So I dropped by to visit my buddies' local 240 shop today & decided I should roll and flare my fenders to prepare for upcoming modifications. There are numerous DIY articles and posts floating on the Internet, all with tid bits here & there, but all of them seem to be missing some info. What I will try to do is combine all that knowledge and put as much of it into one post as possible . I'll probably still miss a lot of info, but hopefully this will help some of you guys out there who want to run bigger tires/less negative camber with your crazy low offset & wide rims.

Note: Although it is possible to use the same method for the front fenders, it is more common to just "hammer" in the lip up front because of the flimsiness of the front fenders. This method has not been tried with the front fenders yet... This rolling tutorial is being performed on a '92 Nissan 240sx convertible.

Total Project Time:
- Approximately 2-3 hours for both rear fenders with taking pictures and comparing/aligning both sides. Took our sweet time (at least on one of the sides, haha) to make sure everything was going to plan.

Equipment:
- Ratchet set for loosening/tightening lug nuts (my stock lug nuts are 21mm)

- Towels/rags - something to clean the fenders and work area

- Eastwood fender roller

- Heat gun (I used the Chicago Electric Adjustable Heat Gun from Harbor Freight), a hair dryer could also work but will be slower

- Infrared Thermometer (not necessary, but highly recommended to prevent paint cracking)

Preparation:
- Put your car up on jack stands.

- Remove the wheels

Step 1: Clean your fenders
- Clean around the fender area and inside the wheel well behind the lip (this step is VERY important; you don't want any pebbles getting stuck inside your fenders and showing up when you roll!)

- Clean the fenders again just to be sure

Step 2: Attach the fender roller
- Use the supplied adapters and your stock lug nuts to attach the fender roller

- The orange knob in the middle of the arm adjusts the height of the roller. I had to change height frequently while rolling to get everywhere - the 240 fender isn't exactly a circle, but more of an oval.

- The knob by the roller head adjusts the angle of the head. I left it at the same angle my friend used (which is about 15-20 degrees from vertical).

- The long arm in front of the hub adjusts the distance between roller and the fender (counter-clockwise moves the roller closer). I adjusted the roller until it touched the fender. Rolled a bit. Then tightened a little more, approximately 1/2 - 1 turn each time.

Step 3: Heat up fender
- You will want to heat up the lip, edge, and all around the fender area you will be rolling. 120-140 degrees Fahrenheit is the recommended temperature, according to popular sources. If you don't have an infrared thermometer just make sure it's hot to the touch, but not to the point where your paint is boiling!

- Note: we rushed the driver side a bit, and had uneven fender temperatures (120 F backside, 100F front side). The passenger side was done with no cracking at all. This cracked the paint almost right away. So please take your time if you want to minimize paint cracking.

Step 4: Start rolling
- As stated above: I adjusted the roller until it touched the fender. Rolled a bit. Then tightened a little more, approximately 1/2 - 1 turn each time. You will need to apply force liberally, but not too much - if you hear paint cracking, slow down, loosen the roller, and check for damage.

- You can either roll the lip flat and stop, or continue adjusting the arm in front of the lug nuts to get flares. This all depends on your setup preferences.

- It is much easier to have a friend heat and monitor the fenders while rolling. Have him/her heat up the area surrounding where you are rolling and basically follow and lead you while you are rolling. We heated up about 1 foot beyond the fender lip to make sure the metal stays hot & malleable.

- Start rolling from the top of the wheel well and work your way toward front and rear progressively. As you get closer to the front and rear areas, there will be less room for the roller to move, so adjusting height is required. Also, you may need to use a little more force to "persuade" the lip into folding.

- When comparing both sides for evenness, look both behind and in front of the car to see how each side flares. When on the left side behind the car, look w/ the left eye. Try to position yourself in the same relative position on the right side of the car w/ the right eye. Looking from the front of the car and directly above the wheel well will offer more angles to compare both sides.

- Note: the driver side tends to buckle a lot easier than the passenger side when flaring because there is no gas tank equipment to reinforce the fender. Be very careful when working on the passenger side and make sure everything is heated correctly and not too much pressure is being applied. This has happened on both my coupe and my friends hatch. With the '92 240sx convertible, we did not experience the buckling problem, perhaps due to the extra bracing the vert has, or maybe we were just more careful/prepared this time around.

