Removing the Healey "Flash"?

Hi All,

Looks promising that my 100-6 will soon have a new paint job. To save $$ I'm planning on stripping all chrome, lights, etc. myself. Everything looks relatively easy to access for removal except for the "Flashes" on either side of the front wing/fender. On the driver's side I can just barely see the three nuts holding it on behind the air filters and the cold air hose. On the passenger's side I can't see much of anything since it's completely blocked by the heater fan motor and the hoses. Should I just abandon the thought of removing those and just have the shop tape them? Or is there a super secret way to access those nuts (both to take off and of course to put back on) without dismantling everything mentioned?

All advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

Chet

i was able to reach the retaining nuts from outside the car reaching up between the wing inner and outer. It was a bit of a stretch though... GL!

Don't take a shortcut by masking the flashes, that's just asking for a poor paint job. If you can find a way to squirt some penetrating fluid on the nuts before you try removing them, that would be good. The studs are fragile and will break off easily with too much torque.

Guy Marshall said:

i was able to reach the retaining nuts from outside the car reaching up between the wing inner and outer. It was a bit of a stretch though... GL!

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Removing the three bolts at the bottom of the fender may make that easier.

John Turney said:

Removing the three bolts at the bottom of the fender may make that easier.

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I agree do as John say, remove the three bolts at bottom ,also the screws inside the door jamb.

And if all else fails and you do shear off the studs , no problem the 3M body molding tape used carefully makes an easy job of reusing originals and only you will know they are held on with tape .

John Turney said:

Removing the three bolts at the bottom of the fender may make that easier.

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John, not sure I understand which three bolts and how it makes the job easier. I'm not going to be able to get over to look at my Healey for a couple of days so any further information would be great.
Thanks!
Chet

Where the fender secures to the sill on the bottom edge and also remove the sheet metal screws down the folded door hinge edge . This lets you pull the fender out CAREFULLY to get your arm in .

Thanks John! Great information!

Chet

Healey Nut said:

Where the fender secures to the sill on the bottom edge and also remove the sheet metal screws down the folded door hinge edge . This lets you pull the fender out CAREFULLY to get your arm in .

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Don't forget the proper orientation of the flash when you reinstall .

Good tip Bob! I'm taking lots of "before" pictures

Very useful information. I've also been wondering how to do this. I bought a repro flash to replace the scratched one on the passenger side and after exploring access options, I gave up. My concern as always with this type of minor cosmetic repair, is doing more harm in the process.