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"?

No pics at the moment, but not an urban legend. We have done three 914s. only one with 225s one there but we did it and they look good.

Looks like a good " How To 'thread

i have done it

I tried stretching my fenders with the bat must not have been going slow enough to really stretch the metal properly, as my door gaps started to grow. At that point (since the car was stripped) I decided to pie-cut the fender for more tire clearance rather than have to fix the gaps.

I too would really like to see a how-to thread to see what I was doing wrong.

I did mine with a wooden dowel (probably 2").

This was my first attempt at it and it came out OK, but it I was to do it over, I would use something else (or would need someone who has done it before be there to offer guidance) The second fender came out better than the first.

If I was to repaint the car, I could make it look better (but my flares will replace the stretched fenders one day).

And you are????

Good luck with your exams!

See, this is exacly my point; it seems like everybody has done it but no pics for evidence! Yeah, bigfoot walks through my back yard every night...no pics though.

So what is the process? Here's what I've heard...true or false?
1) Keep the paint warm (using heat gun or heating pad) and it won't crack.
2) Lower the car until the pipe rests snuggly between the fender and wheel then twist the pipe and move it along between the fender and the wheel. (What kind of angle do you hold the pipe at in relation to the fender?)
3) The larger the diameter of the pipe (1 1/2" to 2") the smoother the flare.
4) An aluminum bat works best because the rounded end will not crease the metal.
5) "clean up" can be done with hammer and dolly.

It's been done for real, but I don't think it really stretches the metal. It seems to (usually) pull the bottom of the fender inward, at least to some extent. Most of the ones that I've seen have had slightly wider door gaps at the bottoms than the top, as the bottom part of the fender has been pulled back. (And the bottom part of the fender aft of the wheel has been pulled forward a bit.)

These things are most visible when the fenders are pulled out a lot.

BTW, pulling the fenders like that seems like an excellent way to find any Bondo (or any non-flexible filler) in the fenders...

--DD

You MUST do it slow or it will not look very good. We have a kids league bat with the knob cut off. Start with using the handle rolling it back and forth an few times until it gets easy. Then move up the handle a little. Keep doing this until you have it to where you want it and then mount your new wheels. When we did this for the 225s we had the entire barrel of the bat in there.

The term "stretched" I think gets mis-used. I would call it "pulling the opening" as to actually get any real "stretch" out of the panel it would require thinning of the panel.

jd74914 discribed the actual effect most likely to occure. As you roll the bat, pipe, or what ever you decide to use across the tire, you will be pulling the panel to get the clearance your trying to achive. Considering you can not get enough force on the panel to actually thin the panel with this method, the whole panel will reshape it's self.

If your lucky (or have practice) you may be able to carefully move the panel outward to get a little clearance. But if you need alot, it's likely you will pull the panel from it's weakest point. It's door gaps.

Evidence.

Did a search on " baseball bat" and look who comes up---bring your bat to the G & R Swapmeet, maybe you can talk "G" into a demo...

That is the biggest reason you need to go slow. You need to see what the panel is doing and make sure you are not pulling everything so it will not line up right or create gaps in places you don't want. We didn't have that problem with the ca rs we did, but for people who try for more I have seen it. I have also seen it where people will pull and cut to make even wider. Turns out basically like having smooth flares. Looks very nice but you must paint after you do that. If you roll properly you won't hurt you paint. We don't heat or anything. Just roll.

Tire Rack loans-out "fender rollers"...

If that's the same fender roller tool that Eastwood sells, and it looks just like it, be warned that it won't bolt to our 5x130mm bolt pattern. Unless you get the "truck" adapter for an extra $100 or so. I plan to try the bat method. My 215s rub just a tiny bit on the outside as it is now.

i also wonder how it would do with our non-concentric rear wheel wells.

As already mentioned, it is not stretching. It is bending, pulling, or tweaking, which means you are stealing contours from somewhere else.

You can get a way with a little bit, but the more you do, the more likely it is that you will see a problem in the form of a shallow spot, shorter wheel opening distance front to back, or a door gap change.

Everytime you tweak a panel in one direction, there is a consequence in another.

