69-98 engine bay cleanup. NEED HELP

[wolfman98]

Well things are going slowly along as I keep getting further and further into the motor and engine bay cleanup. I took the advice on checking out the timing chain , so I pulled the balancer and cover plate to find a lot of slack and wear. the original nylon gear was worn and chain was wearing so i have a new set coming. Problem now is that I can't get the crank gear off and have tried 3 different pullers only to find one to small , one too big and the third had a broken end on one of the arms. hopefully I will find someone with one I can borrow. My second problem is that I want to pull out the heavy plastic wheel wells and after taking out all the bolts I found that I can't get them to lift up high enough to get the edge along the outside fender over the lip that is in the fender cause the top of the wheel well is so close to the fender there is no room to lift it up any. I was wondering if there is a way to get them out without taking off the fenders? Anybody run into this problem?

[Oldsguy]

Could you possibly use a heat gun to soften the plastic enough to bend it? This would require some heavy leather gloves but might work. If you heat up the area about four to six inches from the fender lip nearer to the top of the inner fender curve this might give you enough flex to bend the inner fender just enough....Just a thought.

[wolfman98]

well my only concern is permanetly bending them out of shape. I have to put them back in again. Today I am going to put the front end back up on jacks and remove the wheels so I can get under it easier. I may try warming them up around the lip and gently pry them over the lip. What do you guys think , might work?

[2blu442]

I've not pulled them from a 98 but have removed them from several years of Cutlass without pulling the fenders. It's always a battle, and I found by putting the car up on jack stands with the tire removed I'm able to push/pull/flex and get it out. So I'd take a deep breath and try again looking at where it's binding. I've used the heel of my hand to hammer from the inside up and rotate it enough to get the edge out of the fender lip. Then it takes more rotating to push it forward and back to work it loose and pull it out and down around the brake drum. If you've got the patience I'd try again before taking the step of removing the fenders. My 2 cents. John

[wolfman98]

Thanks for your input John , I would rather not remove the fenders if I don't have to. I am going to remove the tires so I can get right in there with it and see if pushing and prying will do the trick.

[Lady72nRob71]

Some narrow putty knives / scrapers may be used as "tire irons" to slide between the fender lip and the fender wells to coax them out. Not sure how your fender well lip looks but make sure they will not damage the paint on the edge. Towels in between help prevent paint damage. Do not pull to hard on the fender so not to distort it. I would rather not say how I learned that...

[wmachine]

Originally Posted by Lady72nRob71

I would rather not say how I learned that...

Too funny, Rob! That's how we guard our secrets!!

[wolfman98]

Originally Posted by Lady72nRob71

Some narrow putty knives / scrapers may be used as "tire irons" to slide between the fender lip and the fender wells to coax them out. Not sure how your fender well lip looks but make sure they will not damage the paint on the edge. Towels in between help prevent paint damage. Do not pull to hard on the fender so not to distort it. I would rather not say how I learned that...

Well it would not be as bad except for "ears" that are raised ares for srews to hold the wheelwell in place. Might take 2 hands 1 foot and maybe my head to get them out but I will cross that bridge this week for sure.