S13 front wheel fitment (not the same question everyone asks)

[DJPimpFlex]

I'm putting 17x10s all 4 on my s13 and I know all about where the wheel wells need to be hammered out. I was wondering if anyone had a good idea about how to go about doing it in a way which will reduce the damage to the paint as much as possible.

I was going to use a heat gun to soften up the metal/paint, but does anyone have an other expirences/ideas?

[burnsauto]

A lot of it comes down to your patience. Invest in a good heat gun and take your time. If you want you can get a rubber coated heel dolly (meant for doing door skins) to help you along the way. That way you wont mar the paint.

Just take your time and don't get in there swinging like there's no tomorrow.

[nsn240]

How much more beating does a 10j need than a 9j?

[nathanong87]

is the concern, u are worried about the paint on the inside of the fender well?....

[DJPimpFlex]

Yea the insde is painted really nice so I wanted to preserve that as much as possible. It's a track car so it's not the biggest problem, but you know. I like nice things.

[nathanong87]

Yea the insde is painted really nice so I wanted to preserve that as much as possible. It's a track car so it's not the biggest problem, but you know. I like nice things.

yea i understand, so i dont know if my personal experience applies, but for my car....

and i dunno how the paint is going to survive if u are taking a hammer to the well...even with heat.

like fender rolling, no matter how much heat and patience it seems...it's sooo sooo soooo hard to keep the paint mint, if u know what i mean.

[DJPimpFlex]

Ya serious, but well see. Worst thing is I sand it down and repaint it later. The heel dolly is a good idea for sure, just gotta find one around here.

[silviaguy240]

heat and hammering arent going to be good for paint...you are going to need to repaint. hell maybe even do undercoat, unless you are talking about inside the engine bay which will need paint.

[ZX88]

i hammered my fronts flat all you have to do is heat the paint till its hot and you should be good. i have 9.5 in the fronts

[!Zar!]

Yeah, there isn't really any way to hammer it without damaging the paint. Because not only is the hammer physically hitting the paint, when it moves the metal it is stretching and contorting it. So that in and of its self will mess it up.

[brokeAs240sx]

what offsets & tire sizes are you running?

I'm currently running 17x10 +8 all around w/ 245/40 tires and I only needed to hammer in the lips on the fender wells (the bottom rear near the frame rail & the top part of the fender well), same as for most ppl running wider/lower setups.

Alignment & ride height play a part as well. However, keeping to relatively lower offsets & wide fenders helps a lot.

[burnsauto]

You can do it without damaging the paint, you just need to have the knowledge on how to do it. A good trick i've learned from a few metal finishers (ya know...the no filler guys..) is to coat all you're tools (hammer faces, dolly's, etc) I've seen guys use electrical tape of hammer faces or even go as far as dipping their hammer faces in rubber.

What size tire are you planning on using for the front? A lot of it will come down to that.