Front Fender Removal

[clubhead]

I got myself into a minor accident and got my left front fender dented. I'm in favour of replacing the fender with a new piece. But the body shop person said that to replace the fender, you would need to cut some seals and glue which is not recommended. Is that true? I reckoned it's just unscrewing some screws and it'll come off.

[Loren]

Hmm... the Boxster manual I looked at is quite old (body pages from 1997). It says that you need to put a PVC seal on the crimped seam of the wheel arch on the fender. That is the only mention of "sealing" in the Boxster manual. On the other hand, my Carrera manual is more up to date (body pages from 2002). The fenders are the same and in the newer Carrera version there is no mention of sealing or any sealer at all. Perhaps Porsche now pre-seals that wheel arch in their factory replacements?

The key in a fender replacement (besides good color matching) is the gap dimensions at the hood, front bumper, door, and headlight. All of these need to right before the new fender is tightened down. Porsche (and I assume good body shops) use gages that hold the correct gap while they tighten down the fender.

Good luck on your decision.

[clubhead]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out during the repairs. The local agent do keep stock of the fender so it's just a matter of picking it up if I feel it warrants a replacement....