fancy fender roller. Won't get you the 1 inch you're looking for....

-Josh2

QUOTE (jhadler @ Jan 30 2006, 01:03 PM)

That eastwood product is just a fancy fender roller. Won't get you the 1 inch you're looking for.... -Josh2

and its made for round opening fenders.....

Both baseball bat and Trekkors method risk paint damage. Not sure there is a paint safe way to get an inch more of flare.

an inch?

do some heavy rolling, and then hammer dolly the the creases out....


no paint safe method for an inch.....

The easiest and fastest method is to "roll" them.

Get a 3/4" pipe and place it between the tire shoulder an the fender lip. Now roll the car foward, forcing the pipe through the length of the opening towards the back of the car. The pipe will rotate the opisite direction of the tire while pushing the fender out.

Step up to larger diameter pipes until you obtain the desired results.

Hammer and dolly on the inner lip will help, but the rolling process will knock down the sharp edge that causes the tire damage. If you do use the hammer and dolly, do something to protect your paint.

It's quick and dirty. Be prepared for some cosmetic...Ahem..Deficiencies.


KT

BTW, the rolling process will allow the use of 205's on "improper" rims.

I only used the Porta-Power because I wanted to put 225's on 7" rims while retaining the narrow body look.


KT

not sure how Leo did his rear fenders....225's on 7" rims on the back...



I see no method that's not going to cause the paint to not stress due to pulling out the fenders.....

no access to a porta-power?? no problem, use a bottle jack or floor jack with a piece of wood between the jack and the fender, might want to "shape" the wood somewhat since a totally flat piece would for sure leave marks in the sheetmetal....

Leo used Porta-Power as well.

If you use a hammer and dolly you are concentrating the movement of metal exactly where you want and creating more surface area by stretching. If you use brute force (porta-power, baseball bat) you're not increasing the surface area, so the metal you're "gaining" for your flare comes from the door gaps, trunk gaps and the other curves of the fender. So some existing fender curves that are convex, become flatter.

Porta-Power and baseball bat/pipes are a workable solution. I'm just trying to share my opinion on the pros and cons of each method.

I was all set to use my floor jack for this one.
For whatever reason, it only works on it's wheels.

It wouldn't pressurize vertically.


KT

Thanks for all of the ideas. RIght now the lip is already rolled but it wasn't done perfect so there is already very slight paint cracking and a little wavyness so my concern about the paint was not all about keeping it perfect but keeping at lease some of the paint on si I don't need to grind down the whole area and prime and repaint. As long as I could get the space I need and keep most of the paint in place I would be happy.

Now since I'm planning on flaring the car anyway should I be worried about the deformation of the entire fender by using the bat or porta power techniques. To me it makes more sense to just stretch the panel locally with hammer and dolly so that I won't deform the whole panel and make the flare look like crap later.

Anyone have pictures of a hammered fender so I could see the results of the hammer/dolly technique?

Hammer and dolly.

Using the "baseball bat" method I got around 1-1/2 inches and can (and do) fit 225's on 8" rims...

The paint cracked a little and the flare isn't super smooth either. But hey! They fit, and the car is for comeptition right now, now for showing. I'm willing to live with blemishes for now until the money for the body and paint work comes in...

-Josh2

you could do what Jacque did...he just took a sawzall to the lip and cut it all off...totally eliminating the fender lip. or maybe some sheet metal shears would work as well.

QUOTE (dlo914 @ Jan 30 2006, 02:50 PM)

you could do what Jacque did...he just took a sawzall to the lip and cut it all off...totally eliminating the fender lip. or maybe some sheet metal shears would work as well.

me thinks that would leave jagged edges which would tear a sidewall up...


why not just fold the lip up?

file it down...

QUOTE (Jaiden @ Jan 30 2006, 01:14 PM)

concern about the paint was not all about keeping it perfect but keeping at lease some of the paint on si I don't need to grind down the whole area and prime and repaint. As long as I could get the space I need and keep most of the paint in place I would be happy.

Hay, whut's wrong with that?

My talents prevented me from going much bigger. Metal stretching as performed by John Kelly is on another level.

Other methods were called for.

BTW, those are "tiars" and the car ain't all jacked up to get clearance. The 225s in the upper pic are a gud start, tho