How do you remove the rear fender stone guards on a 993 C2? These are the clear, well they are pitted black now, plastic guards along the lower leading edge of the rear fender in front of the rear wheel wells.

I am hoping to just remove them and polish/wax the area to blend in....or may replace them if it isn't too hard. Is it difficult to replace/install these guards?

Thanks for the help,

 

It's easy to do and the guys at FD Motorsports sell some very nice replacements at a reasonable price.
I let my car sit in the sun on a nice afternoon for about an hour (so the plastic was warm - you could use a blow dryer or heat gun to warm them as well), then picked up a corner of the stoneguard and gently peeled it away. Came off cleanly. The new ones were a breeze to install based on the instructions from FDM.
Several threads on RL about it as well... run a search and you'll have all the needed info.

 

If you're lucky they'll peal off fairly easily if you warm them up and use a steady but not too hard pull. Don't pull at a 90 degree angle to the surface but rather back at an angle toward the remaining material. If been on there since new then it will probably come off in pieces and leave loads of glue behind. If that happens, which it did with my car, try using some Goo-Gone and the edge of a credit card to gently scrape it off. It will take a while but it will come off. I'd definitely replace them though because they're there for a reason and you'll quickly get the paint chipped up without them. Clean and wax the area and put on the new ones, it's a pretty easy DIY job.

 

removal ranges from "wow that was easy, what do people complain about?" to "my god, i'll pay anything for someone else to take these off."

look here

http://www.fdmotorsports.net/index_files/Page423.htm

good luck

 

Heat them up, then pull UP & away from the car, do not stop once started, one strong fluid pull.

 

2Many Cars says NOT to pull at a 90-degree angle - but isn't that exactly what up and away from the car is?

 

I think Stealth meant to say that the optimal angle for stone guard material extirpation is between 87 - 89 degrees.

The adhesive becomes far less cooperative beyond the aforementioned 89 degrees.


Andreas

 

Never said 90deg, I said up, like stretch it out almost parallel from the car. The stretch is very important, as is the heat.

I got this from the local pro who does it every day, worked perfectly on the C4. When I did the 90deg thing with the C4S it was a mess, & took a few hours to completely clean up.

 

Do all 993s come with the stone guards? Mine doesn't have any. Maybe a previous owner took them off because they looked bad. Now I have road rash in front of the fenders.

 

Up and away is right if you start at the bottom.

If you pull at a approx. 90 degree you risk pulling the paint of.

Either start at the bottom and pull up or start at the top and pull down.
You should be pulling "back", not out.
Used to work with things like this so i know what I am talking about.

When attaching the new ones spray down the fender and the glue side of the new stone guards with a blend of 50% water and 50% Denatured Alcohol, put the stone guard where you want it and start working out the solution from the middle of the stone guard (you can use some flat device approx 1" wide and cover it with a soft cloth to work out the solution). When "scraping" the solution from underneath the stone guard make sure you leave noting behind and that you only scrape out approx. 1/2" at the time.

The water/denatured alcohol blend will make it possible to move the stone guard around a bit and there is less risk of air bubbles.

Be careful to wash your fingers (you can use the denatured alcohol for that as well) before taking the protective film of the stone guard, if you have dirty fingers and a light colored car you will get your fingerprints on the glue and it will show really well on lighter colored cars.
In other words, try to not touch the glue side of the stone guards.

And no, the denatured alcohol will not ruin the glue on the stone guards.

 

I do hope you know that what I wrote was in jest?


Andreas

 

Recommended in a previous thread, will repeat: Get some RAPIDTAC from any local vinyl sign maker. It won't affect the paint but it will take the stone guard and glue off EZ with a thin plastic scraper.

 

Yea, I know, & you know, but some one would do it wrong, & blame us!

 

Andreas

 

Do you have firsthand experience with Rapidtac? I must admit I'm somewhat apprehensive about putting this stuff on my paint. Looks like amazon carries it:

http://www.amazon.com/RapidTac-Appli...9326682&sr=8-1

I've also been told 3M adhesive remover works well. Anyone with firsthand experience?

http://www.amazon.com/General-Purpos...9326986&sr=8-1

Cheers,
Joe