The D2 Forums

Hi All, I've just had a fresh set of parking sensors painted which I need to fit. Just wanted to clarify is it only two bolts holding the the support bar to the chassis legs and is the bumper skin seperated from the support car once it's all off the car?

Two big bolts accessed from the foglight grilles yes, but its also prudent to loosen the front inner arch liner as that gets stuck on the lip of the bumper. Its possible to pry them apart but not particularly good for either part. Worth putting a few inches of masking tape on the wings if you're doing it solo, as the bumper tends to tip forward when it gets loose of the support rams. Its prudent to have a towel or blanket to lie it on as well as it will sit face down.

Once the bumper is off, there are a load of plastic push-rivets holding the aluminium rebar to the plastic. A strong (metal) trim tool is recommended as they are remarkably tough. The Snapon trim tool is ideal, the cheapo nylon ones on amazon will just snap. Putting them back in is interesting - some silicone lubricant or WD40 helps them go back together. I use a crowbar as a drift. Flat of the bar on the head of the rivet, hold the curved end, and whack it in the middle with a mallet. Pops the rivets back in nicely and doesn't bend them.

Expect broken clips for the sensors. Its rare they all come out intact. Dean can get new ones from Tradition.

Thanks MJ, I noticed one of the long bolts were snapped so this should be fun

Oh dear Its pretty common for them to sieze in the aluminium receiver in the bumper, especially for stuff thats been laid up a while. Ask Dean about the 16-hour timing belt job

It is just possible to get the bumper off with the two rams still attached to it, which is what I do in these situations. With the headlights out there is room to get a combination of spanners and sockets and compound suicide wobblys in there to get the 4x bolts out on each side. You need to remove the AC pressure sensor iirc, and loosen the AC condenser, and the whole lot comes off. I then remove the rebar from the shell, cut the heads off the bolts, and remove the receiver from the rebar. I'll put the reveicer in the vice and wind the bolt further in, either with vice grips or a nut welded to it, thus pushing the galled bit out of the top of the receiver (you'll see what I mean when its in bits). Cut that off, then take the stump of the bolt out and hope Dean can still get new ones from Tradition. Not a fun job but possible.