Roll fender?

[mattn]

New wheel tire setup rubs left front fender of wide body 1972 Targa. Only on hard bumps, but needs to be corrected. Using as small of spacers i can to clear brakes, etc. My question is do i roll the fender(s), or perhaps install a negative camber ball joint. Going to replace ball joints soon anyway. The car is for street use only, but not high mileage. If i go with rolling, is this something i should try myself?

[mreid]

Yes, it is fairly easy to do, but you do risk cracking your paint inside the wheel lip. I've used a wooden baseball bat between the tire and the lip while a friend rolls the car back and forth.

[1-ev.com]

cool idea

[mattn]

Did you heat the fender? I should say the tire has hit the fender a couple times and worn off the paint on the underside. If the danger to the paint is inside, i should probably just do it.

[weseeeee]

I did it with a small pipe. I didn't heat the fender but I didn't rush. I made the forward rolls of the car very small, about an inch at a time and it turned out great. To avoid chipping the paint during my first pass I only rolled it a little, then I rolled it a little more on the second pass. Some of the paint from the inside of the fender lip came off (not visible) so remember to check and repaint it if necessary to prevent rust. Good luck!

[Reifle]

I did mine with a rubber mallet and some heat - smooth - I did crack the paint on one fender though - filled it with some pasty wax from the local rustproofing place and no issues as I did this almost 2 years ago.

[WEST COAST 02]

Go slow a bit at a time and use a heat gun, there is a tool made by eastwood as well that makes this easier to do, there may be someone local to you who does this procedure and has the tool and experience to do this without cracking your paint.

[911pcars]

I think trimming the lip with a grinder results in a cleaner result and doesn't encourage paint cracking when folding the metal back. Use the grinder sparingly and use wet shop cloths to minimize heating the panel. On most 911s, the tire only interferes with the lip in a couple of areas (approx. 10 and 2 o'clock), easily blended into existing sheet metal.

In addition, the hem that results from folding back the lip creates a tight-fitting trough which tends to trap dirt, moisture and corrosive elements from the road (i.e. salt), all of which are NG.

Sherwood