Eastwood fender rolling

[McCoy]

Decided to start tackling the fender rolling today. I borrowed the Eastwood roller from a friend and used a Walmark heatgun (hair dryer) to try and keep the paint temps above 100F.

Here was the Eastwood roller setup, I probably spent more time setting up the roller and figuring out how I was going to do the rolling.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_rolling_01.jpg

After a couple of passes to get the inner lip to start rolling.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_rolling_02.jpg

After 2 adjustment with the roller and several more passes. I'm mostly done here. I used the roller to 'pull' the fender some.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_rolling_03.jpg

here is a before shot showing how much I needed to go...
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/RA1_test_fitment_03.jpg

...and the after shot, it looks like the tire will tuck in just fine how it is now. I still need to put the roller back on to fix a spot towards the front.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_rolling_04.jpg

[daxx]

looks good MOnty, can you post a side shot of the fender?

[McCoy]

Donald, I'll be in the garage tonight to finish up the drivers side, so I'll get the shot then.

I'm going to use a large propane heater to heat the rear quarter panel up more evenly... in the hopes of not cracking the bondo. It's still cold in our neck of the woods, so the little hair dryer takes too long to evenly heat the quarter panel up.

[McCoy]

The bondo was not cooperating last night. I used a propane heater to assist in warming more of the body work up, but I couldn't work out the drivers side much more before I started to see some cracking in the paint. Doesn't matter, I got enough clearance for 275 RA-1's and the body work still looks good... I'm happy for now :)


Drivers side done as much as I can get it. You can kind of see where the bondo is.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/eastwood_rolling_05.jpg


Passanger side turned out pretty good.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_rolling_06.jpg

[veilside180sx]

Good work :D

[McCoy]

Finally got around to doing the fronts tonight. I still will probably go back with a bean bag and a body hammer to see if I can get the fenders flared out a bit more.

Unmolested fender.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_front_01.jpg

After using the Eastwood roller.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_front_02.jpg

Here's a before shot showing how much the 275 RA-1's are sticking out.
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/RA1_test_fitment_no_spacer_01.jpg

And what they look like now...
http://www.sr20forum.com/gallery/data/959/medium/Eastwood_front_03.jpg

[turtl631]

Nice work. I need to get one of those rollers...I've always rolled fenders just using a mallet and shoe, which works pretty good but takes forever.

[veilside180sx]

Look at how nicely folded that seam is under there too=)

[2Fass240us]

Wiring in the wheel wells? Gross! :D

[McCoy]

Wiring in the wheel wells? Gross! :D
Like I mentioned before... unmolested ;).

I'll probably need to add some extra shielding to the wires since I'm running without liners now.

[Def]

Just move it up to run behind the fender, there is enough slack in the wires to do it easily.

[veilside180sx]

Somes times you have to remove a portion of the sheath to get it up there, but it's worth it to not rub through it.

[Your Mom]

this is what i did. a little extreme.
http://home.comcast.net/~your.mom24/IMG_0372.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~your.mom24/IMG_0373.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~your.mom24/IMG_0374.jpg

[2Fass240us]

^This is the next best solution to moving some of it inside the car.

[McCoy]

I'll probably save this on the little break I'll be taking from track days from April - March... well, maybe during April.

[a_ahmed]

hmm im gona be needing to this soon...

250$ for the tool... not sure how much or where to rent on the other hand... at the same time front wide fenders are like what 150ish to 300ish... lol.. i just kind of dont want to spend money... def's sphericals is the last thing on the list to get... im getting new brakes, new and upgraded pretty much everything except LCAs... ****... im so broke now bwahaha

Any idea where one can buy these used?

[a_ahmed]

I got the eastwood fender roller as a gift from my dad hehehe :) Can't wait to get it (ordered from eastwood ebay)

[ramm]

As far as NOT buying an Eastwood fender roller, i would make a post on some of your local forums to see if someone is willing to rent one out to you for the weekend. Im renting mine for $50 for 3 days along with the heatgun..thats a good deal IMO..

were also doing 2 porsches and a E36 M3 in that time..might as well get our monies worth.
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On a side note: As far as pulling your fenders go, has anyone tried the baseball bat method? Where you angle the bat inbetween the fender and the wheel and slowly lower the car, so the bat pushes out the fender? LMK my friend said that he did it on his 240 and the results look good.

[turtl631]

When are you using it? I've always malleted my fenders, but a real roller would probably help get them a little more clearance on this car.

[Def]

Don't try to roll the front fenders, they aren't stiff enough to get a good result beyond flattening the lip. Physically grabbing them and pulling seems to be a pretty decent way to get a little more clearance, or I guess the baseball bat method might work up front.

The rears roll/pull nicely with a roller.

[McCoy]

Yeah, after trying to use the roller on the fronts, I recommend not to do it... use alternate methods like Def and PJ have already mentioned.

[a_ahmed]

ill find out soon. I am worried about my fronts because of my driver's side fender being cracked LOLL.... im not too sure how that will go :-/

[ramm]

Turtl - my bad i didn't see the post that you wanted to use the fender roller also. I'll give you the guys name on ClubFr if you would like. Just PM me so i remember.

Well i rolled my rears and gave them a slight pull it went great, as for the front, they metal did seem to flimsy, and to fully roll them i would have had to disassemble the suspension, because the hub was too close to the fender. Either way i didn't do it for the fronts.

Anyone know a good writeup for using the baseball bat method? Im very interested in doing it for the fronts.

[e1_griego]

For the fronts just take a 4lb hammer and a cover the end with a rag. You can tap/hit the lip outta the way. Works really well, and doesn't cause any problems.

Alex