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Old 12-14-2008, 01:10 AM   #11 (permalink)
Christ
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Troy, Pa.
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Pasta - '96 Volkswagen Passat TDi
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Ew... toe shots.

Seriously, you didn't HAVE to do half the work you did there to get those pieces off.

The trim piece on the fender comes off easily without removing the fender, and you can remove the entire bumper, cover and all, with (usually) two bolts.

If you remove the bumper lenses from the car, set them aside, and look inside, you can use a 3/8" Drive 6" extension and a 10mm ratchet to disconnect the bumper from the car completely, then remove those small Philips head screws on either side of the cover, (in the fender wells) and it will literally fall off the car, where you can have better access to all those screws that hold the cover to the bumper.

For the fender trim bar, remove a few of the fasteners from the inner fender on the back side, pull it away, and use any small pair of pliers to engage those two clips, while pulling at it from the visible side or prying with something small and not-scratchy. (I use plastic silverware a lot on cars.)

Also, your corner lenses should NOT have a screw visible in them at all. That was one of the aesthetic changes to the 90-91 Civic/CR-X models, they shaved the fasteners from the corner lenses. Someone must have put it there of their own accord.

There is absolutely no difference in the fenders of the 90-91 vs. the 88-89 cars, other than the plastic screw receptacles in the fenders of the 88-89 models were filled with strut receptacles for the 90-91 model years, while the lenses themselves were given tabs that coincided with the old-style's screw location that engaged those strut receptacles to prevent lateral movement of the lens/housing assembly.

Also, if you don't want to paint all that trim, and you still want it to be shiny black, Mother's makes a great polish for it, and peanut butter or peanut oil will actually bring back the OEM appearance of the rubber bits. (Not the plastic though.)


Other than all that, good work on the walk-through, and hope to see more detailed posts in the future.

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