merrick

Both of my fender bead's (not sure if that is correct plural use) are hard, brittle and breaking apart. How hard are these to replace? Is it as simple as slipping (yeah right, breaking out the chizle and going to town) and then slipping the new beading in? Or do I need to loosen the bolts holding the fender together? Depending on the *** pain, I may be able to live with it. Thanks in advance.

Computamedic

It's certainly not the easiest job I've tried. I loosened all the bolts along the top edge of the fender (including the ones below the windshield inside the door hinge) and, still, the fender wouldn't move enough to make the job easy. The fender is held in place by a couple of spot welds in most cases and that just makes it awkward.

I found that I could get enough movement by using a large screwdriver to lever against the fender from the door opening - just enough to get the seal out and, with a bit of jiggling, to get the new one in.

Be aware that there are two different sizes of seal. The larger (i.e. 911.799.503.07 - wider) of the two is the one designed for the 964 but, IMHO, the smaller (i.e. 993.503.393.00) looks better. You'll find many suppliers don't make the distinction and it may be pot luck which version you land up with. Also the OEM seals (from Porsche) will require the bolts under the windshield to be completely removed (or cut the seal to make a hole into an open ended slot) whereas some of the aftermarket seals are already made with the slot.

Regards

Dave

merrick

Thanks Dave. That is what I thought as far as pain level. I may still give it a try.