Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

In the process of removing the upper front inner fender skirt/covers attached to the hood. I can turn the screws to loosen, but they are not coming undone. I imagine that with the age and weather along the way this may be a little difficult, as they almost feel like they are stripped. Will need new screws for sure.
Any recommendations for removal of these??? thx....

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Gone down that road. Do it every few years to keep things clean.

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/6409/B2PYe2.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

One day mine might look as good as yours.....:)

should have specified, I meant the upper covers attached to the hood. I don't want to proceed and make it worse than what it is!!!

just specified in post #1

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

If strippef you will have to get a "fork" of some sort to gentely push between the fender and the screw. You can put pressure on fork pushing up while you unscrew.

Please take it easy or you will strip out the fiberglass pretty easily.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Sounds like a plan, I have one of those door panel removal tools which might work out....thanks for the tip...

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

I thought that maybe in '93 there was a change to a "rivet" that held the uppers to the hood. I can't say that I've any 1st hand but catalog information seems to confirm that.

What type of a head are you finding? Phillips or Torx? I thought earlier were maybe T-30 and M6.3X1.81.

Just curious!

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

My 94 has Torx screws...T15 seems to fit just fine, although some were a little elongated and have to use a T20.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

My 94 has rivits. I envy you guys with torx screws.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

No need to envy anymore......what I thought were, looked like, and felt like torx screws, were not screws. They did turn out to be rivets. I have never see a head on a rivet like this before....needless to say they were a joy to remove.
And part of the rivets are now inside of the hood.....oh well!!! if only there was a trap door to remove them....I need a flexible pencil magnet....

WVZR-1, you were correct in your post, no need to be curious anymore...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...202907_001.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...202_214556.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...202_215339.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

I believe that at every location where you had a rivet there's a depression that you can modify the hood to use the M6.3X1.81 screw and the u-clip. I've a '95 hood here but it's buried bottom side to the wall and I doubt I'll have a chance to get at it early but maybe late in the day.I'll try to post back with a solution OR maybe someone has done it.

The screw you'll need is the same as the liners to the fascia and fender panels on earlier cars with the T-30 Torx or the ones used on the later years with I believe a hex. Here's an Ecklers link to what would have been on the earlier thru likely '92 hoods. Not hinting towards a buy but just showing you what I expect on earlier cars.

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1984-1990.html

If you search eBay for 11514290 you can catch a glimpse of the nut that would be used.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...14290&_sacat=0

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Appreciate the info, will check it out. Whenever you look at the 95 hood is fine. I still have to clean and paint....
BTW, would you know what shade or type of black paint is used for the fender covers and under the hood? thanks for any info.....

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Tom,

Do not paint unless garage temp is 75+ degrees. Paint dosen't spread nor cure properly when cold.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

I have just cleaned these and gone in and wiped with the black restore product and it works very well.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Won't be painting today Yun, as I need to sand the cover and clean the under the hood area. But I will have my gas heater on for sure to bring up the temps for painting. I always have it on when working in there like last night when I removed the fender cover.:D thanks for the tip...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...203_090447.jpg

I don't think that will work very well with mine, as there are stone digs and flaking off of the paint that is from wear and tear. I need to sand them down and paint. I have the Krylon 1613 Black (original formula) that I use for the 74, which should work out fine. I was concerned about the correct sheen, but I should be ok. That is only for the underside, as the top side should be fine with the black restore if needed. thanks for the suggestion...

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Tom,

I've sent you an email regarding my thoughts! Regarding the paint - do you need to "rattle can" this or can you actually spray this with maybe a detail gun. I still have I think some of the older GM paint but there's vendors who sell very good stuff. Melrose I think still has the GM formulation and maybe Eastwood but there's likely "premium" product available from SEM either "rattle can" or perhaps quarts.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Dave,

Received and responded to your emails.....thanks for all of the info....
There are 8 locations for the rivets. And there are the small depressions that you mentioned. Here is a shot.....if you look closely, you will see the small depressions you described, so I shouldn't have any trouble with them. The top two on the left already are opened up, I would just have to smooth those openings for the nuts to fit....
Also will probably use the Krylon 1613 as mentioned above, I am very comfortable with rattle can....lol

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...203_095445.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Tom,

Underside of hood, if really necessary, can be touched up with spray paint. As for the fender liners including the piece you removed from the hood, I believe, was molded in black plastic and were not painted. If you paint these it may look good for awhile but with all the stone and debris being thrown up could end up looking worse than before.
I typically clean these pieces and coat them with Wipe-New.
Just a thought...

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Yun,

There are a few spots under the hood where it may need a touch up.
Yes that piece is molded, but really looks bad on the bottom side as previous shown. I may just experiment and see what happens, can't look any worse than what it is already....lol
The topside of the piece was really packed with some road grime. Although I took a pic, my camera did not record it. And I may not even coat the topside, it doesn't look like it needs it.
So the pics that follow are with a simple clean up of a micro fiber cloth and water. Did under the hood on the left side and the top of the cover. Came out halfway decent...

Underneath left side hood before...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...203_095445.jpg
Underneath after...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...203_122528.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...203_122548.jpg
topside of cover cleaned...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...203_132438.jpg
interesting info on topside of cover when replacing rivets with screws, or those who use screws already...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...529dd8f9bd.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Excellent work Tom!
Going back on will you be using rivits or torx screws?

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Thanks Phil, going to use screws and u-nuts as per what Dave recommended. Actually the screws will be a pleasure for future removal. I just have to use the dremel to cut open those slight depressions in the hood next to the rivet holes to install.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

I should have sufficient hardware for you also!!

