Re: Rolling an urq fender

[ejfluhr@austin.ibm.com (Fluhr)]

>I am debating on whether to get 15x8 ronal R8's or 15x7 Fuchs and if i go 
>with the ronals, i need to roll the rear fenders.  The thing is that: 1. 
>im scared to mess up the outside of the fender, 2. i dont have much money 
>to have someone else to do it, 3. i dont want to mess up the outside of 
>the fender.....
>So, does anyone have on file that old post about rolling the fender, and 
>also, anyone with experience, how easy is it to mess this up and ruin the 
>fender itself?

Michael,

I cannot comment on the ease of damaging the fenders on an urquattro,
but I know it can be done.  The arch of both rear fenders on my urquattro
were rumpled when the previous owner rolled them.

I looked at the fenders and have tried to estimate what caused the
damage and how it could be avoided.  It seems to me that if you cut
several slots in the inner lip, running parallel to the direction 
of travel of the car, this will relieve some of the tension
generated by the inner lip as it is bent upward.  If you think
about it, the inner edge of the inner lip of the fender has a certain
partial circumference (i.e. length).  If you bend that lip up, then
you are trying to move the lip to a position where it needs greater
"length", but you are not providing the lip with any way to expand.
If you cut slots in the lip, the slots will become V-shaped areas
and act as if you have given the inner lip some extra length.  You
can simulate this with a curved piece of paper...first try to bend
it in half without slots, then use scissors to cut several slots
and try again. 

Now, the more slots you cut, the less stress you will transfer to
the outer sheet metal of the fender.  Take the limit to infinity of
the number of slots you can make and you have the idea of cutting or
grinding the inner lip away, which should present minimal or no
stress on the fender.  My personal opinion was that three slots
would be a minimum when rolling the fender (one at the top center
and the other two 45 degrees to each side of the first), and 5 slots
would be even better.  Then you can take a baseball bat or breaker
bar handle and ***slowly*** bend each section up a bit at a time.

Of course, with this method you have to be careful of how far you
cut into the lip, and you also should repaint the slots to protect
them from rust.  Still, this is a small price to pay compared to
having rumpled fenders.  Because of the double-wall construction of
the fenders, a paintless dent remove place cannot repair damaged
fenders, so you are stuck with bondo'ing and repainting them.

I would appreciate any comments from other q-list members about
the effectiveness of this idea.  I have NOT done it myself, so
I cannot comment on how well it works.  Do others feel that the
basic concept is sound?

Later,
Eric
'85 CGT, '82 urq
---
Eric J. Fluhr                                Email:  ejfluhr@austin.ibm.com
630FP Logic/Circuit Design                   Phone:  (512) 838-7589
IBM Server Group                             Austin, TX