Fender rolling

dang

dang

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Soooo, this happened. Going 1mph over a street gutter dip. My tires have rubbed on the fenders in the past but I always got away with it.

Now that the paint is screwed up i might as well roll the fenders. Any advice? Heat the paint, do you use a roller? Bat? Pliers? Just cut the lip shorter?

Dan
 

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dang said:
Soooo, this happened. Going 1mph over a street gutter dip. My tires have rubbed on the fenders in the past but I always got away with it.

Now that the paint is screwed up i might as well roll the fenders. Any advice? Heat the paint, do you use a roller? Bat? Pliers? Just cut the lip shorter?

Dan
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That's a bit of a tough one now that it has already caught the tire. I'd start by cleaning the ever-living hell out of the inside of the fender so no dirt or rocks get pressed into the backside and show through the paint. Personally, I've used rollers my whole life. We would usually cut and shorten the arm since our cars would be so low on coilovers but a standard one will work just fine. Heat with a heat gun until decently warm to the touch of the back of the hand and work decently large sections at a time. Patience is key! The paint is already cracked but there is no sense in making it worse. Little by little flatten the lip up while rolling and adjusting the tool angle.
 
As @Pittraider18 says, rent a fender roller, go slowly heating the paint first, adjust in small increments, 11:00 to 1:00, 10:30 to 2:30, etc. The hub needs to be on a jack stand so roller fulcrum is level. Not too hard to do, good luck.
 
That happened to me several times and I rolled a baseball bat against the tire to bend the lip back (like an old school NASCAR pit stop). Got the fenders rolled finally after the third time.
 
I have an Eastwood fender roller and you are welcome to borrow it, but I am on the east coast and shipping both ways may be more than renting one locally. I do see them listed on Facebook Marketplace.

I used a heat gun to warm up the paint before use and had no paint failure.
 
That's one nasty bulge.
A fair warning for all of us.

At what tire size does it become necessary to roll a fender on an e9?

I'm in this phase, so i can do anything for free at this point ...
 

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IMHO, any tire bigger than 195 / 70 - 14 ... the 205 / 70 - 14 might not require it ... but the lower the profile, the squarer the top of the tire is and the more it has to be rolled, negative camber plates help also, but as Murray used to say ... you really should do both.

@dang sorry you are going through this, Chris' recommendation is a good one - heat + slowly use a roller. i bought one, but its heavy and shipping it across the country is almost the same price as buying. i would recommend hiring somebody to do it, and be responsible for the paint. people that do it more often know how to balance heat / pressure and so many of these slammed cars, have all 4 wheels rolled to tuck those wheels in.
 
I feel fortunate that a good friend of mine has retired from painting cars for 35 years and is using my paint garage to do odd jobs. He feels indebted for the use of the garage and has offered to paint my coupe for me. This would mean exterior panels only and clean up some dings and scratches around the car. The back half of the car was painted ten years ago with some rust repairs but the rest needs attention. The bent fender isn't as big as deal knowing he's offered to help, hence going ahead and rolling the fenders now.

I told him I don't want payment, just teach me some of what you know...
 
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