Removing the front inner fender panel liner thingy

This is on my 84, but I figure the 3 g uses a similar system. I wanted to remove these liners things from the front fenders. How do you remove the plastic screws that hold the liner on?? They have a phillps head and we tried everything we could think of to get them out, but couldn't! We had to break them all to get the thing off. Is there a trick we were missing to get the screws to come out? We only did one side, thinking someone here may know for sure how to pull the screws and the anchors out while being able to reuse them. What a pain! The screws almost :Owned2: us, but we broke 'em...

Them type of fasteners have a anchor that spreads out when you screw them in. There is really no way of saving them unless you can gain access to the back of them & squeeze with needle nose pliers.

Them type of fasteners are cheap, I found them at Lowes. Just replace all of them cause there too much trouble to save.

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Originally Posted by ddude2uc

Them type of fasteners have a anchor that spreads out when you screw them in. There is really no way of saving them unless you can gain access to the back of them & squeeze with needle nose pliers.
Them type of fasteners are cheap, I found them at Lowes. Just replace all of them cause there too much trouble to save.

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You are correct! They have 4 little feet that spread out and keep the screw tight as hell. Do you know the specific size to get at Lowe's? Knowing my luck, I'd make a bunch of trips trying to nail down the exact right size. We had access to one screw from the back and still couldn't punch it out from behind. The front bumper was off so it was clean, good access but no go.

When installing them, should we remove the screw and put the barrel part in first then the screw? Or, should we just push it in all as one piece? The second option sounds kinda hard since we couldn't seem to push that one out. I figure we have one chance to get it right when we reinstall that liner. Thanks man.

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Originally Posted by offthahook

You are correct! They have 4 little feet that spread out and keep the screw tight as hell. Do you know the specific size to get at Lowe's? Knowing my luck, I'd make a bunch of trips trying to nail down the exact right size. We had access to one screw from the back and still couldn't punch it out from behind. The front bumper was off so it was clean, good access but no go.
When installing them, should we remove the screw and put the barrel part in first then the screw? Or, should we just push it in all as one piece?

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I don't know what size they where. You can take a tape measure & measure the hole you putting them in. The type I used where the kind you tap in. They didn't have a screw, but I'm sure they have the screw type. They are in the specialty bolt & screw isle, in various drawers. I beleive if you use the screw type, put the achor part in, then the screw.

Actually, you should be able to pull out the center part that looks like a screw with a very small minus scredriver. At that point you can usually pull the whole fastener out. To replace, you push it into place with the center part out and you just pop it back in to secure it.

They don't always work so well once they get old, though.

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Originally Posted by DBMaster

Actually, you should be able to pull out the center part that looks like a screw with a very small minus scredriver. At that point you can usually pull the whole fastener out. To replace, you push it into place with the center part out and you just pop it back in to secure it.

They don't always work so well once they get old, though.

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That's what we were thinking, too. The screw part was turning fine, but it wasn't coming out (just freely spinning). We tried everything and figured we'll get new ones no biggie. To install, we'll put the anchor in first (kinda push it there), then hopefully the screw part grabs the threads with the screwdriver turning it like we're tightening... Sound right? Thanks fellas.

you take a hole shooter to them, and replace them. Auto paint stores carry them, I didn't know about Lowes. Mine were a bit spendy. couple bucks for two, and you need a couple dozen.