Rear Fender: Service and Repair

Rear fender, replacing

As the illustrations in this service information are used for different model years and / or models, some variation may occur. However, the essential information in the illustrations is always
correct.

Removing the rear fender
Remove the components. See Rear section, exposing and Side section, exposing .




Pull out the damaged section to make it easier to re-align internal components.
Determine the extent of the damage. See Rear end, alignment chart and Body side, alignment chart .
Roughly cut at an appropriate point. See the recommended cutting points in the illustration.
The join marked (1) is recommended so that the foam seal does not need to be replaced with foam substitute. Cut 60 mm below the lower hole on the striker plate.
30 mm below the cutting point the foam seal (2) is positioned.




The inner flange of the rear fender is inside the tail panel.
Drill out the spot welds through all three panels.
Angle out the flange along the score (A-A) so that the spot welds in the two inner sections can be accessed. This also makes installation easier.
Drill out the spot welds in the rear fender and pry it off.
Grind clean and apply welding primer.

Installing the rear fender




Rough cut the replacement part so that the replacement part overlaps at the cutting points.
Knock the wheel arch out of the way slightly to obtain more freedom when aligning the rear fender.
Weld the threaded plate to the striker plate if it was removed.
Use foam rubber replacement at points (1) and (2). This is to prevent noise spreading through the car body.




Secure the rear fender.
Install the rear door, the tail lamps and the tailgate to check the alignment.
Saw the cutting points.
Drill holes for plug welding through the tail panel and rear fender so that the plug weld secures against the inner D-post.
Weld the rear fender into place.
Seal the seams and joins. See Body seal .