Front fender removal

[alphapig]

Hey guys,

My car got hit in the UCSD parking lot. Messed up my passenger headlight and the fender alignment.

It's actually somewhat ironic because I just bought a passenger headlight off e-bay for a projector retrofit.

Anyway can anyone tell me how to remove the front fender? I have searched... There are 2 10mm bolts on top, i presume there are more bellow somewhere?

Any help would be great. I'll post pictures tonight.

[alphapig]

Well I fixed it in about... 4 hours.

I usually back into parking spots, so I guess this is what I get. I'm guessing (I wasn't there, no note or anything) that someone backed into me. They hit my bumper on the passenger side, which broke my headlight tabs and bent the fender brackets.

This is what it looked like:

Broke part of the radiator support. Radiator was untouched though:

Here's how far the fender bracket was bent:

Soooo I took off the front bumper headlight:

Figured out how to take the fender off. 2 bolts in the engine bay under a soft plastic cover which just unclips when you tug at it. Another bolt at the corner of the windshield, with another soft plastic trim piece hiding it, and another one is basically inside the door jamb, meaning the door has to be open all the way in order to get to it. The last 2 bolts are on the bottom, under the side skirt.

After lots of persuasion this is the best I could do:

And here's how small the gap should be:

The headlight was difficult to mount, more bending was required:

Bumper fit fine though:

I have to remark on the resilience of Stillen polyurethane. The impact is barely noticeable!

I had to study today too

[2008AltiCoupeDan]

damn bro- tht sucks... i'd kill the a-hole tht did tht to my car if that was the case...

nice easy fix on ur end tho- thats the diff between ppl that know our cars, and ppl tht dont. lol

for ur rad support- if u dnt wanna fix it, i'd totally reccomend throwin sum fiberglass strips/lays on that so it doesnt keep pushin back w/ wind n stuff... otherwise tht'll turn into a HUGE hassle in the long run.

sry to hear tho-

[blackteam02]

heartbreaking . . .

[Rob.Vegan]

Fender is by far the hardest piece i've removed so far. I need to readjust mine actually, I have a crazy gap between hood and fenders.

Sorry to hear of your accident though, Do you have a pager system ???

[maxentropy]

Stillen Urethane ftw!

[alphapig]

Fender is by far the hardest piece i've removed so far. I need to readjust mine actually, I have a crazy gap between hood and fenders.

Sorry to hear of your accident though, Do you have a pager system ???

Seems the only way to really adjust it is by bending that mounting tab in one of the pictures. I hope it doesn't bend out of shape again... once it's damaged or bent the structural strength is basically compromised.

I have an Autopage RS 1000, it's great. Unfortunately the university is so big that my car is more than a mile from my classes

Stillen Urethane ftw!

It's remarkable stuff. The stock plastic bumper would have been cracked and dented. I will take a pic of the damage to the Stillen bumper when I get off class today... I think most of it will polish out.

[Rob.Vegan]

Ya, when I replaced my fender I was bending the tabs to try and make it fit better.

I have an Autopage RS 1000, it's great. Unfortunately the university is so big that my car is more than a mile from my classes

Props to you, there's no way I'd be able to handle that

[rjdmmfl1]

Ya, when I replaced my fender I was bending the tabs to try and make it fit better.

Props to you, there's no way I'd be able to handle that

yeah, but UCSD is freaking huge, and campus parking sucks, escpecially for students, so you sometimes don't really have a choice... but i agree, i actually hate being out of pager range from my car... even when I move back to Hopkins, i will be stayign in the med school dorms (until my wife and daughter make it out there) so that i have a free parking spot in the secured garage. And the garage is next door to the dorm, and much less than a 1/4 mile from the hospital...