Arch rolling

Anyone got any experience with arch rolling. In particular on a clipper.

How do you (if its possible at all) roll the arches on a car fitted with a clipper kit.

Any info and tips welcome.

Gav.

You'd have to take the arches off it in order to get a good roll, and so you don't damage clips/trim. 

I doubt you will be able to get all the clips and attachements back on at the top of the arch if you roll it.

But I would imagine a bit more gluey stuff along the edge of the lips should help hold it in place.

I'd stick to rolling only the top third of the arch on the front that way you will still have access to the mojority of the screw holes etc.

You don't need to do the back as there is no inner lip around the top! you may need to trim the inside edge of the body kit though.

When rolling the arches make sure you have a helper to put pressue on the front (outer) face of the wing or otherwise a lot of the force you use to try and roll is transferred out and just pushes the face of the wing outwards.

You may also need to remove the inner arch liners on the front as the liners rest against the top of the inner lip. Otherwise as you try to roll the lip upwards you will also be fighting the inner wing.

Make sure you clean thoroughly behind the lip to remove any mud. stones and dirt as well. it's normally a good idea to either add some seam sealer or waxoyl or at least some extra paint in behind the lip before rolling. Otherwise it acts as a dirt trap and will rust out the front face of the wings.

It's a pain in the bum to do. It's not a simple job to get it right. It's a very slow process and involves miniscule movement of the lip for quite a lot of run arounds with the roller.

edit: also get a hair dryer and warm the paint around the area where the lip meets the outside of the arch. This will help to stop the paint from cracking while you do the rolling. I use a hair dryer rather than a heat gun as it produces less heat and you stnad less chance of the paint bubbling and falling off! Make sure you have plenty of time ot do in it (I'd suggest a day each side) and then take your time while rolling. Keep the paint warm and change the length of the roller little by little and make sure you do plenty of passes at each length.

I used a proper roller on my Derby at the front and it gave a noce smooth roll, it wouldn't fit at the back as the car was too low for the roller to fit under the arch so a rubber mallet, wet ply wood and a home-made dolley were used. It doesn't look as neat but boy was it faster  Good luck

E

Cheers for the info guys.

Gives me something to look into. Got to do something, can't leave it as it is or I'll end up with no sidewalls left. 

Sounds like make hours of fun ahead of me. But that's what owning a mk1 is all about. :-)