fender alignment
11-07-2007, 09:09 PM
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fender alignment Well whoever had the car before me decided that the flange where the fender bolts up on the bottom of the car looked like a great jack point and ended up bending it out (on both sides! I guess he wanted it to look symetrical.). So now the fender is about a 1/2" off at the bottom. Anyways I know the fenders are plastic so I'm wondering if I'll be able to straigten everything w/out having to buy new fenders.
11-07-2007, 09:39 PM
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You see this alot on the f-bodies. If morons would just read their owner's manual they would see that those are not jacking points. Anyway, all you have to do is put a set of channel locks or vise grips on that lip and bend it back to it's original position(straight down) and that will pull the fender back in. Do this slowly, else you could damage the fender more.
11-08-2007, 03:30 PM
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I agree. I am one of the dummies that you speak of who used the flange as a jack point on my 94z28. Anyway I was able to carefully tap at the flange with a hammer and pull the fender back into place.
Last edited by tscheu5452; 11-08-2007 at 04:18 PM.
11-08-2007, 10:32 PM
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Your taking a risk of breaking the mounting tab off the fender by simply using the hammer or vice grips.
The best way to do the repair without risk of breaking the tab is to first remove the two mounting bolts. Buy/borrow a heat gun to heat the fender tab to foften/relax the plastic and work it back into its original shape. This completely eliminates the risk of breaking the tab.
The metal tab can be repaired with hammers, vice grips or whatever else works for you.
I have seen several people take a block of wood and a hammer to fix the problem only to make it far worse. The OEM fenders are no longer available from GM and the aftermarket ones are crap.
The best way to do the repair without risk of breaking the tab is to first remove the two mounting bolts. Buy/borrow a heat gun to heat the fender tab to foften/relax the plastic and work it back into its original shape. This completely eliminates the risk of breaking the tab.
The metal tab can be repaired with hammers, vice grips or whatever else works for you.
I have seen several people take a block of wood and a hammer to fix the problem only to make it far worse. The OEM fenders are no longer available from GM and the aftermarket ones are crap.
