Hi all,

Today I had the good fortune of running into someone I know who has lots of good donor parts from his 83 wagon (same year as mine). The parts I am definitely taking are the interior door panels, and the rear bumper cover. I'm excited because he offered them for free (hooray!!!) and they are both parts that would greatly improve the look of the car. I may snag a couple relays (OD & fuel pump) and some scraper moldings if they are good, - this is actually the best thing that's happened to me all week!!

(side note: this is also cool because this guy may be willing to help me learn how to fix some minor things on my car, which is something I've been needing to happen - I know he's busy, but I may get to pick his brain for at least one Saturday, which would be a great help for me). if not, I'll have to find someone else to talk me through stuff.......

anyway, here's the question: How do you remove the rear bumper cover without damaging it or rendering it useless for the re-install? Do you start at one corner and peel, or do you gently pry, or pop it off from the center using a flathead screwdriver? I am hoping for a reply that is very detailed in explaining a good technique, since I don't want to squander the good fortune of this new cover. I'd feel stupid if he offered the cover and I ruined it while trying to take it off.

I"ve heard that some clips may break while removing the cover - a) is there a way to remove the cover without the clips coming off, and b) if clips break, how available are new ones (dealer, FCP Groton, or IPD?).

thanks for reading this, and the more detailed your answer, the better! & wish me luck!

:)

Susan.
--
Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

While taking the entire bumber assembly (cover, reinforcement, and shocks) as a unit make loads of sense, there are times when you need to replace just the cover. Like when the reinforcement (the metal "bumper" underneath the cover) is broken.

With the assembly on the ground, look for the rectangular fasteners which grip the rubber "tongues" which are part of the cover and slip through slots in the metal reinforcement.

Take a small, thin screwdriver and try to gently pry these (they are double) into a tilted position along there long side. Meanwhile, use a pliers to grip them. This will allow them to slip off the tongues.

These retainere are about the size of a large double-edged razor blade and have a fluted slot into which slide the rubber tongue of the bumper cover. The "flutes" grip the rubber to prevent it brom backing out.

It is a one-way fit, so, tilting the retainer as mentioned above is the only advantage I found toward removal.

Waer eye protection in case one flies.
--
1989 740Ti 1986 240DL 1984 244GL

Susan,
I agree with the previous post.

If the donor owner will allow you the entire bumper and not just the cover it's much less work and hassle to pull the whole piece. There are three nuts holding the bumper to the bumper shocks ... two shocks, six nuts total. They are accessible from the back side of the bumper. Remove those nuts and carefully pry the ends of the cover out of the brackets on the rear quarter panels. The whole bumper w/cover will come right off. You can clean the bumper with a degreaser pre-paint prep like PREPALL ... sand with fine grit (1200) wet dry sand paper clean with PREPALL one last time and refinish with Bumper Black flexible paint before installing it on your Brick. The bumper should look like new. Try to get the three narrow, trim pieces that run across the top edge of the bumper if yours are in bad shpae and the donor's are good. They simply lift straight up out of a series of u clips hooked to the body. You can remove them before removing the bumper. Pry them up with a flat blade screw driver.

Squirting a little B'laster on the nuts and bolts a day before the job will is not a bad idea. B'laster can be found at Walmart, Pep Boys and other autosupply stores. Great product for busting rust on all sorts of projects. Makes getting otherwise stubborn nuts and bolts free with a lot less sweat, strain and damage.

Good Luck.

Taking the whole bumper is a great idea! - I'll have to call the guy and ask him if that would be OK with him.

My bumper doesn't even have the trim pieces anymore - both bumper cover and trim pieces were absent when I bought the car.

I will grab some B'laster & have a go at it!! I'll post afterwards to let you know how it went - I've never pulled a bumper before, so it should be a good learning experience.

Thanks to all who responded for the smart suggestion!

& happy Thanksgiving,

susan.
--
Emperor for Life - Leaky Volvo Club of America (LVCOA)

I also agree with the suggestion to take the whole bumper if possible. When I pulled mine a few weeks ago it wasn't obvious how to release the trim clips that hold the ends of the bumper trim on the sides of the car. They may have also been frozen with a bit of rust. I ended up removing the bolts from the inside that secure the clip base (10mm heads, find them in the cavities behind the rear wheels.)
One way or another, release these clips before you take of the bolts mounting the shock to the bumper. The bumper is not super-heavy but it will definetely take two hands and would snap the trim clips if they were still in place.
Joe

I don't know how to remove the rear cover, but have you considered taking the whole bumper? Even if some of the fastners would twist off because of rust you would have the whole assembly that you could work on at your leisure. You might find that with some good penetrating fluid (Kroil or PB Blaster) you could get it off without too much trouble.

Randy