75 replies to this topic

[Steve Crisp]

It'll take a number of posts to put this on the site, so please don't "add reply" untill I've finished! Disclaimer: - This is intended as a guide. It's down to you if it goes pear-shaped! A special thanks to all those who have gone before, and so guided me how to do it. Tools required: - 1. 6mm Allen key 2. No2 Phillips screwdriver 3. 2 off 13mm spanners 4. 8mm spanner 5. Some carpet, or sheet cardboard

[Steve Crisp]

Removal This is the method I followed, but there are other ways I’m sure. 1. Loosen the front wheels and raise the front onto axle stands positioned under the chassis (not under the wheels, as you will remove those). Make sure you choose a strong area of chassis, and place wood between the axle stand and the car to prevent any damage. I’d recommend jacking from the centre of the car at the front to stop any chassis twisting occurring. 2. Remove the front wheels, and place them out of the way. It’s also helpful to keep the bonnet open for most of the work.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:05 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

The next step is to remove the flimsy plastic inner wheel arch from the offside of the car. The offside one can be fully removed easily and will allow you to see what you are doing. 1. Remove the three screws shown from inside the offside wheel arch.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:06 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

1. Now remove the three screws at the front of the inner offside wheel arch. Note that the top one is a flimsy plastic trim screw that you may need to cut off to remove. These can be bought at Halfords. 2. Pull down the plastic inner wheel arch at the outside edge, and then fully remove and place out of the way. 3. Remove the same screws on the nearside inner wheel arch, but note that you can’t remove the inner arch from the car because of items attached to the top of it (such as fuse box and tyre inflator canister). Just leave it loose on the car, and you will have all the access you need just by pulling it away from the area you are working in.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:06 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

The next stage is to remove the headlights. Look up into the offside wheel arch to see how the headlamp is fixed. As you can see, the headlamp is fixed by one, 13mm nut, a washer and a black plate. There is an electrical plug to the bottom left of the headlight unit. 7. Remove the 13mm nut, washer and plate and carefully push the headlamp unit forward, off of the car. When the headlight is free, unplug the connector (squeeze and pull). Attach the plate, washer and nut back onto the headlight unit, and put the headlamp in a safe place. 8. Do the same for the nearside headlamp.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:07 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

9. Disconnect the fog lights. 10. At the rear of the offside wheel arch, disconnect the indicator repeater wires that plug onto the end of the repeater light assembly. You squeeze the plug and pull it off the end of the light to remove. 11. Repeat this at the nearside wheel arch. All electrical bits have now been disconnected, and it’s time to start removing the screws that hold the clam onto the car. We’ll do the hard screws first!

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:07 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

12. Prepare an area away from the car to receive the removed clam. Old carpet or some cardboard is ideal. The picture below is taken through the offside headlamp aperture looking vertically downwards. There is a 13mm bolt passing through the grey panel (marked “2” in the picture), and into the red fibreglass block (marked “1” in the picture).

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:08 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

13. For the offside bolt, hold a 13mm spanner in your right hand and feel for the bolt head. Undo and remove the bolt. 14. Repeat for the nearside bolt.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:08 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

Open the driver’s door, and look above the door hinge. Remove the 6 mm Allen screw that passes through the red bracket shown below. There may be spacers between the bracket and the body, in which case make a note of what’s there so that they can be replaced at reassembly time. 15. Remove the same screw from the passenger side.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:09 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

At the driver’s door, remove the 6mm Allen screw shown, and repeat for the near side.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:09 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

16. From within the offside wheel arch, remove the screw shown below, and repeat for the near side.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:11 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

1. Under the nose of the car at the front (behind the number plate), remove all of the 8mm bolts that attach the clam to the under tray. 2. Under the bonnet, remove the two screws indicated below. These have rubber boots that are push-fit onto the Allan bolts. The Allen bolts pass through the clam and radiator surround, and have a washer and 13mm nut to secure them.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:12 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

1. Remove the 13mm bolt shown below beneath both headlamps. Do not remove the small screw just in front. These secure the fog lights to the clam and don’t need to be removed.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:12 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

20. Remove the two screws indicated in the picture below, these have a rubber washer between the clam and the radiator surround, and again are attached with a washer and 13mm nut.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:18 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

21. Finally, remove the screw indicated below from both sides of the car. These also have rubber washers between the clam and the car. All the screws have now been removed. You will now need two helpers. One to hold one side of the clam, and the other to open and close the bonnet when appropriate for clearance, as the front of the bonnet is close to the clam when the bonnet is fully open.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:14 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

The clam should now slide off the front of the car. But you must pull the bottom of the wing sections (at the rear of the clam) away from the car body so as to clear the car. The picture below illustrates this. 22. Carefully place the clam on the area previously prepared. Job Complete!!!!!!!

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:14 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

Refitting ----------- Basically, the reverse of removal. Keep all the screws loose until they are all replaced, and then tighten them whilst ensuring the clam is correctly positioned. So, an easy job, with no major skills required. Just be methodical and careful. Allow about two hours to remove it the first time. From then on, it's a one hour job to remove.

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:15 PM.

[Steve Crisp]

ERRATA!!! The picture in step 20 should be this one. Sorry....

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Edited by Foxy, 03 June 2005 - 01:17 PM.

[rasputin]

hi steve if you dont mind i will add a couple of points you have forgotten the four screws under the front of the clam which hold it to the undertray also you dont have to remove the wheel arch linners or wheels you can just undo the corners and pull them out to get to the bolts. peice of p*ss.

[Steve Crisp]

I did mention them, on what should have been step 17 (the numbering went wrong), but hey, a second mention is no problem. I didn't bother with a picture for these, so I guess that's why you missed it. I realise that you don't need to take the inners off, but it's no hardship, and you can then see what you're trying to do! I was also going to add that loads of "Copper-ease" should be used for reassembly, and that it's an idea to grease all the bolts up now, even if you aren't removing the clam yet. Those bolts will be rusty when you do come to do it, and they'll rip out of the fibreglass. So do it now! Steve