Fenders now rolled on my '85 Carrera

[SilberUrS6]

Used the rental Eastwood tool on eBay. Very clever packaging.

First fender took me about an hour and a half. The second fender took me 30 minutes.

So, because I have 16x8 951 wheels in front, 225/50R16 tires need to be used, and won't clear unless the front fender lip is rolled. It only needs rolling between about 11 and 1 o'clock, but I started at 9:30 and went to 2:30, with a gradual transition to a narrow "V" between 11 and 1. Didn't fold the lip all the way, because I wanted to be able to get dirt and crud out from behind the lip if I needed to.

Using a heat gun, I softened the paint along a six or eight-inch length of fender, then rolled that part. By overlapping an inch or two with the heat gun on each section, I was able to do short sections slowly. I could have probably done it a lot faster, but I didn't have anything better to do.

I've seen a lot of references to using a heat gun, but not how hot to get the paint. "Stop when the paint bubbles, then dial it back a few seconds", LOL. No, the best way is to heat the paint gradually to a temp that you can touch, but not leave your fingers on. I didn't get any cracks in the paint. But I did use quite a bit of heat, and took the rolling process pretty slowly.

In order to tell the fender was rolled, you'd have to put your hands on it, and even then, you'd have to know what it felt like originally.

I was going to post pics, but the pics are completely uninteresting.

[kidrock]

good job!!! You have a PM.

[SilberUrS6]

Rental Eastwood Fender Roller Tool Lip Trucks and Porsches Only | eBay

Here is link to the guy's auction. Of course, he won't have it back until Saturday, LOL.

It contained instructions, and the $15 Wagner heat gun I used did the paint-heating job just fine. (Heat gun not included in the tool rental, BTW.)

As for the queries I got - pictures won't tell you anything, because I didn't take any "before" pics. So, you just can't see anything. The way I did it, there is a very smooth transition from 90 degrees lip/fender angle at the 9:30 and 2:30 positions to about 20 degrees in the 11-2 o'clock area. I was using different pressure on the lip throughout the range of swing of the tool, tightening it to the fender the closer I was to 12:00 and reducing pressure as I move away. And I didn't do it all in one pass. I almost wish I'd have taken a video of the second fender.

A tip - you can assemble the tool off the car, then lift it to the lugs, with the arm/roller in the "furthest from the fender" position - about halfway along the roller pressure adjusting screw. The included instructions make it pretty clear. The bevelled aluminum washers are not mentioned in the instructions, but you put them on the lugs so that your lug nuts don't crank onto the tool. That there were five of them gave me a clue as to what they are to be used for. Also, if you look closely at the instructions photos, you can see them in use.

I did have touch-up paint ready for use in case the paint on the lip cracked. Didn't use it.

[kidrock]

thanks for the link Eric.