Remove Rear Fenders

[Superhart]

I want to remove the rear fenders on my 1930 Coupe. They are installed WITHOUT welting and I want to correct that. I have no idea if they have ever been removed previously. Can anyone give me a run through on how to do this ? Do the interior trunk upholstery panels need to be removed? The videos on U-Tube have been no help. Of course, I will support the rear axle and remove the wheel first. Looking for advice before I break out the wrenches and sockets.

[Bob Bidonde]

Removing the rear fenders from your Coupe is a relatively easy job. Proceed as follows:
>Hand brake ON & gearshift in 2nd;
>Jack the car so both rear wheels are off of the ground & support the rear axle with jack stands;
>Remove both rear wheels;
>Disconnect the taillights & tape the terminals so they do not short circuit;
>Squirt with WD40 & remove fasteners connecting the fenders to the running boards;
>Squirt with WD40 & remove the fasteners connecting the fenders to the running board splash aprons:
>In each wheel well, squirt the nuts attaching the fenders to the body with WD40 & remove them.

[bruceincam]

As I understand this, you have no welting between the fender sheet metal and the body sheet metal. Be very careful if the body and fender have been painted. You most likely have paint stuck to paint. If you just pull the fender off without regard for this potential issue, you stand a good chance of pulling paint off the fender, body or both. This may ruin your paint job. Remove the fender slowly and carefully and watch that fender/body seam for any paint that wants to lift ---- use a razor blade to separate the fender/body as necessary in order to preserve your paint job as best you can.

[Superhart]

I originally posted this article in 2021 but before I could act on any of the responses, I ended up having a stroke which put me out of commission until recently. I now want to continue to get advice on the original problem so that I can finally get to work on my car. Originally, my 1930 Model A was completely disassembled during renovation and painting. The rear fenders were replaced with aftermarket, steel fender shells because the originals were in such poor condition. I do believe that the problem I am having is because the bolt holes on the new fenders don’t exactly line up , with the studs on the body exactly the way they should. This seems to create a “binding” effect. All of the fasteners inside the fender well were easy to loosen. I do not need to completely remove the fenders from the car. All I want to do is create enough space between the body and the fender in order to Put wilting in place and then tighten the bolts back down. The problem I am having is that even with the bolts loosened 2 to 3 turns I am unable to get the fenders to move away from the body and give me the gap I need to insert the new welting , it seems as though the problem is a slight misalignment between the body bolts and the holes in the new fenders. I was thinking about trying a small prybar and gently trying to pop the fender loose, but didn’t want to do anything that my create a problem. Do anyone have any ideas about how to possibly Move the fender away from the body by using some sort of tool or pry bar? To the Two individuals who responded originally I thank you for your input. Any new suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank God I have now recovered sufficiently from my stroke to be able to resume trying to do the finishing touches on my Model A Street rod.

[Brentwood Bob]

I recall that the fenders' arc is greater than the arc of the bolts. In other words there is built-in tightness so there is resistance to removing the fender. I think you can expect some issues loosening the fender to install welting. Might try prying the fender out from the wheel well by cushioning a flat bar with wood. Gingerly!
Hope the shoulder bolts allow you to loosen the nut without spinning.
I have not done this myself, just my thoughts.
A local, Bay Area restorer built a device to compress the arc of the rear fender so it could be mounted so I can share that much with you.
Trying to do major surgery on a finished car will give you headaches.
I would think access to the trunk side would be worthwhile.

[MickyD]

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When I did my 28 roadster I removed the fenders. If you don't than it will be a slow progress as you will have to mark the welting at each bolt hole and cut out a half circle or mark welting at each bolt hole and cut a hole in the welting. Either way it will go slow in installing the welting and getting it correct without some wrinkling or kinking. You possibly could use a slim wood block shim to get the fenders to move some. Wish you luck.

[JayJay]

Aren’t there fender brackets/braces that need to get out of the way as well?

