4877 Ressurecting a bad girl...

[Lwanmtr]

Today......

I managed to the old v1 lock out of the door...basically had to break the plastic holding it into the door.
Installed my new hazard flasher...though I need to look tomorrow at the connector and see if all the pins are good cause only one light blinks...I also still dont have turn signals. Hoping I'm not gonna need to add electrical repair to m list of things to have dmcnw do...
Replaced all the exterior lights (except headlights) with spiffy led's
Worked a little on removing the front fascia, but its being a pain...two of the bolts holding the rock screen just spin and wont come out. Hopefully I can still get it off.
Probably going to need a new rock screen, a few of the plates where the bolts hold it have rusted off.
I also pulled out the dash mat (exposing the hideous binnacle and dash) and repainted the faded grey with black vinyl and cloth spray...works good and dries fast..but stinks like crazy.

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[Lwanmtr]

Got the Rear fascia off today. I didnt bother with the rear closing panel, cause of the 4 extra bolts with nuts inside the pontoons. After a trip to autozone to get a bendy socket thing was able to get the lower support bracket off too.

The bracket should be fixable if I can pound it back to straight.

The fascai, though..after getting if off the car it looks a little worse than I thought. Gonna try get it back into shape using a heat gun and boards, but its dipped quite a bit in the center. Hoping It'll work...otherwise have to see how much a used replacement is gonna be.

Luckily the impact absorber is still usable.

Am curious why the 4 bolts going into the pontoons are there.

Here are a few pics....you can see how warped the fascia is..and how bent the bracket is.

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[DMC5180]

The extra bolts were to help close the gap between the quarter panel and fascia. I removed those bolts a few years ago. PITA on the right side working through the induction hole. Being physically challenged with large hands and arms required me to employee the help of my wife. Someday when have the panel removed again, I'll install rivnuts. For now I just live with the 3/16 gap.


Dennis

[Jonathan]

The extra bolts were to help close the gap between the quarter panel and fascia. I removed those bolts a few years ago. PITA on the right side working through the induction hole. Being physically challenged with large hands and arms required me to employee the help of my wife. Someday when have the panel removed again, I'll install rivnuts. For now I just live with the 3/16 gap.


Dennis

Thanks for explaining that, Dennis. That makes sense to me. Since getting my rear fascia back on the car, I would say the gap where you've described is about 3/16" for me too.

That gap I can live with, but the centre section where it butts up with the edge of the lower engine cover on my car needs attention. My cover doesn't want to "pop" up anymore, not like it did prior to taking things apart. It wouldn't pop up dramatically before, but it was enough that you could pull the lever behind the seat, and then once you've let go, walk around and lift the cover. Now it won't do that and it's difficult to open single handedly.

Any advice on where an adjustment can be made? I loosened the four bolts on the cover hinges to move it forward as far as it will go, but this wasn't enough. Anything else I can play with that you know of?

[DMC5180]

I can't really help there. The catch loop was missing when I bought my car. I bought a replacement but never got around to installing it. I like the convenience of not needing to use the release cable. One thing I can say is the the heat from the engine compartment causes expansion and contraction of the fascia/closing panel assembly. When cold the aft edge of the engine cover rubs, chafes and binds against the fascia. When hot I've seen as much as a 3/16 gap in those rub points. The issue is warpage or puckering of the fascia between the attachment screws. I'm still waiting for the day DMCH has a quality fiberglass replacement option. The new front is perfectly straight. I want that for the rear too.


Dennis

[Lwanmtr]

Didnt think of those bolts being to close the gap.

Today was a bit of a wash..tried getting the front fascia off...took the hood off the hinges to get to the screws, since even the tiny ratchet I have was just s lil too tall.
Got 3 of the 5 screws out...the other two are stripped, so I have to find a screw extractor. I'll try them again tomorrow to see if maybe the juice breaks them loose enough to be able to not need one.

The bolts at the ends on that upper part are another story..I think the part thats imbedded in the fiberglass broke loose on both cause they spin and dont come out....any ideas how to get those out?

[Rich_NYS]

Rob,

For the two stripped screws: are they close enough to the center where you can remove the front grill and get at them from underneath?

[Lwanmtr]

The screws are the ones on the ends..the 3 in the middle came out

[Rich_NYS]

The screws are the ones on the ends..the 3 in the middle came out

Dammit!

[Lwanmtr]

Got the other screws out...but the bolts are still just spinning. I looked to see if I could pull the headlight brackets out and get underneath..but it seems a catch 22...gotta have the fascia off to get to the other nut holding those in...lol

Where's the local delorean rescue squad when ya need 'em?...lol