MOPED ARMY

Someone’s gonna be p*ssed I said this on here... but i’d take a pair of vice grips to it gently, in an effort not to totally gouge the thing.

Ya a bit of both, I’d start by kinda whaking the filter on a wooden surface and checking fitment until it almost (or does) fits. Then if necessary carefully squeaze the carb to clear the remaining interference.

Seriously though,

For bending thin stuff without leaving marks I use a small adjustable wrench.

Id be more worried about cracking that casting though.

Try a wooden rounded dowel , place at the site of injury and whack the dowel.and not the casting with a hammer.

I would think the SHAs for all that money would be a little better quality, but yeah, that what I'm trying to avoid.

Any one think a little sanding all along the inside edge would hurt? It's really just a hair from not getting the filter in.

You can Litterally find shas in a garbage can in my shop.

Adjustable wrenches are great benders.

We wanna see more skin.

OK . Here's a little more coddling : Cut a piece of wood ( hardwood is best ) the same radius as the carb throat . That's the curve you want the dent to end up looking like .

Place the carb dented section of the throat in that cut out and secure it . Take the leftover piece of wood that you just cut out to make that curve and use it in the fashion of a mandrel . That requires the use of a hammer or possibly a C clamp .

That^ should re-set the carb edge back to something very close to original without fear of pushing it too far .

Why not bent/notch the air filter to fit in? Kind of a one way impair filter. I would be scared to break the pot metal. I have broken those lips off by dropping one before.