Im taking my car over to the body shop in 2 weeks to have them fix a slightly decent size hole in my car about a baseball width. What id like to know is, how to remove the chrome wheel well flanges. I tried with a screwdriver with all my might but to know avale. Do I have to just take a grinder at this point and grind the screws off??? I want to clean up the surface rust on the 1/4 panel flanges. I am getting ready to put this car away for the winter, its almost november, its getting painted in the spring. I already tried penetrant on the screws they wont budge.
bodyshop
- Thread starter 1986montecarlols
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Go to your local hardware store and see if they have easy outs. In my opinion you should only use a grinder as a last resort so you don't damage the trim. Of course if you don't plan on reusing the trim, then grind away.
You can also try first, if you are able to get it in there, a decent sized drill bit.
You can also try first, if you are able to get it in there, a decent sized drill bit.
There IS a trick to wheel arch moldings. You need to put a screwdriver in the slot, and then whack it a few times with a hammer. This will loosen the trim screws by reducing the tension on the screw head. It almost always works for me when I do it. If the head is really mangled, I would get out your die grinder and use that to remove the head. That way, you can avoid damaging the trim.
I just took mine off last week, it took me about half the day to get all four off. I used a lot of wd-40 and the hammer method and eventually got all four off but it was time consuming. Good luck!
yeah
thing is, I dont wanna wack the thing so hard id literally bend my wheel well flange. I dont know what an easy out is. And arent those screws stainless??? That would be really hard to get off. I think ill try to get them off one last time or else im just gonna grind them off and have to hunt down some new chrome ones.
thing is, I dont wanna wack the thing so hard id literally bend my wheel well flange. I dont know what an easy out is. And arent those screws stainless??? That would be really hard to get off. I think ill try to get them off one last time or else im just gonna grind them off and have to hunt down some new chrome ones.
It depends on just how bad they are. If the arches are THAT bad, you need new arches, not just a quick fix for one small hole. Otherwise, by spring you will never be able to tell that anything was fixed.
For mine, I used some PB Blaster and pushed all of my weight on the screw with a screwdriver. Then I took a pair of pliers and grabed the screw driver handle and tried turning it that way and they all came out.
This might work for you, but the hammer trick probably works better.
This might work for you, but the hammer trick probably works better.
I got
all but one out, I shoulda waited for my brother to just get it out. I ended up grinding it off. I did it just like you did joe. Ill have to get another chrome piece someday mines scratched to hell now lol. Im going to have to drill out the hole too. I wonder if a screw will go in there now though since I am going to drill it out? Also is the 1/4 panel double sided or is that 2nd layer of steel part of the out wheel well, just curious that one is just a little bit rusty other wise its fine.
all but one out, I shoulda waited for my brother to just get it out. I ended up grinding it off. I did it just like you did joe. Ill have to get another chrome piece someday mines scratched to hell now lol. Im going to have to drill out the hole too. I wonder if a screw will go in there now though since I am going to drill it out? Also is the 1/4 panel double sided or is that 2nd layer of steel part of the out wheel well, just curious that one is just a little bit rusty other wise its fine.
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