TR2/3/3A TR3 rear fender bolts

[Kleykamp]

Any ideas on removing the three bolts where the rear fender bolts to the rear body panel, below tail light? On two other TR3's I've been able to get a couple of turns out of them so that I could slide the fender away toward the rear,then with better access, was successful in removing them. These won't budge. I've used PB blaster but have not used heat as I really don't want to mess up a good fender and it's close in there.

 

[sp53]

The last time I did it I used a hole saw and drilled about a 2 inch hole in the center of the back panel up under the wheel well adjacent to where the bolt nuts are. There is a small rectangular section there. Then after I got it all bolted back up, I put patch over the hole. The patch fits nice with no lines and gave me more access so I could spray penetrating oil on the caged nuts plus put some wax oil in later. If you can get some wiggle room, you can also use a sawsall with a long cutting blade or just grind the heads of the bolts off with a small die grinder and deal with the bolt part later.

 

[AEW]

I like the hole in the inside of the boot idea... that said... on my collection of junk about half of the old fenders have the bolt hole in the fender made into a slot. I presume by reaching back into the cavity with a broken hack saw blade or driving a split end chisel toward the head of the bolt. Not every option has a happy ending.