Advice sought on rolling difficult fenders

[PDenbigh]

NASA,

 

I need to roll the rear fenders of my XR4Ti about 1.5-2" out. Did the fronts with no problem, but the rears are constructed differently.

 

On my car, a hatchback, the outer skin and the inner wheel well merge at the outer lip of the fender. So, to roll it, I'm rolling two layers of metal, one of which (the inner) comes in from an angle so I'm almost streatch it to get the fender out.

 

I'm thinking of cutting the inner well near the fender, pushing the fender out, and the making a patch to fill the newly formed gap. I worry about structural ingetrety. In my case, the inner well and the outer well both serve soem structural purpose, espically since the car is a hatchback.

 

I'm unsure what cars would be similar to this. Perhaps 944's? Regardles, anyone that has done this, woudl you mind chiming in?

 

Thanks!

Peter

[Tiger Racing]

I'm unsure what cars would be similar to this. Perhaps 944's? Regardles, anyone that has done this, woudl you mind chiming in?

 

I think what you're talking about is similar to what's been done to my car. You need to talk to Paul. I'll PM you his contact info.

 

C.

[trackboss]

Wheel tubs have no structural integrity. That said they do offer some support to the rear quarter, but if you look closely they are not fully welded on and seam sealer is used along the attachment point to rear floor and/or frame. It is definately acceptable to do what you suggested. In your case, I am assuming you have the inner sheetmetal behind the quarter. That is plenty strong to support the quarter. On many race cars you will find all interior supports removed. Some also have the wheel tubs replaced with wider aluminum ones that simply enclose the wheel area.

[mc-integra111]

I have rolled the rear fenders in my 90 Acura Integra which is also a hatchback. The construction of my fenders sounds similar to yours, with the inner and outer piece meeting, and then they both make a 90 degree turn and stick inwards. I was able to roll both layers of metal without much difficulty using a simple baseball bat. I did use tin snips to make 4 cuts along the portion that was turned inward to allow these portions to roll/bend easier (hard to describe without a picture). I had to work slow, but it wasn't hard. I also was not able to roll quite evenly, so a close examination from a top view will show the fender line is slightly wavy. The paint cracked when i did this, but i just painted over it again (it is a track car so i didn't care that much). I have been told that using a heat gun to keep the paint warm will help to avoid the cracking problem. After rolling, I was able to get another 1/4" to 3/8" clearance. Hope this helps.

[PDenbigh]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Unfortunately I coudlnt' roll the fender without cutting otu the wheel well so that's exactly what I did. I cut abou ta 6" wide strip from teh inner wheel well. This allwed me to seperate the layers and really roll out the rear fenders. I got about 2" of clearance out of the project. I tested it at Summit Point last weekend and had to make very few changes. I'm going to try to get the clearance "higher" in the well to allow me to lower the car more. But once that's done I'll either rivit aliuminum or weld sheet metal in there just to keep the debris adn water out.

 

Thanks!

Peter

[white_2kgt]

...just to keep the debris adn water out.

 

...and exhaust!

[Renntag]

In CMC we are very restricted as to what we can do. Cutting our fenders is a big no-no.

 

That being said, I tried the baseball bat after first using a hammer to fold the inward pointing piece upward. None of this was adequate given how strong this double layer in the rear is.

 

I decided to use an Air Hammer with a hammer like attachment that has a head exactly like that of the large flat end of a typical ball peen hammer. I set the regulator on the hammer to give me the hammering force I felt was adequate and then proceded to move the tool back and forthalong the inner surface I was trying to push out. I took measurements before and checked during to see if I was making any progress. Not only was I able to perfectly fold the inner piece of sheet metal upward flat against the outter panel, I also moved the lip out a 1/2" in the front and 3/8" in the rear. This would equate to over an inch or more increase in clearance over the factory stock fender lip.

 

The paint was slightly damaged during the process so my fender lips will need to be repainted to be perfect or touched up to look decent.

 

After this past event at Summit, I had NO tire to body contact AT ALL. Previously the tires would bite consistently.

 

I plan on using this same method on my other cars.

 

FWIW: I believe the 944 comes stock with the fender lips rolled up from the factory. You gotta love porsche ! Feel for yourself the next time you see a 944 parked in town.

[Bruce L.]

flaring the fenders is also apparently a big no-no ...

CMC 2006 Rules

8.5. Body

8.5.1. Fenders must be OEM stock or an OEM replacement. The fender lips may be rolled inward for tire clearance and may not be flared outwards. Plastic interior wheel opening panels may be removed.

 

 

In CMC we are very restricted as to what we can do. Cutting our fenders is a big no-no.

 

That being said, I tried the baseball bat after first using a hammer to fold the inward pointing piece upward. None of this was adequate given how strong this double layer in the rear is.

 

I decided to use an Air Hammer with a hammer like attachment that has a head exactly like that of the large flat end of a typical ball peen hammer. I set the regulator on the hammer to give me the hammering force I felt was adequate and then proceded to move the tool back and forthalong the inner surface I was trying to push out. I took measurements before and checked during to see if I was making any progress. Not only was I able to perfectly fold the inner piece of sheet metal upward flat against the outter panel, I also moved the lip out a 1/2" in the front and 3/8" in the rear. This would equate to over an inch or more increase in clearance over the factory stock fender lip.

 

The paint was slightly damaged during the process so my fender lips will need to be repainted to be perfect or touched up to look decent.

 

After this past event at Summit, I had NO tire to body contact AT ALL. Previously the tires would bite consistently.

 

I plan on using this same method on my other cars.

 

FWIW: I believe the 944 comes stock with the fender lips rolled up from the factory. You gotta love porsche ! Feel for yourself the next time you see a 944 parked in town.