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Removing Fenders on Austin Healey MKII - 1962

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Jersey

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I am about to get the car up on jack stands and attempt to take the front and back fenders off. While I can see some of the fittings that need to be accessed, others appear to be hidden behind the wheel wells. Is there any easy way to get at all the fender fittings without removing the wheel wells as well?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Jersey
 
Hello Jersey,

you wont remove the wheel wells unless your using an angle grinder. They are attached to the frame assembly.

Fender fittings are usually accessed firstly with the front wheels removed and then from under the hood, not forgetting removal of the headlight bucket screws.

The rear fender fittings are accessed with the rear wheel removed and either from inside the fender or trunk compartment.

The correct Austin/BMC workshop manual gives good pictures on both fender removal.

Oh yes with a 6 cylinder car the doors have to come off also which always turns out to be an advantage as it gives you more room to work.

Take plenty of pictures before you start and as you go along (the advantage of digital camera's), you will need them in the fiture.

Every job on a Healey is easy, some just take longer than others.

Good luck and best regards,

bundyrum.
 
Jersey

Wheels to come off

Set aside a couple of days and a lot of patience, I have not long ago taken mine off.

On the front remove the lights completely, there are three bolts on the top that can be got at through the headlamp opening the back one is a swine as it is a half a flat at a time to undo, and a couple just behind the indicator lights. There are three that come out from the cockpit, just put your hand up amongst the wires under the dash and you can feel them there, and there are three or four that you get at from the engine compartment - remove the air duct, I have tried without and it is not possible except for the back heater air duct I did manage that one. A set of wobbley extension bars may help and i also aquired a flexible screw driver/socket holder that also helped once the bolts were loose. Door off is good as you can then get at the little selg tappers easily and it allows the fender to be removed without bending the fixing tangs on the A post

The back is relatively straight forward Some are accessible from inside the trunk and others from inside the wheel arch, the top ones near the door have captive nuts on my BJ7 not sure for yours.
I had to drill out the two bolts holding the door catch to the B post as they tend to rust solidly in place. The aluminium face plate needs removing from the B post and then you can get at the small bolts holding the edge of the wind to it, they can also be drilled out if the nuts are rusted solid.

Best of luck

Bob
 
Thanks...I am going to have the car painted and I don't see anyway that the shop can do the job with the fenders on...has anyone ever painted the car with the fenders on and artfully masked the chrome bead that runs the length of the fenders?

Wish there was an easier way.
 
Jersey,
You can loosen the fender mounting bolts, straighten the tabs that were bent after installing the fender beading, and then carefully lift the beading out. Either your old beading can then be reinstalled or you can opt for some new beading that will have nice straight tabs. I just don't recall, but you may need to at least loosen windscreen posts as well to pull the beading out from under the post. Notice that the beading will be flattened under the posts.

Lin
 
Hey Jersey,
Opt to pull the old beading off and then go to AH Spares in England
and get new beading. Their price is cheap compared to Moss and even
with the pound and fright cost, you'll still be ahead of the game.
Regards,
Mike
 
bighealeysource said:
Hey Jersey,
Opt to pull the old beading off and then go to AH Spares in England
and get new beading. Their price is cheap compared to Moss and even
with the pound and fright cost, you'll still be ahead of the game.
Regards,
Mike
Click to expand...

I'd replace the beading only if it had dents in it Mike.
If no dents, then some metal polish will restore the brilliance. The tabs can be flattened with a hammer to make reinstalling them easier.
 
Hi Jersey, the second time I painted my MGA I taped the beading. It really looked fine. But I wouldn't do that if it was a concours car.
If the fenders don't need body or metal work I wouldn't take them off. But then if you do you may very well find work that needs to be done underneath.
 
I have a gripe about painting without removing the fender, the paint tends to break away from just under the bead with time. At least with fender off, you can paint all round and check the condition of the shroud edges and treat if necessary.

Bob
 
I had my BT7 painted 25 years ago with the fenders on. The paint on the top of the fenders is still good after all these years, without any peeling, cracking or flakeing arround the beading.
However, I wish I would have removed the fenders back then and cleaned and painted the inside of the fenders and subframe. That may have prevented the rust from bubbleing the lower portions of the fenders. This started happening 15 years after the paint job.
Next time everything is comeing off and we'll start fresh. That way, when I pass it on to one of my kids, it should be good for another 30-40 years. Hope we still can buy gas then....
 
That's good news Bob. Geneticists have found out how to give chickens teeth now. They've discovered how to put a dinosaur type tail on them also, but I don't think that will help tire sales.
 
Bob, Since I have been employeed by a poultry company for the past 25 years, I have an unlimited supply of hen's teeth. Also chicken lips, but they don't last very long......Let me know if you need either teeth or lips...
 
Getting back to fenders on or off. When I did my paint, I did all the body work in pieces, then assembled the fenders without tightening any of the bolts, but got them all started. I left the beading out. Bonnet and boot were left off as were the doors. Once you have seen what has to happen to install the fenders, even if nothing has been changed, you will probably not want to go through that with your beautiful new paint job. Putting the beading in after paint isn't that bad. The fender guys at the factory were probably a grumpy lot. Now back to chickens. Chickens don't need teeth, they are quite capable of killing mice, rats, and even rabbits; at least ours are. I really can imagine them as little dinosaurs.
 
Thanks to all...I removed the fenders and then saw a whole lot of other things that needed attention...glad I did it although I am in for six weeks of scraping and rust prevention with my old friend POR 15.

Great advice...

Thanks to all.

Jersey
 
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