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Thanks Dave, I very much appreciate it.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Made more progress today....getting there.....lol

My selection of tools for this job getting the rivets out....the 5 lb sledge is one of the best tools I own...it even loosens bolts when even a breaker bar won't do....
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_134041.jpg
RS before disassembly...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_125341.jpg
RS under hood after panel removed...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_134151.jpg
RS after cleaning....
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_153845.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

RS headlight bucket before...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_142630.jpg
RS headlight bucket after...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_143548.jpg
RS panel removed...you can see how cruddy it was from all of these years, the LS looked exactly the same....
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_134248.jpg
RS topside panel cleaned....
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_152138.jpg
RS bottom panel cleaned, but needs help!!!
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...205_134302.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Recommended by another car buddy.....paint for plastic......
Picked these up today, will do one bottom side panel with Rust-Oleum Flat Black and the other bottom side panel with Krylon Fusion Satin Black....
Also picked up a sanding block, as I have to sand those pieces, hoping it will smooth out the stone digs somewhat, we shall see!!!

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...206_135211.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

On the RS of this pic you can see the difference from the LS, all those marks are actually road grime, oil and whatever else you pick up along the way when driving in the rain. Add that to 23 years of use and you have a build up that is fun to remove...using a sanding block and a small screwdriver, removed all of the imperfections, ready for paint...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...208_134402.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...8_132129_1.jpg
Used the Rust-Oleum paint, not to satisfied so far with the way it laid. I may have been to anxious and put on too much of a heavy coat. The longer it dries, it does seem to eliminate those fish eyes.....but I may have to re-sand and start over again...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...8_163332_1.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Experimentation still needed....part is dry, shade of finish is fine....but have to figure out how to get a smooth finish allover!!!
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...208_185724.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Tom,
You may have silicone residue on those fenders.
Use one of the Eastwood type products that removes that before painting.
Think its called PREP.

No matter what you cleaned or roughed the surface with, silicone remarkably
hangs on tough.

Wish it would on my tires!

Best of luck!!!
Marty

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Thanks Marty, I was using mineral spirits as a prep....maybe not the correct product to use on this surface. Didn't even think about silicone being on there!!!
Will check out the Eastwood product.....appreciated....

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

I don't know that there's any rattle can that sprayed directly has adhesion capabilities for the product. I don't know that the GF PP is a plastics type or not. I'm accustomed to seeing the "TYPE" in a trademark or circle or something of the sorts. Could they be assumed to be PP? Maybe - very likely!

If you were to use maybe SEM 3986 Adhesion Promoter it might do much better. Very HOT soapy water wash first after maybe the use of a silicon remover BUT when using the correct adhesion promoter maybe you could get a much better finish. Durability might always be an issue! Visit an auto refinishing/auto body supply house in the area maybe.

Here's a 3986 product user guide. Painted lots of plastic after using this stuff

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com//pdf...omoter_tds.pdf

GFPP maybe?

http://www.plasticsgroup.com/polifil_gfpp.php

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Thanks Dave, looks like some good reading and learning here...better to do the job right the first time....

Responded to email few minutes ago.....

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Still working on the panels, but also working on the exposed area under the hood when the panels are reinstalled.

This is again the RS underhood area with all the road grime attached...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...211_134016.jpg
This is the LS underhood area with a work in progress, still more to do here....but there is a difference...lol
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...211_133934.jpg
The cleaning cloth getting all of the grime eliminated...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...211_134226.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

New screws arrived the other day and package with u-nuts from Dave got delivered today. Now the fun begins with opening up the depressions under the hood to allow the u-nuts to fit. Screws and u-nuts fit perfect.
Just going to take my time to do the job right!!!

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...213_171443.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...213_171506.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Resumed the panel work today....looking for perfection being as anal as I can sometimes be....:-({|= not quite 100% but then again not NCRS either. Can't tell you the countless times I stripped the paint and started over again....:censored: Might need a slight coat in one area, other than that, the RS is done......=D>

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...218_183212.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...218_183243.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Looks very, very good Tom!!!
What paint finally worked?
:cheers:
Marty

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Thanks Marty, I did contact Eastwood for the PREP product and the shipping cost more than the spray product. So I canned that item. I still used the mineral spirits as a "cleaner, degreaser, etc., before spraying. I ended up using both the Rust-Oleum and the Krylon Fusion after all. I finally figured out the correct amount of spray to put down and get the finish I was looking for. But of course even though I had the outer lip done perfect, I ending up stripping the paint off because of an imperfection that I couldn't straighten out with additional coats. Even though light coats worked fine, I had to spray a "wet color" coat on the outside lip which puts out to much paint and didn't spread out correctly. Why do I do these things???[-X
I was even thinking of trying Plasti-Dip, which I imagine would work.
Will be working on the RS panel in the AM, still have some sanding to do and hopefully this time I get it right, on the first try.

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

Appreciate the suggestion of the product, I should have clarified myself. It is not because of the surface not being clean enough to spray, rather it is because of me striving to get it to look as best as it can with my painting abilities. Sometimes I get to impatient and spray more than I should, therefore resulting in a finish or flaw that I am not happy with. Then after spraying more to fix the so called flaw, it ends up looking worse than before. Hence the reason I feel the need to strip off the paint and just start over again...
The other panel is ready for paint.....we shall see real soon.....lol

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

LS sanded and ready for wipe down...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...219_140705.jpg
LS wiped down and in the open paint booth....lol
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...219_145915.jpg
LS with first coat.....:icon_boun
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...219_150344.jpg

Re: Front inner fender skirt/cover removal
 

As good as it's going to get...drying time now...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...219_155803.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...219_155821.jpg