[Superhart]

I appreciate all the opinions thus far. Let me try to clarify the situation. I do not need to remove the fender from the car, only only pull the fender away from the body just far enough to be able to insert new welting material. All the fender bolts have been removed from the fender and the car. The bolts between the fender well, and the fender have been loosened to give me approximately 1/4 inch clearance if the fender would move. for some reason, everything seems stuck, like the fender has eaten itself into a little groove on the body attachment bolts. I have considered trying to use a pair of small prybars on the inner lip of the fender inside the fender to try to move the fender away from the body . Before I do such a thing, I wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem. I know for a fact that the fenders are nearly new, having been attached to the body approximately 10 years ago when the car was built. I suspect there is A minor misalignment between the body bolts, and the holes in the reproduction fender, but I am not certain about that. I just want to find out if anyone else has had this particular type of problem and how they solved it. I know that I have bolt attached to the fender in any way, either loosened or removed at this point in time. It’s almost like the new reproduction fender doesn’t exactly match the bolt pattern on the car. It almost seems to me like if I could take the fender from front to rear and flex it just a slight bit that might loosen the attachment points, but I’m not certain, and I have to work alone. I have no one to help. I really appreciate the suggestions but I hope what I have just said will clarify the problem a little more. Thanks in advance again to anyone who has any ideas or suggestions.

[Oldbluoval]

Bolts from running boards removed?
Mentioned before, fender brace removed?

[Brentwood Bob]

Working a 2inch wide nail bar between the fender and the side wall at each bolt might work.
I would put tape on the working end, and see what that gets you. Hope you have touch up paint. This could get ugly real fast.

[Oldbluoval]

I’d make a wooden wedge and maybe cover with cloth
Tap tap tap

[Superhart]

Thank you for all the responses. I’d like the one about using a wooden wedge. I have four composite carpentry shims left over from installing a new exterior door on my home so I believe I will try applying them from inside the fender well and see if I can pop the fender loose. Sounds much better than trying a prybar. I’ll keep the Board posted when the weather warms up a little bit so I can try this. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Superhart

Thank you for all the responses. I’d like the one about using a wooden wedge. I have four composite carpentry shims left over from installing a new exterior door on my home so I believe I will try applying them from inside the fender well and see if I can pop the fender loose. Sounds much better than trying a prybar. I’ll keep the Board posted when the weather warms up a little bit so I can try this. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

If you are going to drive the wedge from the inside, be sure to put a layer of masking tape or similar on the body outside of where the wedge will come out. That way you can avoid scratching the paint where it shows.

[Brentwood Bob]

Taped bar resting on cloth wrapped wooden wedge, hah!

[Fullraceflathead]

They sell wooden wedges at the hardware store a pk of 10 or 12 some of them are quarter " wide and narrow those gently tapped in with some towels behind them to not damage that paint may work

[Superhart]

Two or three guys who left comments in this article keep mentioning padding the wedges that are used. I assume that using a pad is to help prevent moring the paint job. My plan is to remove the rear wheel with the axle jacked up off the ground, which would give me access to the inside of the fender well. After loosening the bolts I don’t see why I couldn’t carefully drive a wedge from the inside of the fender well on either side of the bolt that I wish to loosen and hopefully the pressure of a wedge on either side of the bolt Will cause the fender to move away from the body which is what I want to happen. Just wondering if for some reason on missing something here. Because the cold weather I’m going to postpone this “surgery“ until the weather breaks and then try using a wooden wedge on either side of the body bolt Inside the fender wheel. I hope that the pressure on either side of the bolt will cause the fender to move out enough that I can finally get the new wilting inserted between the fender and the body. I plan on using composite wedges that were part of the installation kit that came With a new patio door that I installed last year. Does anyone have any further comments about this? I’m still hoping that someone may post a response who is actually had a similar problem with Model A rear fenders. I still have this gut feeling that the reason the attachment bolts appear to be jammed is because the rear fenders are reproductions, although very sturdy ones at that. My feeling is that the bolt attachment holes in the fender don’t exactly line up the way they should have, which ultimately created a “bind“ Between the fender and the car body.

[bruceincam]

Is the car in question the car in your signature picture?

[Brentwood Bob]

In response #5 I Attempted to explain the possibility that the fender would be creating the binding because it has a memory, a larger arc, created when it is made. You are now fighting this with a painted fender, so it will be difficult. I like your thought to try the composite wedges.

[Superhart]

Yes, the car in question is the car in my signature.

[bruceincam]

I'll take one last shot at advising against this plan. Highly probable that you're going to ruin the paint in this process. You won't be at all pleased when that happens. That is, of course, unless you want a reason to pay for a repaint.

That is all that "Debbie Downer" has to offer.