Front fender removal

Guys,

Sitting outside a Pick-N-Pull fighting my tool selection.

What do you use to remove the three bolts on the back of the fender? The door won’t open far enough to get a socket on them and of course they’re Torx headed...

Let me know. I’m on my third trip to the car and back for tools.

You can remove the fender with the support, and you do not have to worry about the Torx bolts. It is a lot easier to take it all. You need 7, 10, 13, and 15 mm sockets, Phillips screw driver, and some extensions. You should remove the hood first. The PNP yard usually charges the same for the skin and the skin and support.

Fred, I knew you'd know the answer. I found it after driving 150 miles home and searching this part of the forum, and checking the FSM. All I actually needed was a cutoff wheel and a T30 Torx bit. Had the bit, 2 1/4" wrenches, but no cutoff wheel. Left it at home. So, another 300 mile trip to take out one bolt. And it's a Caprice! The RMW there has a dented fender.  GRRR.

First time in all my years wrenching on cars that I needed to pull the inner wheel well to remove the fender...last fender I took off was on my 73 Suburban...and before that, my 66 Chev 3/4 ton. Fenderwells stayed intact.

Welcome to the 90's. I guess. LOL!

Oh, and it's an extra 16 bucks for the inner. Plus core charge and environmental fee. There's a couple more parts I need, so it won't be a wasted trip.

Are you referring to the fender support or the wheelhouse? You do not have to remove the wheelhouse to remove the fender. It would have cost you a lot less to take the fender support the first time. You do not need to remove any Torx bolts to take the fender with its support off. It also makes it easier to install the donor fender. You can use tiny pop rivets to attach the clips for the trim.

Fred, it all happened as you said. What you referred to as the fender support was normally welded to any fenders I removed in the past... so we were talking about the same things in a different language. Ended up takng a bunch of 13 mm, a couple 10 mm and a couple 15mm bolts off, and came up with this...



It was just the same, but different...thanks for your advice, it worked well.

Now let's talk about tailgates. The invisible switches and latches.

There are no invisible switches or latches. If the gate will not open, as a gate or door, the links inside may be disconnected. I need know what the specific issue is before I can help.

If you must remove the gate, the easiest way to remove it is to remove the nuts holding the driver side hinges on, and then release the gate by opening the gate as a door.