What did you use to trim your fenders?

[jode]

What did you use, how did it work for you, what would you do different, what got messed up, how did you treat the raw metal edges against rust, how did you mark the lines, etc...

Thinking of taking off my 4" susp lift (in preparation for a SOA) and am going to be doing some additional trimming...looking for any thoughts on fender trimming procedures, and things to watch out for.
THX

[Serious Johnson]

Sawzall. In a pinch, a jig saw and lots of metal blades can work. I wouldn't recommend tin snips. Used a pencil-on-a-string to define the final line from hub center, and cut about 3/4" inside that to leave material for a lip bent with a big rubber hammer. Painted the somewhat wonky result flat black, then slathered with tar-based rattle-can undercoating. I had the luxury of an air-powered nibbler when cutting for dual shocks on my FJ40, and it was friggin' great!

:-

[Zack172]

I used a 5 inch grinder with a zipcut to do the rears, I cut the whole wheeltub out and made new ones because they were rusted out, but for the front I used a big hammer and a small prybar to bang off my W/T flares. A grinder and zipcut would work for those too.

[country boy]

Sawzall and I used the factory lines where the lip starts for the wheel opening cut about 2 in. the back and 1 in. up front then folded about .75 in. under.

[netbear]

Sawzall works but I have been wanting to try
a plasma cutter. Might make the job easier.
The cutting is the easy part. making what's
left look and work well is the hard part.
The is a great book called "Metal Fabricator's
Handbook" I think it was from "HP Books" that
has a lot of good info and pictures.

[loborph]

I used a sawzall for most of the cutting - it tends to track a pretty straight line. When I needed to 'turn-a-corner' I used a jig saw. I've got some touchin-up to do w/ an angle grinder and will probably turn some metal under in the back to mend the two walls. I like the way mine turned-out, with my 3" rough country lift it no longer looks like a grocery getter. Good luck!

[Bluesky4x4]

I tape my cutline and the surrounding area to avoid messing up paint and use a jigsaw to make the cut. I think the plazma will be find if you plan on painting. An air nibbler worked okay on parts of a wrangler fender, but I don't know how thick a FSJ fender is.

[Tad]

Originally posted by tadsal:
Nothing special here, a more detailed write up will be prestented on the FSJ World Web Site soon.
http://members.cox.net/chmsawsroofracks/fencutrear.JPG

And then of course now...
http://www.fsjworld.com/gallery/tadsal/77270.jpgPS: A plasma cutter in not going thru both inner and outer fender at the same time (distance is too far), gonna be real hard to get a tip up there at the correct angle to do the inside well.

[Sambo]

tad i didnt notice before you cut the rear behind
the wheel well too! :-D looks kinda like mine!

[jode]

Wow, thanks to all....I guess maybe I should wait to get my welder before I go too crazy.

It seems like the bending option is too difficult - I can't imagine how I could get that to look good.

Tad, one question, what is to stop the water from getting up onto the top of your welds and to start eating it out again from the inside out? Is there any way to access it from inside the Jeep to apply anysort of rust inhibitor/paint?

[Desert Beast]

a plasma cutter works well also.

[Tad]

Originally posted by jode:
Tad, one question, what is to stop the water from getting up onto the top of your welds and to start eating it out again from the inside out? Is there any way to access it from inside the Jeep to apply anysort of rust inhibitor/paint?You can pull of the inside panels in the rear all the way up to the C pillar (at least mine come off), it's pretty easy to protect/paint the rear area all the way up to the top of the wheel well, from there it gets a bit tighter. I just kept spraying paint down in there untill I was bored. My rust is going to come back no matter what I do. At that point (Dana 60) I'll just cut some more, maybe rework the wheel tubs, not sure.

Sam, yes, besides the rust, I always liked they way you and Dr. Bob had done the rear cut. I think that little part of the rear that got removed was pretty useless also, looks much cleaner too. I'll be cutting the front to match, the heck with flares, I like the clean tucked in lines now.

Jode, that bending thing folks do. I tried it at first. I do not have the patience for that, plus it did not get me back in there to clean metal.

[netbear]

Sawzall works but I have been wanting to try
a plasma cutter. Might make the job easier.
The cutting is the easy part. making what's
left look and work well is the hard part.
The is a great book called "Metal Fabricator's
Handbook" I think it was from "HP Books" that
has a lot of good info and pictures.

