[Help] Bent fender

 A fiberglass truck canopy fell over on the front wheel of my S40,
landing on the front of the metal fender, which is now slightly bent
downwards, enough to rub on the wheel.

The fender isn't scratched, but there are two abrupt bends
on the bottom edges, one on each side where the metal
was forced to bow out.

I don't know much about body work - can I fix it myself?

Should I (a) use a rubber hammer (b) wrap it in cloth and squeeze
it in a vise (c) try bending it back with my hands (d) take it
to a body shop?

TIA, Sean_Q_

 

Bummer.  If it wear me and I wanted it to look as it nothing had happened,
I'd either buy another fender or take it to a body shop.  Otherwise, I'd
cushion it at the kink and slowly squeeze?  I'd try to do it by hand first
then immediately move on.  Lay it on it's side on a 2x4 and press down
ward?  Got a big vice?  It's probably going to be a little springy.

Robert

 

Hammering applies local pressure which may dent the metal. Any time
you dent the metal, you stretch it, and that will leave ripples.

Bending it back requires carefully bending it further toward the
center than it was bent outwards.

Hopefully the paint is flexible enough to survive the bending without
cracking.

 Further to the above -- the rear (undamaged) end of the fender has
a curved shape to accommodate the tire's round profile, but the front
end was flattened by the impact and that's where it's rubbing on the tire.

Question is, how do I restore the round shape without damaging
the metal any further?

SQ

 

You could make yourself a 3-D contoured "buck" from a pattern matching
the undamaged rear of the fender.

The buck would be made of individual wooden sections with the correct
curvature, fastened together, and then smoothed.

Next, you would put the front of the fender over the buck and pound it
to shape with a rubber mallet.

But, the inherent springiness of the metal means that you would have
to bend it to a slightly tighter curvature.

And, you would probably damage the paint, so you'd need to repaint the
fender with genuine Suzuki paint.