Is there a trick to removing the 308 wheel well liner

Don’t be afraid to be a little aggressive with the wheel liner and bend it as needed. You want to avoid at all costs rubbing it against the edge of the wheel opening as the paint will always be fragile there regardless of age.

 

My liners were a real buggar to get out and I was scared of damaging the old age-embrittled fibreglass. I guess you know to change all the fuel and coolant hoses while you have access. Is there any clever way to flush the tanks in-situ? Maybe dump the old fuel and fill with fuel with cleaning additive to sit a while and then flush? I was warned off using an ultrasonic cleaner as they loosen the lead plugs.

 

I was able to get it out by kind of the opposite of what I thought I should be doing.

Basically I pushed the bottom in, which enabled me to bend it out fairly easily.

I HAD been trying to push the top in and pull it from the top but that just wasn't happening.

Putting it BACK in was more of a pain that getting it out for me.

 

Before bending and pulling the wheel well, apply drywall taping all around the cross section of the fender. You will not scratch anything...

 

Whatever method you use, a few curse words are usually required.

 

What I like to do is have a shim available to me that can rest against the corner of the wheel well opening and can act as a 'rub point' for the wheel arch protecting it from contacting the paint. One of my favorite materials for this is the plastic from a windshield washer fluid jug. It is very thin and slippery and can be cut easily with scissors. A piece about the size of an envelope is all you should ever need.

Tape is generally a bad idea because the paint around the edge can be very fragile and the likelihood of lifting paint is pretty high if you put tape on the edge. Painters tape has almost no abrasion resistance so putting it on the edge will rub off almost instantly. You need something with body but it also needs to be thin which is why I like using material from a plastic jug.

 

Reinstallation: start with the top, push and rotate into place, then bend the bottom end around and in so that it goes past the lip and into place.

 

They may not all be the same but for me it seems that if I grab the forward lower corner where it screws onto the plate aft of the rocker, pull it aft and down the whole thing just pops right out.

 

This is the correct way.

 

There's a rolling motion to the removal, clockwise from memory as posted above, but downward and rolling it rearward also works?

Takes some fiddling but no real bending or nicks if done right..

 

I wonder if the shape changed at all through the years - for my 84 QV, there's no way the forward lower corner can pull aft - it's too deep behind the lip of the rocker, and really needs to be twisted and torqued and pried to get it to clear the rocker panel lip - after that, it will do the pull aft, down, and pop thing. I really hate those rear wheel well liners - this thread has reminded me that I'm going to modify them and fix them once and for all (since they're out right now for timing belts anyway).

Gordon

 

On my '89 328, it's as per Kcab stated and was actually pretty easy after I did it the first time and got a feel for it. My concern was about flexing/breaking the cover but turned out that flexing it sufficiently to remove/install was no problem and I didn't see any issue with possible scratching. I suppose the tolerances in the 'handmade' nature of the cars might make some wheel well covers a more difficult fit than others.

 

Um yea, I guess I left that part out

 

Hi.
Any chance anyone has done a video of this?
I’ve been wrestling with it on my ‘86 328 and I can’t see how to clear the lip on the rocker panel.
Maybe I’m just misunderstanding the instructions.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
-Alex-

 

Don't be afraid to aggressively bend or twist the liner to clear whatever is in your way. It is made of fiberglass and will make crackling sounds WAY before it ever breaks. Sometimes a little force is all that is necessary just be cautious not to nick a painted edge because the paint will flake off before you know what happened.

 

Passenger side

-Remove all 6 bolts
-Slightly rotate liner counterclockwise while pushing inward on lower front at rocker panel to allow clearing of the rocker panel flange
-Once clear of the flange, rotate liner clockwise and it should come right out

Reinstall by doing the same in reverse

Drivers side the same only opposite clock rotations

 

Yeah if you push the top of the liner toward the car (either side) so that the liner is going toward the engine you should be able to pull the liner down slightly.

Once you do that then just pull the top of the liner toward you and out.

I find it helpful to slightly push down on the top when pulling it out to clear that lip

 

Sorry for the thread hijack, but does anyone know what the original fixings for the liners would have been for a 79 (Euro) 308 GTB - mine has an assortment of hex head and posi head self tapping screws which doesn’t look right. Thank you.

 

All of mine are phillips screws for the liner

 

Believe they were 10mm hex head machine screws, possibly smaller.