Ok guys... This may be a bit adventurous for me.. But I think I can do it. With the guidance of this forum, and the many on here who have done it themselves, maybe I can teach myself something in the process and under the guidance of many of you fine folks.. So here it goes...

I'm looking at tackling my fender stretch on my own. I have a friend who was in auto body for ten + years, so I think with some of his guidance I can tackle it in a (long) day. I want to do about a 4-5" stretch... With very little tuck. I am keeping my stock tombstone, turn signal, and fender trim. So, here are the questions I have been thinking about...

1) Going to the local hardware store to pick up some sheet metal. What gauge would be adequate - but fairly easy to form? I'll be doing this all by hand (body hammers and dollies).. and I am not afraid to beat a piece of metal into submission, but I don't want to compromise it's integrity.
2) Looking at the factory fender, I notice that the sheet metal is rolled and pinched along the edges. Do most of you mimic this look? I thought about taking thin round stock, and forming it to the underside of the fender lip both to give it rigidity, strength, and to give a nice finished, rolled edge.
3) What kind of bracing did you construct under the fender to give the sheet metal strength? I have seen cheap fender crack from vibration, without even being extended. No doubt there will be more vigorous shaking the farther away I get from the fender struts.
4) Does anyone have any pictures of the process of their fender stretches? I have been looking through the forums all night between homework sessions, and cannot seem to find much as far as "beginning to end" construction photos.
5) I know you are thinking that I should buy a rear fender, cut a section, and weld it in.. But I'm trying to save myself money here. Buying another 3-400$ factory Harley fender just to cut it up seems to defy the point.

Other than that, I am pretty crafty, have some welding skills, and think I have it kind of figured out in my head. Basically, I want the fender to match the angle of the stretched bags when looked at from the side, but I don't want it to be stretched "out" too far to where it looks like the tail of the fender is trying to catch up with the rest of the bike.

I intend on taking photos of my process, and hopefully this thread becomes a DIY fender stretch thread for those who are as adventurous as I am. If not.. I guess I will be looking for a new fender.

 

Buying a $40-50 dented/wrecked fender off ebay is the only way to go...unless you have sheet metal tools and skill, its the only way to go if you want it to look professional.

 

yeah that...that's what I did. And I will tell you another thing. The guy that did mine fabs metal for a living. He doesn't do it on the side, it isn't his weekend hobby. He does it to eat, and it took over 20 hours to do mine. So, I think you are grossly underestimating the amount of work involved to assume you can do it FROM SCRATCH in one long day.

 

My friend who is also a master fab guy did mine in about 4 hours, used one piece of metal, english wheeled all the contours, even added the inner lip. Almost need no filler.

 

Different strokes for different folks.... When I did mine, I just bought another identical fender and took a section out and added it to my now stretched fender. Then I actually used the dove tail from the doner fender to stretch my front fender. (It had the right shape I needed already)

Can you do it from scratch from raw sheet metal? Of course! That's the beauty of fabrication. Many many roads to the same destination. It's art, man.

 

I'm not saying it won't be a lot of work, and I'm definitely not saying I am an expert. I do, however, focus on something until it is done. I'll put in a 12 or 14 hour day if I have to in order to make it right. There is definitely an art in shaping metal (especially sheet metal), and there are many tools that make the job easier (english wheel, hammer mill, etc.).. That being said...

I have looked on eBay, and there really isn't a whole lot out there as far as banged up fenders go. I've even looked at getting a raw blank from somewhere like J&P, or eBay, but many of those I might still have to cut down the middle, add material to, etc. Just having a hard time finding a fender that is already 7.125" wide. Most are 7.25", or under 7", from what I have seen. Seems to me I spent almost 6 hours looking last night just for a fender... Well. That is 6 hours I could have spent with a piece of (inexpensive) metal and practicing my metal skills. The last thing I would do would be cut the fender... I'd start shaping the sheet metal first to see if I could even come close. That way, I'd only be out the sheet metal - worst case scenario.

** Just went out and measured my rear fender. Looks like the rear section is 7 3/4" outside dimensions... Let the searching continue.

 

I have used the Drag Specialties Smooth fender for Heritage. With no tail light cut out, it does leave you with options. The fender was nice quality, and bolted up as is should. I wondered if it would be the proper width as well. I was spot on without any issues. If I recall, it was about 120 bucks.
When comparing it to a original fender, I must admit they did a great job copying the original.

It might be worth trying this with a replacement fender. That way your not cutting up the original.

 

This might be a definite, feasible option. I'll have to do some measurements on my fender to see what I've got to work with. The fishies are supposed to come today, so hopefully I can get at least one side on loosely, to see what kind of length (for sure) I want to go with.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Harley-D...a185ca&vxp=mtr





Right there broham... now get choppin!

 

Looky there! HELLO!