question on taking off front fenders.

[rnln]

Hi guys,
what is it involved in taking off the front fenders?

I found several wire holes on each door jams (between doors and fenders). Everytime driving in the rain, I can save water on shower but I affraid of rust. The problem is that I can not get my hands, even fingers, in there to seal the holes with silicon. Taking off the doors is easy but reinstalling/aligning them can be the hassle (previous experience). Is it easy to take off and resintall the fenders? Can someone tell me is it as easy as taking off bolts? What are the steps?

Thanks.

[Rich76_911s]

FFENDERS: (this is from a mid-year and an SC, a carrera might be different)

The front fenders are not all that challenging to remove. The first step is to remove the headlights. This is a fairly easy thing to do as all that you have to do is unscrew one screw on the trim ring and pull the light bucket out. Undoing the wires is problably the most cahllenging part. I label mine with masking tape and a marker so hopefully I'll know how they go back on. Once you have the light buckets seperated from the fender you have to get the wires through the holes in the fender. I've always had to cut a headlight wire or two here to be able to fit the wires though without the plastic clip that attaches to the light bucket. I've always started removing the fenders at the fender joining panel. Then worked my way toward the front of the car. The main bolts are on the inside of the front trunk. There is one that is way up under the dash so you will have to remove the little cardboard piece that covers the mechanical parts for the heater. On the driver side fender you have to disconnect the cable that releases the gas tank lid. I had to cut mine because I could not figure out how to get it apart. After all the bolts are undone on the inside of the car there are two or three small screws that go from the underside of the car up into the rubber smile. I had a hard time getting to these and had to remove the front valence before I could get to them. Also there are two screws that attach to the small metal pieces that attach to the rubber accordians. The final bolt is in there the headlights go it after that you should be all set to carefully remove them. The driver side takes some messing with to get it to clear all the gas filling stuff. But otherwise it is an easy process. I know that is an random path on how to get it done, but that is the best I can get it out right now. If you have any questions I'll gladly help.

SO:

1. Remove the Headlights
2. Push wires for headlights through the light bucket
3. Release the wire that pops open the gas tank, and undo any bolts or rubber that may be holding the fender inside the gas filler.
4. Take antenna off
5. Try to get to the bolts on the underside of the fender below the light bucket. These are small 10mm bolts that go into the front rubber smile.
6. Remove the bolts that are on the inside of the wheel well.
7. Remove the bolt on the inside of the headlight bucket
8. Start removing the bolts that hold the fenders on, I usually start up under the dash towards the driving cockpit, and work my way down the fender until I am at the front of the car.
9. Once all the bolts are loose carefully pull the fender off and away from the car. Being cautious around the gas filler.


Where are the leaks that you are encountering comming from? This seems like it is more likely to be caused by a leaking windshield gasket than anything with the fenders. And if that is the case I would fix the leaking winshield gasket as soon as possible.

Rich

[JP911]

I've never removed a 911 fender, but I've read here on the board that the adhesive between the fender and the tub is a b-tch to deal with. Why not just find someone with really small hands to put the silicon in there?

[Rich76_911s]

I've never encountered sealer on the two cars I have done it to. On the '76 though there was a small dot of welding near where the fender and the door meet. I nocked the weld with a hammer and screw driver to break it loose without a hitch.

[jpnovak]

If the problem exists between the rear of the vertical fender support and the front of the door hinge post then you are better off removing the doors. Its a fairly simple operation without disturbing alignment. All you have to do is remove the pins on the hinges. A drift and a deadblow hammer will head you in the right direction. There is a special tool that can be used with a slide hammer that would be better.

[rnln]

jpnovak ,

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhha
ahhhhhhhhhhhh arghhhhh arghhhhhhhh

why didn't I think of removing the pin so that I can leave the hinch in place to avoid door alignment. arghhhhhhh

yes, yes, I will do that.

I have removed doors from 2 cars and both were so bad when it comes to alignment. I got the door droped, scratch, and ding so bad.

Thanks so much.

Rich76_911s,
thank so much for the longgg write up.

JP911,
So that means I might have a leak from other place, not hte door jams? umm.. I never have a chance to look deep into the front hood vent, right below the front winshied. Do you know if this vent cover well enough or rain might come through there into the dask and play around in there before it come down to the foot well area?
This leak has been killing me.

Thanks guys.

[Porsche Doc]

Since the SC's
The REAL DEAL is the rubberized undercoating.
It IS truly HELL!!!!
The caulk is fun too.
You have to cut ALL that undercoating loose from the fender before you can even think about removing it.
It's not fun at all.
We have to take them off a lot and the guys at the shop don't look forward to it!
Porsche put them on pretty damn good!
Here is a turbo that were doing this week. We took off the fenders last week.
Good luck Man!

[ghnat]

Don,
What is involved in removing the undercoating? I just started on the fenders. Any tips for the removal of the undercoating? Will a heat gun help remove the undercoating and caulk?

Sorry to hijack the thread

[rnln]

Reading JP911 reply and looking at the area more careful, I feel like there must be other sources of leak to have that much water in the footwell area. Please see the pics below (interior). Driving in the rain for around an hour or so makes my carpets "sink" in water. I slip my hands to the inside of these curved panels and found that it's all wet too. I can be able to tell that water comes to behind those panels before it flow down to the carpets area.



1) At the vent in the front hood, below the windshield. Do you think rain and go through here and spread out in the dash?

2) at the area of the arrow label (2) in the pic, thre is a hard gasket between the fender and the cowl panel (below the front windshield. The gap at that gasket is pretty big. Do you know if it is possible for water can get through there and enter the dash?

[jpnovak]

90+% of the time wet kick panels are due to a failing windshield seal. The water seeps inthe lower corners, runs down behind the dash and ends up in the front corners.

pull the windshield and install a new seal.

[JP911]

rnln-
Where are you in CA? If you're in Orange County, or closeby, there's a guy that Newport Porsche recommends for home windshield install who is THE Porsche windshield expert. If you are in that area, call the service department in Newport for his contact info.

[defcon65]

Yes, a heat gun and a 5-in-1 putty knife will make short work of any sealant/caulk/coating. Be careful not to heat it up so much it starts to smoke. If you have to work too hard to scrape it off, it's not hot enough, though. Get a coffee can to scrape the softened goo off the knife and wear gloves as it gets hot. Harbor Freight sells a cheapo heat gun for about ten bucks that works good.

[rnln]

umm.. my front windshield was leaking, not that bad but enough to leak into the inner corner. I used silicon to seal the corner and the bellow glass area and it's seam good now.
This was what I though too but checking around the windshield many times to find any places without silicone but I can't find it. I finally placed silicon all around the glass already.
This leak really give me a headache.