I have 5 cars to do at this point, so i can probably justify the cost of the ebay ones.
Cars:
E39
70 Plymouth duster
95 Silverado
99 miata
68 cuda
The cuda is a friend. He offered 20 on thw purchase price for borrowing it.
What do i need?
What do i need to know?
How cheap can y'all find the one that will do them all?
I bought the Eastwood kit. It successfully rolled the fenders on an E46, which are 3-layers think. It's probably hell on wheel bearings, but I had no issues. You're welcome to use mine for the cost of shipping, but you can buy one for $80.
Get the Eastwood one. Or borrow Tyler's. In fact, you could amortize the cost of the roller by renting it out Tyler! That's a tool you only need once and from what I've seen the Eastwood version should last forever...
I have one from Amazon. They seem to be all made in the same place.
It worked fine on my Miata.
If you were close, you could use mine any time and not have to buy your own.
Been thinking about getting the Eastwood kit myself. The e28 needs it now that I lowered it...
be sure to look out for fender liner fasteners. They can potentially dent your fender if they're in an offending position in the roller's path.
I bought the $80 Eastwood one in case I need a smidge more clearance on the fenders. Funny that the instructions tell you that the thing is only good for single layer like the front fenders.
I looked at the princess auto ones and the reviews all said to buy the eastwood version. I am told that I can rent the thing out for about what I paid.
Pete
I bought the KMS Tools version on sale, which still looks exactly like the Princess Auto and Eastwood versions. It was ok, but I found better success with a baseball bat, section of exhaust pipe, various diameters of SCH40 pipe. Perhaps I needed more muscle to make it work, or something. It didn't make the job all that easier.
They do NOT last forever because the rollers get beat up, but that's only if you're using the thing for work.
Other thing to consider: Heat the paint to avoid cracking it.
Vigo said:Other thing to consider: Heat the paint to avoid cracking it.
This is the hot tip here. Pun intended...
I did mine in the summer, granted...but no paint cracking experienced.
It depends on how old it is and how far you bend it. Hair drier is fine, heat gun is easy to go too far with.
I had the Eastwood one, prior to theft. I would buy it again in a second. Probably paid for itself 10x over the time of ownership. Heat gun, roller. And patience.
In reply to AWSX1686 :
I've got the Summit Racing version. You're more than welcome to borrow mine.
Turns out i know a guy that has the Eastwood one. And hes willing to try to teach me to use it before loaning it to me!
Heat gun, buddy to inch the car forward and a wooden Louisville Slugger
In reply to Justjim75 :
The Inching forward is very important. I was fixing some damage during a pit stop when the driver was a bit too enthusiastic. The bat spit out and left me with a large painful bruise to the right inner thigh.
I always used a baseball bat between the tire and fender and have someone drive the car forward and backward. Different diameters of steel pipe and other cylindrical things work too.
In reply to Wally :
I'm impressed you keep a bat with you in your race day tools!
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
The bat is nice because its tapered and you can do a little bigger each time
The Summit Racing one is the same as the Eastwood. I bought it and the heat gun and rolled the fenders on the Mazda 5 (yeah, yeah, I know, I' weird). It worked great and it was free shipping. I'm planning on re-doing the PO's rolls on the Cobra with it and offering to roll friends. The heat gun and taking your time are your friends on the paint.
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