REPAIRS PAGE 23
Restoration Topics - Front end bodywork
This article was meant to cover removal
and replacement of the front nose section/bumper and both wings. Unfortunately
due to a sudden close family bereavement this has not been possible.
So, this issue will concentrate on the steps needed to replace the wings.
It might not be quite as thorough or accurate as I normally prefer to be - but just bear with me for now.
I will attempt to redress this in the next issue - and I am also coming
to the inevitable conclusion that pictures speak volumes where a thousand words
might not. Unfortunately I do not yet have a digital camera - and when I attempt
to use either my APS or SLR camera the processed film result is usually a lousy
picture when of course it is too far late to correct it.
In the next issue I will try and fill any such gaps and develop the
article to include the front bumper as well.
The real solution is blindingly obvious - and this is to put my
improved/expanded article on the Club website - with the digital photos. The
website is now so comprehensive and impressively developed and managed by Thomas
Morgan that it would be a travesty not to do so.
This will not stop my articles appearing in the Club magazine - this is
still vitally important - but the website allows an extra layer of detail to be presented.
That said, the steps in the sequence for getting the wings off are-
1) Remove headlight assemblies - This is necessary to gain access to the bumper cover bolts and the front
wing mounting bolts
This is basically done by raising the pop-up units and progressively
removing every fastener until the bowels of the units are undone. The sequence for this is
covered in the Haynes manual (available from Richard Morgan) see
The Club Shop so there is little point in me describing it in detail.
Safety note - the headlight power should be disconnected whilst this is done - remove fuse or battery
terminal. This will save crushed hands if a power glitch occurs.
I found a modest amount of corrosion on the main pivot frames - these are
fabricated sheet metal assemblies, and appear to only have been given a modest
black paint coating by Toyota. Anyway the surface corrosion is fairly easily
disced off, I used zinc primer on
the metal surfaces, followed by grey primer and a black top coat.
2) Remove the bumper cover.
This is the 'pointy bit' - a flexible cosmetic cover for the real bumper impact bar.
It might look nice - but it is held by a set of fasteners that are
almost guaranteed to give grief to anyone that approaches them with a view to removal.
The design basically means that this plastic cover is held by some 16 M6
bolts - not exactly a good idea unless they can be easily undone. In my case they couldn't.
I took the way out of removing the entire bumper first by undoing the 4
M10 bolts that hold it to the body. Even this wasn't that easy - one was seized solid, so I had to drill it out carefully
and then re-tap the body nut in the chassis.
Remove the grille - A really easy job - 3 self-tappers in nylon bushes.
4) Remove spoiler - oh what joy cometh!
This unfortunate piece of flexible plastic deserves a better life - it is
usually battered into abject cracking by speed bumps and kerbs.
It can however be a pig to remove as there are numerous M6 fastenings and
it depends on their state as access is limited.
This spoiler is actually in two halves split down the centre line, each
half being fastened similarly. There are three bolts at the front which pass
through the lower 3/4 panels - but these are concealed from the outside of the
vehicle. The bolts are studs welded
to a sheet metal plate, which nestles in a recess in the inside of the spoiler.
This is fine in theory - a socket on each stud should undo the bolt as the strip
construction resists any rotation of the stud. Well, this is OK on a nice new
car, but over time corrosion welds the nut to the stud - in some cases very firmly.
There is little prospect for WD40 alone, and the more effective technique
of heating then applying WD40 is a
bit too risky - the heat would travel straight up the metal strip into the
spoiler and damage the plastic.
Nut splitters are also out - insufficient access.
The increasing escalation would be to turn the nut regardless till the
stud sheared - but the nut can corrode to the extent that a 10mm just slips, yet
a 9mm is too tight. For the same reason impact sockets are not too effective -
and the whole area is too floppy anyway.
Discing the nuts down to 9mm is too difficult due to bad access. So, back to basics -
out with the angle grinder and disc the nuts off.
This takes a little care to avoid also discing the 3/4 panel, but at least there
is a washer between the nut and the panel to give a bit of a margin.
This may well be a 'worst case' that might not apply to other members,
but I've described the 'full Monty' just for completeness.
This design arrangement of sheet metal strips with studs welded to them
as 'hidden fixings' appears elsewhere in the bumpers both front and back and can
be a real pain.
5) Remove lower 3/4 panels
This can only be done after removal of the spoiler as described above. It is not the easiest job in the
world - thanks to seized M6 fixing bolts.
The good news is the inner section that bolts to the chassis rail under
the radiator - there are two M6 bolts and a self-tapper that come out relatively easily.
The bad news is the 2 M6 bolts which hold this panel to the front lower
section of the front wing. These seize badly, so removal can be difficult
without twisting either the panel or the wing.
(These 3/4 panels actually don't have to come off to change the wing,
bumper or spoiler - but they are very prone to corrosion on the lower bits
hidden by the spoiler. The rod stay bar that supports the lower wing to the
chassis is often a victim here - it gets detached at the wing, which then flops
around with the spoiler.)
I decided to change these 3/4 panels for thoroughness - but they do cost
around £100 per pair.
6) Wing Removal
These have the now common plastic liners, which are easily removed - so I won't go into details here.
The actual wing panels are relatively straightfoward bolt-on items. All bolts are M6, the majority being
along the bonnet gutter.
To the rear of these there is on bolt at the scuttle - readily visible
when the door is opened.
At the front of the wing there are 2 bolts in the headlight housing, and
below that the 2 mentioned above that attach to the 3/4 panel. (Plus the bolt to the strut rod.)
Finally – and probably most difficult - there is a bolt at the lower rear
part of the wing which bolts vertically upwards into the very front of the sill
section. The front plastic sill cover has to be removed to reveal this, and
doing so usually releases a 'birds-nest' of trapped leaves and mud from the
cavity between the sill and the skirt.
Be very careful when lifting the wing off the body, the sealant strip
needs to be eased off very slowly to avoid deforming the wing.
This undoubtedly contributes to corrosion in this area - as the skirt is
rarely removed. This bolt was of course irretrievably seized and the hexagon
head useless, so again I drilled it out. To do this, the car has to be pretty
well jacked up to get a decent electric drill in. Retapping is fairly easy - but
do use the right size tapping drill first (or just larger) to avoid snapping the
tap - the kiss of death.
As well as this, there was some minor corrosion at the front flank of the
sill - just below and in front of the lower door hinges (again from the compost
accumulation.). It was only one skin deep (there are 3 layers at this point), so
a patch was shaped and welded in.
If you get this far you will notice 2 small inspection panels at the
upper wing chassis rail. They are only held in by spring clips and easily popped
out. What the hell they do is a matter that only Toyota might know. There is
nothing in there that can be adjusted - so I used my usual judgement - flood the
cavities with Waxoyl - when in doubt - just do it!
Wing replacement
Relatively straightforward - but after much humming and harring I both
spray undersealed the inner parts with both 'Underseal with Waxoyl' and a Waxoyl
overcoat. I also applied the metallic Mica Blue basecoat before fitting. All
mating sections were applied with silicone sealant - not so much for sealing but
to resist fretting between the panels.
8) Headlight and bumper rebuild.
Just reverse the disassembly procedures mentioned above.
I do apologise that this
article falls well beyond the standards which I personally set myself - but the
inevitability of a funeral in the next 24 hours does not help concentration on technical standards.
Normal service will be resumed in the next issues!
ALAN JONES