[4LoTJ]

I just finished mine this weekend. I used a 4.5" grinder with cutting wheels. The front was a breeze, but a sawzall would've been better for the rear. My discs weren't big enough to get through the inner and outer well in one pass. That reminds me...I need to pick up some flap discs to start cleaning up my hack job!

Now for a couple of new-b questions:

Are there any other good options (besides bending and welding) to seal the gap between the inner and outer fender well?

What is the harm in leaving it open?

[FSJ Thing]

I started with the old Milwakee (not the beer) and it was too sqirly for me. I ended up doing the whole thing with a little jig saw. I cut the inner fender and and then the outer fender, and the expanded steel I used to make the fender flares went in the wheel well far enough that I just used it to cover the gap and then covered it all in 3M rubberized undercoating to fill in the perferations and seal it all up.

[KYJ10]

I used a recip saw also. I just cut right along the top of the downward bend. Slowed the saw down to make my turns, and then continued. Bent alot of blades. I then used vise grips, slid them over the fresh cut about an inch. Then folded the lip under. I moved them over about every inch. Then, I wrapped a block of wood in sheet. Placed it along the outside edge, and tapped the backside with a hammer. This bent the lip back all the way. It turned out fine. After some paint, people won't even notice. You might be able to see alittle if you click on my pics? Dennis

[Dmaple]

Originally posted by jode:
What did you use, how did it work for you, what would you do different, what got messed up, how did you treat the raw metal edges against rust, how did you mark the lines, etc...

Thinking of taking off my 4" susp lift (in preparation for a SOA) and am going to be doing some additional trimming...looking for any thoughts on fender trimming procedures, and things to watch out for.
THXI used Sawsall if that is the way you spell it. I also used a air cutoff tool. some bondo and some paint. I'm Happy [IMG] [QUOTE] http://www.freepicturehosting.com/g/125218_T.jpg

[Stuka]

I used a jig saw as it has a MUCH cleaner cut. Also does the curves well. Only part I used a sawzall on was the rockers, because they where to thick for the jig saw to want to cut.

[Michael]

I used a Dewalt Jigsaw. Have no complaints. Clean cut. Used 3 total blades after cutting 4 fenders. Did all the curves great and clean and straight. Pics are in my sig.

[jeepzilla47]

i used jig saw and cut all the way up to my door. i used expanda foam to fill in the gaps. fill it in, let it harden. then you can cut it with a saw to make it even then paint. it has held up for 6 months and doesnt show any signs of goin anywhere.

[timmirvin]

Hey Michael, really appreciate all the pix on your Yahoo site!!!

Sure wish I could have come to Gilmer :( :( ....

Anyway, did you weld the edges of wells??? Looks kinda like ya did.....

[Bob Barry]

I used an angle-grinder with a cutoff wheel on the back, and a sawzall up front; prefer the sawzall by far.

I traced a line with a permanent marker about 1" down from the start of the little factory flare. I cut to that line, and then bent the metal of the outer panel inward using vise-grips and some short lengths of angle-iron clamping a length of the lip at a time. I "finished" the final inward angle of the lip with a ball-peen and a body-hammer.

The front wheelwells are a cinch, as it's just sigle-wall; I think it took a half-hour.

The rears I did in three ways. The front 1/3 of the wheelwell is effectively single-wall, so I just cut and bent that back.

For the top 1/3, the inner wheelwell metal is close-enough to the outer metal that both can be bent back inward together. I then pop-riveted the two surfaces where they overlapped inside the lip.

The back 1/3 is tricky because the innerwheelwell is too far away from the outer. There, I made my cut with a little extra metal, then bent the inner wheelwell outward, and the outer panel inward so they overlapped, slapped some seam-sealer in-between them where they met, drilled a couple holes and pop-riveted them together.

After all was said and done, I trimmed the lip to about an even 3/8" all the way around.

[youngjeeper]

i used an angle grinder and it kinda did a crappy job but maybe thats me and because i didnt mark it. it tended to yank back at times and screw up some paint, but its just paint rite?

[dnixon]

I used a sawzall.. but i did it at night in the dark and it didin't turn out like i wanted cause I couldn't see where i was cutting.. i just need to get something cut before the next days wheelin' trip with Stuka. But the extra i cut off turned out to help out a bunch otherwise i would have been rubbing like crazy... Now i just need to clean it up and fold the edges back.....

[6foot4 again]

why fold? the PO cut, and on one side only put rubber flares on ( MAN, talk about hideous! ), but I'm gonna put both sides on when I put my other axles on. Hey, SLO, you got that grille on yet?