333pg333

Pretty sure my guy cut my fronts to open up the aperture as seen from the side on angle. Pulled the guard out too, but I could then fit 10"x18"x285 Hoos up there.
Rears, there is a way of doing it but it does involve some cutting and welding.

drift a 944

Clearly, my post was overlooked.

I can take pictures if need be. There is literally nothing to worry about.

rlm328

My spare tire hump is long gone. You will not save that much weight as you will have to seal the hole from the top. The major benefit of doing this is access to your transmission is a lot easier. Instead of shifting the sleeve so you can drop it down the whole thing can slide straight back.

samluke

drift a 944, I think its personal preference. Once you start cutting the lip your getting into the spot welds. Maybe at 1/2" cut you still have some weld left.

The question being posed was to roll or cut the lip off. With the lip cutoff there is no weld left, and its unlikely to be much of a weight saving.

In my opinion cutting/grinding only makes sense if your looking to remove a small amount of metal in a local area. You can get more clearance by rolling. maintain the structural integrity and preserve the factory seam and corrosion protection.

If weight saving is the goal, then cut the entire quarter off and go with fiberglass. Remove the inner fender too and replace with a lightweight plastic stone guard like the front.

Chris White

If you really need that extra ¼” of clearance you should think twice about modify the body by cutting. Having a metal edge with in ¼” of a tire is not a safe idea. The tires can flex quite a bit when driven hard and there is always the possibility of contact. Sheet metal makes a great carving knife on hot rubber.

Its safer to have the occasional rub on a rolled edge vs the slight possibility of contact with a cut edge. Track tires have a very thin side wall…

Cole

I've cut up a bunch of fenders in my life for 4x4 vehicle.

I have also rolled several sets for sports cars.

When you cut off a significant portion of the lip the fender becomes floppy, sharp etc. Small spots here and there are usually fine. But the whole lip can cause issues. One bump "a little fast" that might not damage a normal (or rolled) fender might break loose/bend start to flap one without the lip.

If it were me, I'd roll it, not cut it.

reno808

Roll do not cut

reno808

http://www.rollyourfender.com/
bam

shiners780

This guy cut his fenders, and look what happened to him! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv4m41viy4I Oh the horror.

ritzblitz

Wow he offers 5x130 now! That's sweet because last time i rented that thing with the truck adapter (Works in theory) it didnt work and i was sorta pissed. But he gave me my money back.

In my opinion, the rear fenders are pretty strong, not flimsy. I messed with mine some, and even without the seam, they arent going anywhere.

+1

DDP

Both cutting and rolling have their negative effects. If you were to cut/grind the metal away, you're going to end up heating the paint on the other side. If you want to do this without damaging the paint you're going to be spending some serious time on it. You'll have to let it cool for a while between grinding and cutting as to not bubble the paint.

Rolling is the better solution, in my opinion. I have done both. The only issue with rolling is to not distort the fender at all, which is easy to do with the fender roller. I'm not sure how much a bodyshop would charge to do it, but if you don't feel all that capable take it there. It would be better to pay a benjamin or two to insure you don't hack up your car. If you do decide to roll the fenders yourself, use a heat gun (if you're careful) or a hair dryer to soften the paint as you do it as to not chip it off.

If the lip is ground down or cut, you could go far enough to give yourself the room you need and still not separate the two halves of sheet metal (I assume this is what drifto-man 944 did). Also, you'll be able to round the end and make it even less 'sharp' then the factory lip. I wouldn't worry about cutting the tire as long as the wheels are correctly spaced. At least, any more so then the factory lip.

eniac

I don't care about the paint, it's getting an entire new color. My plan was to round off the edges so there was nothing sharp leftover. The fronts would be ground flat to the fender side and smoothed out so until I can run my finger along the edge and not catch anything.

For the rears I figured I'd cut away as much as need and if seem seperation is an issue then I tack it with a MIG from the inside.

This car will be heavily cut up when I'm done with it. The tires will be 255 up front and 295 in back so I won't need to cut that much of the rear fender.

gcb951

How big are the tires you are going to use? Reason I ask is because I'm concerned that with 255/40/17, I will need to do the same. Or is that too narrow to worry? Either way, good luck with the project and let us know how it works out.

samluke

Its not hard to get a 295 in. I have seen stock cars with stock steel fenders using up to 315 with rolling/tweaking. I managed to get a 285 on a very agressive ET45 wheel in on my car, with minimal adjustment.

Go ahead and cut if you think that's the best way to go. I would be interested to hear the results. Iif you do it, you may as well go ahead and cut out the inner wheel arch and replace it with something lighter.

95ONE

Mental note.. put on lug nuts before autocrossing.. lol.

ROLL it.. don't cut. It is safer and looks better..

Cutting out the spare tire well saved me 18lbs. Also lost my fuel tank strap "tab" by accident. Had to put it back on.