67 bird fender lip rolling

[ricer]

i have search and really didn't find any info for my particular situation. I am going to roll the lip on a 67 bird but have a question before i actually do it. I tried a test spot to see how much force is required to get the metal to move and it seems like an awful lot and am worried about damaging the 1/4 panel (double layer of metal on the lip making it pretty strong and barely plyable) and spots welds seem pretty beefy.

I don't have wheels/tires yet so i can't do the bat method, and don't think the eastwood tool is going to be strong enough to move it. So i was contemplating cutting slits in the lip every couple of inches (being careful not to hit the spot welds, perpendicular to the lip) and do it that way. I don't want to cut the entire lip off and dress the seams so that is out as well.

I am by no means a body person so wanted to get opinions before i actually go ahead and do this. Also no body work has started just replaced panels and is in epoxy primer.