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'76 Cutlass Salon: How Do "Flag Emblems" Install on Fenders?
Thanks to rob1960 on this forum, I found new front fender "Flag Emblems" for our '76 Salon (very nice!).
Now all I need to find out is how to R&R them. The new ones came with new hexagonal panel nuts to install them . . . and since I can't see/feel the backside of the old ones while they are still installed, I can only assume that they are attached the same way. I have tried prying (gently!) with a plastic trim tool at the point where the pins go through the fender (per the new ones), but no luck.
So: does anyone know how the factory installed them? Are they actually installed hex nuts, or are they perhaps pressed into bushings which are pressed into the fender? I don't want to remove that plastic fender liner (been there, done that --- NOT an easy job as one might think!) just to learn that they are pressed in.
Okay, Randy; thanks. I was hoping to avoid that, but if it must be done then so be it. Those things are not as flexible as they appear at first glance!
I'll bet that there are a lot of Colonnades out there with nice new emblems . . . and fender liners with the lower rear six or eight inches hacked away.
Yes, I might imagine it . . . but I would neverdo it!
Here you go. Assembly manual wont tell anything more, and it wont need to.
You guessed right, its assembled with a nut.
I recommend you to buy assembly manual to yourself too, best money you can spend to your car. Beats repair manuals etc By a mile, for repairs you can usually figure it out, or just do a quick google search, but things you find on assembly manual "cant" be found elsewhere.
Besides, assembly manual is so messed up that you cant search anything from there, you just have to go through whole manual to find what you were looking, page By page. And its over 500 pages long. I wouldnt have even bothered to look for it if i wouldnt had one other thing for myself to look from there, so it did go with the same pain of going through the whole manual.
Last edited by Inline; July 17th, 2016 at 04:47 AM.
My only suggestion is if you can pry the old ones off without damaging your panel(a tough go), you can use double sided trim tape or adhesive and glue the new ones on.
I think I'll go with doing it the right way by removing enough of the fender liner to gain access, guys.
Inline, thanks so much for taking time to find that illustration and then taking/uploading a photo of it. Can you tell me where I might find one of those '76 Cutlass Assembly Manuals?
You can also tape off around the flag then use a grinder or cut off wheel and shave the old one down to its pins then poke them thru the fender. Then do as Eric said and use double sided adhesive to install. You just have to take your time and be careful but can be done. I just had to R&R my driver side inner fender and it is a PITA to say the least! Specially getting it back in. Good Luck.
I think if I take the fender liners loose I can probably "get around" them sufficiently to get a hand holding a 1/4" ratchet up behind there; it was taking them all the way out (as I had to do to change an exhaust manifold gasket) that was indeed a real pain.
I don't really like the idea of grinding-off and then leaving steel nuts to lay at the bottom of the fender drain area. I'm the kind of guy that, if I drop one of the old nuts while removing them, will go in there with a magnet and fish it back out. This car gets driven in the rain; in fact, it got driven in the rain just yesterday after an outing with a local car club. It doesn't need any extra help from me to get it to start rusting inside the front fenders . . .
I think I'll go with doing it the right way by removing enough of the fender liner to gain access, guys.
Inline, thanks so much for taking time to find that illustration and then taking/uploading a photo of it. Can you tell me where I might find one of those '76 Cutlass Assembly Manuals?
I warmly suggest to buy it. You find things youve never imagined about. But as i sayed before, its a mess, pages being at correct numerial order, there is no rule what comes next, and therefore makes it impossible to find one specific thing until going through the whole manual.
One trick, which is along the lines of what others has suggested, is to carefully mark the spot where the tap is to old emblem using the new emblem as a guide, and start to drill the old one out where the tap is, that way it should fall out.
Then just use the tap on the new emblem as a guide to locate it correctly to fender, and use that 2-sided adhesive tape. There are tapes durable enough, and weatherproof to hold it in there.
July 16th, 2016, 02:17 PM
