I haven't seen many write ups on how to cut and reform rear fenders for tire clearance and flare installation. I thought I'd share the process. This is my first time doing the job. I used the AWR Widebody kit installation instructions as a learning aid.
Preparation:
First you need to know how high you want to go with the cut. The easy way is to go to the point where the cut is level with the wheel arch. I installed my flares first. Mounting was with riv-nuts to allow easy removal for work. I'm using Autokenexion's Version 1 large flares. I'm not going to go into the installation process. All I can say is riv-nuts are the way to go. I've got an Astro Pneumatics tool. It cost $65 shipped and I use it for all kinds of stuff. If you're a car enthusiast, it's a tool you should have, just man up and buy one.
A note on cutting tools. I have an angle grinder, a pneumatic right angle grinder and a Dremel tool. The Dremel turned out to be the best for making a precise curved cut. It took about 4 disks per side to get the job done. I thik I spent more time swapping disks than actually cutting. Just buy a 20 pack.
Protect your suspension with welding blankets. You don't wan't grinding and cutting debris in your shock shaft seals and brake calipers.
Remove the rear bumper. If you ignore this advice, you'll be kicking yourself later, trust me.
***WARNING*** Your working near the the fuel filler on the driver side. Protect the area with welding blankets. Car on fire = :'(
The First Cut:
I taped off the whole area and marked my cut line with a pen. I drew an arc about 3/4" below my flare mount riv-nuts. The rear has an inner and outer fender. We're shooting to cut only the outer fender through most of the arc. Where the inner and outer are very close together at the lower reaches of the cut, go ahead and cut both. After the cut, bend outer fender the waste section down as far as possible out of the way. Start by prying with a big screwdriver. Don't pry against the upper part of the fender. Go down from the top and pry towards yourself bracing the tip of the screwdriver on the inner fender. Once you have it out a bit, use a big pair of channel locks to pry the rest of the way. It should look like this.
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| First cut done |
The second cut:
Now, mark a cut line on the inner fender. Eyeball it and make sure there's enough extending to reach the outer fender cut when it's bent up to meet it. When in doubt, leave extra. You can always grind it back later if you want. After the cut is complete, clean all the paint off the inner fender cut and about 1/2" up the outer fender. I used an angle grinder and a 3M Grinding Disk. A Dremel will work. In this case not my first choice. We're going to weld these together so make sure you're down to bare metal. It should look like this.
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| Second cut after paint removal |
Joining Inner and Outer:
It's time to bring the inner and outer fenders together. If you have a body hammer kit with dollies, great. I don't. I used a 5lb hammer on a short handle. Start beating on the bottom of the inner to bring it up to the outer. Be patient and work around the arc over and over. I've seen perpendicular relief cuts used to make it easy. They're unnecessary. Take your time and massage it on up there. Take a break and rest your arms if necessary. Once you've got all you're going to get out of it, carefully hammer the flap straight up to fold it to the outer fender. the last little bit will be perpendicular to the outer. If you've done it right, you should have a flat wheel well all the way to the edge, maybe a tiny downward curve at the very edge. You'll have a small shelf sticking out because you did leave enough inner fender to reach, right? It will look similar to this.
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| After hammering |
Notice there are some gaps, we're going to fix that in the next step.
Weld It:
If you don't have a welder, find a friend that has one and knows how to use it. Have said friend over for beer and a welding party. Welding thin body sheet is a process. I don't recommend trying this with a cheap Harbor Freight AC welder. Flux wire is fine for this job. I used a DC Lincoln with .030 flux crore on mine. Gas shielding is completely unnecessary for this job. We're Going to stitch weld it. Don't know what that is, it's a series of tacks, look on Youtube. Use a hammer handle or piece of wood inside the wheel well to push the gap closed and tack it. Go over a few inches and repeat. Move around as you go to keep one area from getting too hot. Tack, tack, tack, stitch, stitch, stitch. Join the whole thing. I had the whole thing done in about 30 minutes. It should look like this....actually it should look better than this, good enough:
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| Welded |
Seal It:
The stitch weld is going to be porous, it needs to be sealed. Seam sealer is the obvious choice, right? Screw that, we're going to use JB Weld for added strength. One package is more than enough to do both sides. I mixed it up and used it like bathroom caulk along the whole seam like this.
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| Sealed with JB Weld |
Finish it:
If you have too much lip, grind i back a bit. I had about 1/2" maximum and elected to leave it. The downside of leaving it is it could catch and hold water. Rust is bad mmmmkay. Mine lives in the garage and an enclosed trailer. Next prime and paint all the bare metal with a rust inhibiting paint. Undercoating after primer is another choice. Don't forget the wheel well that you just beat the hell out of with a big hammer.
Install Your Flare:
Since you riv-nutted it on earlier, it's as simple as bolting it on. Here's mine before paint. The flare may need some finish sanding for a perfect fit. On mine I said fuck it, because race car.
Enjoy!
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| Flare on! |
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