177 Chapter 9 Nonstructural Panel Repair
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
■ Decide which buckles will be worked first.
■ Identify the area that will be filled.
■ Determine how long the repair will take.
Accessing Damage
Before you can begin the repair of a damaged
panel, various components, such as moldings and
trim panels, must be removed from the vehicle to allow
access to the damage. Look closely at the part to be
removed. This will generally give you clues as to how
the part is attached. Always think about how a part was
installed. Work carefully when removing parts. Plastic
parts are easily damaged if handled improperly.
Body side molding can be bolted, clipped, or glued
in place. For bolted moldings, simply access the back
side of the panel and remove the bolts. To remove
clip-on chrome moldings, push up on the bottom of
the moldings. This will release the clip at the top of
the molding. Then pull the top outward to remove the
molding. Remove the clips from the welded-on studs
by tapping the clips sideways. See Figure 9-6.
Glued-on plastic moldings can be removed with
a special attachment on an air chisel. The flat attach-
ment cuts the glue between the molding and the
vehicle. Another way to remove glued-on moldings is
to heat a putty knife and use the hot edge of the knife
to cut the glue. The putty knife can be heated with a
propane torch. Make sure the putty knife’s edge is
straight. A ragged knife edge may cut into the molding
or the vehicle. Be very careful when cutting metal-
backed or metal-containing moldings. If the molding is
undamaged and is intended to be reused, bending the
molding will ruin it. If the molding is metal backed and
the metal backing is damaged, carefully grind off the
metal from the back side of the molding. This will allow
the molding to straighten. Plastic moldings may curl up
after removal. To solve this problem, put the molding
outside in the sun to heat it. This will help restore its
shape.
Metal wheel opening moldings are screwed into
the wheel openings. Rust often locks the screws
tightly in their holes. To make removal easier, use an
air chisel to vibrate the screws before attempting to
remove them. See Figure 9-7. Do not use the chisel to
cut off the screws; just make them vibrate. The vibra-
tion will free the screws, allowing them to be removed
easily.
For access to the back side of a fender, the fender
liner can be removed. In most cases, these plastic
liners are held in place with plastic rivets or bolts.
Figure 9-8 shows how to remove a plastic rivet. Bolts
are removed with a socket and ratchet. The wheel may
have to be turned to access all the fasteners. On some
vehicles, the back side of a fender can be accessed by
removing the headlight assembly. See Figure 9-9.
Some hoods have insulated pads that must be
removed to access damage. These pads are held in
place with clips. Use a clip tool as shown in Figure 9-10
to remove the clip. After the clip is removed, the pad can
be easily removed from the hood.
Doors can be quite frustrating to take apart. The
door trim panel can be difficult to remove. Screws
may be hidden behind caps that must be removed to
access the screw heads. After removing any caps,
remove the screws from the trim panel. After removing
the screws, carefully pop out the clips that secure the
trim panel to the door. These clips are located along
the edge of the door panel.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 9-6. The molding has been removed from this
clip. Pushing up on the molding released the molding
from the clip. To remove the clip, push it to one side to
release it from the rivet.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 9-7. An air chisel can be used to vibrate
stubborn wheel opening molding screws.
Clip
Air chisel Screw
Wheel opening
molding