Step 5: Finish up
- Once everything is even, unbolt the roller, reattach your wheels, torque the wheels to factory spec, and enjoy your new found wheel well room!!!

Modified by brokeAs240sx at 12:08 PM 11/6/2006

Modified by brokeAs240sx at 1:36 PM 11/8/2006

-Dan

Dood, it's 1:30am (PST), don't work on cars, go to sleep!!! hee hee.

Let me know how the fronts turn out, cuz I'm debating on whether to pound it flat by hammer or use the fender roller... doesn't really matter to me tho cuz I'm getting the car bodyworked/repainted soon, hahaha. but will be good to know!

The main thing is I'm afraid something might buckle up front if I roll. or it mite get a weird flare and iono if that will look right in the front.

btw... NICE JOB, thats a really nice pull. i will be doing mine in the spring

You can get them from Tirerack...

http://www.tirerack.com/access...p.jsp

Too bad I'll never have the bling for wheels wide enough else I'd do it on my 14

No, plus the wide fenders are FRP and you can't roll that...

-Dan

For sure, but it's being postponed until after I get back from SEMA next weekend, so you gotta wait, but it'll be worth it!

And ANY time is a good time to work on cars as long as you have enough energy. Just be quiet after 9pm and don't piss off your neighbors

-Dan

Someday...

KA-T why settle for anything less?

great writeup tho

I know it wouldn't be conventional, but hypothetically you could heat up the fiberglass fenders and "pull" them. That would requires some incredible wide front wheels, though.

Even if you could get it hot enough without losing it's shape, your not gonna have much play either way... it'd be better to leave it alone.

-Dan

If you buy one, you can roll/pull for other people for like $70 bucks or whatever and it can pay itself off.

I ran 15x7 +0 and you might need to roll depending on the tire size you go with and how much camber you use. If you're going with a 205/60 with 0* camber i'd roll.

Lol, didn't even think of them being FRP. I'm an idiot.

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Yeah, I wanted you to see this thread before you do it. Vert has another sheet metal welded inside of rear fender, but still you should be careful. Actually, reforcement is exact spot where it buckles easy.

white balancing was off in the photo, so everything was a lil blue - wasn't my camera so I didn't notice til after the fact .

Quote, originally posted by boznuttz »

Dumb question, but does rolling even decrease the appearance of wheel gap in the front and rear?

Actually, if anything, it would slightly increase it - the reason being that you are pulling out (and sort of up), that's strictly speaking flares though, rolling should do nothing easily noticeable.

Quote, originally posted by AZhitman »

Man, that's a NICE flare.... I need to do that to mine.

Yea, verts are strong back there , but you should still be very very careful - I was doing it like that because I didn't care if it buckled or chips paint because I'm having bodywork and paint done to it soon anyway. Still gotta put on the "flusher" rims and flare a little more.

I have a tool that I'll be testing as an "unbuckler/anti-buckler" as soon as I get a chance, in the middle of a few projects right now & just got back from vacation.

I've done a couple 240's & a couple other cars recently - the chance of buckling on fastbacks is the worse, then coupes, then verts - but I've heard of a vert getting buckled, so I guess it's a judgement call.

And if you're ever in So Cal w/ the vert, I'll help u roll it out, hahaha - easy to do by yourself though, just take your sweet time.

Fixed most of the buckle on my other 240 today - this method can possibly be used to keep buckling to a minimal when flaring - tried on coupe & fastback, vert should be nearly the same).

DIY: S13 Fender Unbuckling Procedures - also possible buckling prevention!

if i were to put rear wide body quarter pannels 50mm ... and i didnt want to cut my wheel well... could i just roll it then put the over fender OVER it???

HAHA, you could... however, that would sort of eliminate the point of over flaring...

And w/ over panels you can lower the car much much more.

Modified by sil8tdrftr at 12:05 AM 2/9/2007

/end long run on sentence question.. lol

I've had one fried put a couple 2x4's in his rear quarter panel from another buckle - think it was an accident. That held up pretty well, just a little unoptimal, haha.

The "ultimate cube" I used above helps for smaller cases. I've looked into expanding foam (from Home Depot), but it looks to get messy. It is definitely something you cannot use before/while rolling because of the movement of the whole fender area.

You racist or something? Like all asians look alike? WTF?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, just messing w/ you. Nice first post... welcome to the boards...