[urq] : Rear fender rolling

[Steve Eiche]

I did the fender rolling on my car and helped on another, and I have a few hints.
1.  You will want to copy the way the factory did it on your '85 in the rear.  Note that the top valance attachment bolt _will_ rub if you don't remove it and the nutsert as the factory did.  You will also need to trim the valance, or the tires will.
2.  The inner fender on the later cars is different, so you will not be able to get as thin of an outer wall even if you remove the undercoating where the lip will overlap.
3.  I have heard that heating the paint slightly with a heat gun while rolling the fenders will minimize cracking of paint.  My car had no paint when the fenders were rolled, so I have no experience there.  Personally, I can't imagine that it can be rolled flat without cracking some of the paint.
4.  Eastwood sells the "professional" fender roller that bolts to the suspension for $250 or so.  Probably not a bad investment.  I would have saved myself a fair amount of time, money and grief if I would have rolled the fenders while the suspension was still on the car.
5.  Do the front as well as the rear.

Steve

Dave wrote:

I just got a "new to me" '83 UrQ.  I've not had an '83 before, and am looking for some pointers on the rear fenders.  I have installed a set of 15x8 Ronals on the car.  All is well, except for the most extreme travel of the suspension, where the rears will rub.
 
Looking for any BTDT on getting the clearance required.  After looking at the fender lip, it appears to be substantially more sturdy than the typical fender.  Where most cars have simply a single thickness of metal, the rear fenders on this car look to be almost like a couple of thicknesses rolled together, making me wonder if the typical fender tool (or baseball bat) would actually do the trick without damaging the shape of the whole fender.
 
Any advice or experience appreciated.
 
Thanks,