Tar pads on inner rear fenders?

[323IJOE]

So has anyone successfully removed these? I managed to peel back a corner and there's a bunch of surface rust under there, but it's kinda hard to get back there so I'm thinking alot of heat and pulling with a fair amout of frustration, anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Mike Self]

tar pads on inner rear fenders. They're metal, and are glued in place with industrial adhesive to reinforce the quarters due to the 5mph bumpers on the 74-76 cars. Without those reinforcing pieces, a bump in the rear that the bumpers and shocks are strong enough to withstand would buckle the quarter panels.

My advice is to leave 'em alone. What you see as rust may well be the adhesive--and there shouldn't be any rust between the two panels unless the trunk has been getting wet for a long time...

cheers

mike

[Taymar]

I've started trying to remove mine and realistically, I don't think it's likely that they're removable without ruining the quarter panel.

One side of my car was dented and repaired, which had caused the inner skin to become separated at the front. Rust has formed in the gap.

The inner skins appear to be bonded quite strongly, and trying to pull them out has caused a ripple/crease in the outer skin.

I also do not think they are removable in one piece, you'd have to cut them at the top and remove them in two halves.

my biggest hope at this point is that I'll find something which will soften the adhesive, but so far no solvent I've tried has touched it.

I'm past the point of no return on mine now, and realistically it's going to involve two partial or complete quarter panels to repair it correctly.

Incidentally, anyone know if the replacement panels from BMW have the reinforcing skins already bonded in?

[SRC60]

I removed them from my '74. It is not an easy task. One side on my car was starting to separate and I was concerned about rust between the panels. I ended up cutting them into several pieces to get them out. I used a dremel with a cutoff wheel (my air tool wouldn't fit). I did end up with some damage to one quarter panel as a result of separating the panels - the adhesive is tough. Hopefully, some hammer and dolly time will fix the damage.

Steve

[Taymar]

Steve, how did you remove the piece that sits behind the jack bracket in the trunk?

I've messed with mine some more and found a heat gun & putty knife is working quite well to separate the adhesive, and a combination of dremel (thanks for the tip) and snips is working ok to cut the panels into smaller pieces.

I can't seem to get enough access though in the driver's side trunk to separate the adhesive further forward.

[SRC60]

Taymar, sorry but I don't remember any specific problems with the area around the jack bracket in the trunk. The worst of mine was the driver's side inside the car below the side window (adhesive wouldn't give and ended up damaging the quarter panel in this area). I do remember having to cut the panel into many pieces on that side in the trunk to get it out.

[Taymar]

No problem at all, the fact that I now know it's possible to remove is the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm just snipping away at it bit by bit. I think I may try and just heat it up and pull it out from the back, I've cut both the front sections out just about level with the top of the wheel well.

[SRC60]

Its been a while since I removed mine but I remember having to move the panels either forward or back as far as possible and cutting them as close to the back seat panel as possible to get them out from that area.

[323IJOE]

well heres what my inner fender looks like, doesnt look too good to me