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HybridZ

I just gained over a 3/8 inch of wheel clearance!!!


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Guys, Today I put the grey Z up on the rack, dropped all the suspension off it in preparation for priming and painting the underside, and while I was at it I took a look at rolling the fender lips on the rear fenders. I marked a section where I wanted to start at the rear, and stop at the front of both fenders. I then got out my mini sledge hammer and started lightly tapping on the innner lip working from the rear to the front... I used the rounded edge of the hammer to roll the lip... In 10 minutes I was done with one side and AMAZED at the results!!!! By the time I was done flattening and smoothing the whole inner lip FLAT against the inner fender I was AMAZED again at how easy it was to do. So I did the other side... I'm guessing I'll be abled to easily get a 255-40-17 under the back of the car, and MAYBE wider... More on this later and Pics were taken and will be up in my photo album later. One word of caution. You WILL damage the paint on your car by doing this. YOU CAN damage and deform the body of the car if you hit the lip hard enough to deform the outter lip... However, I was hitting it pretty hard with the hammer while resting the other hand on the outside of the lip of the fender just to get a gage of any formations... I had NONE.

 

Mike :D

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Guest gprix1

A trick I used on my brothers Subaru Impreza that required no hammering was placing a baseball bat in between the wheel and fender and moving the car forward and back. My brother moved the car back and forth while I applied a little more downward pressure each time and the bat angles further and further up until you roll the fenders the desired amount.

 

This method avoids dents from pounding but you still will crack the paint on the underside so be prepare to coat it with something. We just undercoated it.

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Yup, I've heard of doing that, but the suspension had to be dropped anyway since I'm swapping out control arms on the Grey Z, andf moving the others to the track whore project, so I went ahead and tapped it with the hammer... Very good results...

Mike :D

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I have seen a tool that bolts to the hub and has a big roller on it. I think you can rent it from some wheel shops.

 

Ah..here it is :-D

 

 

"Haweka fender lip roller can be borrowed from tirerack.com and only costs the price of shipping both ways to use it (about $30) Includes a video and heat gun to soften the paint. It is very easy to use, but Ben Liaw warns to be careful not to crack the paint! Here are a few pictures of the Haweka fender lip roller that Ben sent me"

fender_roller2.jpg

 

 

fender_roller1.jpg

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Tire Rack has that tool. There is a 3 month waiting list for it, though. That and you have to give them a $500 deposit so you don't steal it. :roll: The only thing you have to pay for is shipping. Better call them soon. :wink:

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