Those rollers are a bit of a scam in my opinion. I imagine a lot of cars have been screwed up by people using them and thinking that they are stretching the fenders. In the hands of someone who understands what is happening with the metal, they may be of some use.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

Thank You John, I was hoping you'd give us a little input. So the key here it to watch other parts of the panel while it's being done to make sure you're not compromising another section. Also, I understand that I will loose the "lip" when I do it. Is it a good idea to trim away the part that curls under since it would get mashed anyhow and just make more metal to try and stretch?

Hi Steve,

You can trim a little but you risk losing a little bit of the stiffness that helps keep some strength in the wheel opening flange. A small consideration.

Going slow is a good idea when pushing or rolling the quarters, but it is not always easy to see when deformation occurs.

If you really want to stretch, I've have plenty of ideas about that, but other guys who have rolled their fenders can show you more about that method...I was just reiterating the words of caution by others if you go that route. It is certainly faster and easier than stretching.

You can also cut the lower rear quarter brace and jack up slightly on the rear lower quarter while pulling out on the wheelopening about 6"-8" or so behind the middle/top of the opening to get a little more room.

Or just cut the brace, and pull out on the quarter. I've only done this with a stretched quarter, so go slow if you try it.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

I jambed a 2 inch piece of PVC pipe into the forward edge of the rear fender between the fender and the tire. I then slowly rolled the car forward till the pipe came out of the rear end of the fender. unfortunately it dimpled the fender ledge about the middle of the fender and the body shop fixed it when I had the car painted. Sorry, no pics befor the car was painted. This technique will work but use the bat method and start with the narrow end and work your way up to the fat end slowly. Move the fender out just a little at a time till you get it where you want it. Good luck.

Cheers, Elliot

To get 225's to fit - you will lose the lip over your rear wheel opening. You can easily get an additional 1/2 inch of clearance by smoothing out that detail. Try to save that lip and you will be flexing the panel in other places. The machine pictured above is used to roll the inner wheel opening lip some tires dont rub on it. It is not meant to modify your outer panel. It will not work on our wheel openings as they are not round. I use a fence post (altough the bat is a widely accepted method) with the car jacked up and 1/2 inch to 3/4 conduit with the car grounded and the new 225's mounted. Heat will increase the chances of you not cracking your paint. But, realize that you will be removing the lip at the top of your wheel opening. Hammer and dolly should not be necessary if you go slow and take your time. As far as angle - it is pretty steep as you want to be about 15 to 20 degrees opposing the outer wheel opening - rolling acrros the side wall of the tire. Every car is different and your results may look better or worse than mine. I knew I had GT Flares in my future, so it was a quick interim fix. To do it properly you will need to either pie cut and add material to push the opening out, or roll nicely hammer and dolly and re-paint. You really are just taking your time and hoping the paint does not crack. Anyone telling you otherwise knows something I don't. The reason I used a post is for the sharply squared off end - I set out to eliminate the lip detail and the edge helped me to define it re-appearance at the corners. BOTTOM LINE - anyone here will tell you that "it was a shot in the dark". Mine turned out decent, and hopefully your does too...

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.

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I've gained about 0.75 inch rollin the rear fenders, enough to squeeze in 205/50 Hoosiers. I plan to do a little more so that there is more than a hair of clearance. No problems so far (no good photos either). Go for it - it is easy!

I used 2 wood dowels I had in my garage left over from making curtain and closet rods. One was about 0.75" and the other 1.75". With the car on the ground, slowly roll the small one accross the top of the tire first - DON'T let the tip do the pushing, so keep the angle somewhat shallow at first. Then I increased the angle on the small one (keeping the tip off the metal), then I went to the big one. The biggest gain initially comes from just bending the inner lip up and in, and there is no way you won't crack the paint on that sharp crease. Once the inner lip is folded up, then the top part of the fender starts to really move (small increments). I then swithed to the bigger tire, and started over with the small dowel. I did this on a warm day in direct sun, so never plugged in the heat gun.

Next, I have some spacers to push the big tire out and I'll try to work it out some more. The goal is to have 205/50 AX race tires and 225/45 street+track tires. Here'm my race tires and current 195/50s, with beautiful assistant.