Reatta Owners Journal

Below are instructions for removing a Reatta front fender. Pulling a fender on these cars is actually a lot of work in terms of the disassembly required to do so. Getting the panel alignment correct on reassembly, especially with respect to the outer edge of the headlamp covers, requires some tweaking as well.

Replacing a fender requires removing the plastic wheel well housings (these snap onto the edge of the wheel well curve in the fender panel and are screwed into the body sheetmetal), hood, support struts and hood hinges to be removed.

Then remove all the bolts on the metal bracket attached to the top inner edge of the fender (along side of engine  bay), the removal of bolts and bracket at the front on bulkhead behind the headlamp assembly, and removal of the black plastic rocker trim and subsequent removal of two bolts concealed beneath the rocker trim.

Removal of the door opening sill plate is also suggested before pulling the rocker trim.

There are also two 10mm nuts that clamp the sides of upper bumper filler panel to the bottom edge of the fender where these two pieces meet at the front edge of the wheel well. There is a plastic strap with two threaded studs attached that inserts through the inside of the fender and then through mating holes in the filler panel to which these two 10mm nuts attach. This is best accessible from beneath so either jack the front end or put the car on a rack if you have access to one. You might be able to get at these through the wheel well with the plastic splash guard removed, though probably a bit awkward.

Note that on most cars many of the bolts that hold the fender, hood hinges and upper hood strut attachment brackets on are T27 Torx head, so you will need a set of Torx sockets, or at least an individual T27 Torx socket. A screwdriver will not suffice as these bolts are torqued down enough to require the leverage of a socket wrench to break loose.

Some cars appear to have been built with 10mm hex head bolts rather than Torx fasteners, I have seen both variations.


Thanks KDirk, member of the Reatta forums, for this information.

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