Bit of work on the front arch liners

[Darren S]

So, a while back I bought a set of replacement front liners from Autodoc and of little surprise, they didn't fit. At barely ten Euros each, it's no big loss - but was surprised to see that their app suggested compatibility for the 182. When I raised it with them, they basically said that I should confirm every item ordered with their customer services. So your website is full of nonsense then?

Anyway, thankfully my existing liners were in a much better state than what I had originally thought. Slightly tatty on some of the areas around the screws, a small split on one corner and plenty of road debris evidence after nearly 20 years of protecting the wheel well.

@Mr Underhill had been really helpful with regards to the fittings previously on this post - https://cliosport.net/threads/anyone-know-what-fittings-are-needed-for-front-arch-liners.848217/ - so with everything to hand, I made a start on Saturday to spruce things up.

As a side note for reasoning to this - when I had my engine work done at AW Motorworks, Alex had mentioned that I had a section of offside front arch that was badly corroded and ideally needed cutting out and replacing. When I had the offside rear quarter replaced and the cill underneath, I had that section of the arch addressed too. Bury Motorbodies did an excellent job at cutting and welding a fresh piece in and as expected when I removed the arch liner, it was still perfect in that area. The question had been niggling away at me though, as to how bad the passenger side might be.

Trim tools at the ready (essential, buy them NOW if you haven't got any!) - I started popping off all of the retaining plugs and unscrewing any fastenings that were keeping the liners in place.

The majority were knackered, but as mentioned with a new set of everything to hand, none of that concerned me.

The silt build-up behind the nearside liner was excessive - just glad that the majority of contact points around that are plastic. Managed to dig a fair amount of crap out of there, compared to the offside which was clean due to the recent'ish work.

To my pleasant surprise, the only visible corrosion on the nearside arch was this. I wire-brushed as much off as possible and coated it in POR-15 - which although not a perfect solution, will definitely be better than left as is. With the lid off the POR-15, I painted other areas with it too - just as an extra layer of protection whilst I was there.

The weird red bits on this pic are due to a red carrier bag that I'd fitted over the brake assembly.

Having been left to dry since Saturday, I went to reassemble the liners back this morning. As usual - the first side took me about 15mins to make sure I had everything lined up correctly, before committing to any 'proper' attachments - then the other side was barely 5mins in comparison.

All in all, a good bit of knowledge gained and dare I say enjoyment from actually doing it. Knowing that the replacement clips and fittings are so easily available and cheap as well, means that I'll have no worries about trying to retain rust-riddled Torx head screws and the like in future. I also managed to fit my new Citroen (?) bonnet washer nozzles that I had had lying around - and they are much better than the OEM units.

If anyone needs the part numbers for the arch-liners, I made a note of them as I took them off. You might get lucky and find a decent set online somewhere - just like you might fine a pair of unused Trophy Recaros going for £100...

Offside front arch - rear section = 6000073750
Offside front arch - front section = 6000073748

Nearside front arch - rear section = 6000073749
Nearside front arch - front section = 6000073747

 

[marcushookdale]

Just done the same myself....First time in 15yrs i'd took both front liners out, When i saw the build up of mud and s**t half way up the front A pillar, I s**t my nickers & thought that's gotta be rotten as f**k behind that lot, Luckily it was clean as a whistle, thank f**k. As for the bumper brackets they was proper rusty, I treated mine up with Rust Kutter , then prep'd them up , and rattle canned them in BG paint code , Them lacquered them up , & smeared up in waxoil, they looked a millions times better, The inner wing sections on both sides were spot on and didn't need any attention, But i wax oiled the front leg section up, If i was you i'd just maybe do the same, to prevent it from rusting up anymore from the inside out, Also repainted both sill covers, But like you said it's kind of good knowing you've pulled it back , before it's to far gone, I'm well happy with how i've got my back , from nearly going to graveyard. I read your thread on your rear quarter replacement, just before i started to give mine a freshen up underneath , Then i found i big hole under the rear drivers side arch, And your post came streight to mind, And thought ffs i haven't got £40 nevermind 4k to throw at it, Panic set in , and i thought who the f**k am i gonna get to sort all that out....Anyway 1 quick brew and ten minutes later, i had the disc cutter fired up , and cut it all out, mine had also gone threw to my petrol flap, Anyway took cut a long story short , i've welded 4 different places up underneath , And iv'e enjoyed saving the ow'd girl..

 

[marcushookdale]

Mr Underhill is a gent also, and helpful as fook.