240 General: Hit and Fail to remain.. My terrible morning

[YogaBone]

Hey Guys, Some gigantic truck this morning crunched the passenger side fender of my beloved '78 245 beyond repair taking the mirror and trim with it. As any keen 240 owner might, i do have a replacement mirror.. as for the fender - its just a heart breaker to look at. Highly unlikely that insurance will cover this. Has anyone replaced one before? Aside from getting lucky at a scrap yard does anyone have a good line on these. I obviously need the '74-'85 compatible fender.

Thanks in advance-

[Clifford Pope]

Fender = wing?
It always feels as if fender ought to mean something for fending off things, ie a bumper, but presumably not?

Anyway, replacing the wing is easy as it unbolts. With luck, there won't be any peripheral damage.

[mylittletony]

For the benefits of the Brits, I assume you're talking about the front wing:



in which case it's a number of bolts and screws, the most difficult to undo are the ones in the A-pillar (look when the door is open) as these are Phillips screw heads. (A tap with a hammer before undoing helps here, or impact driver)

They should be fairly readily available, especially your side of the pond.

If it's only that that's damaged, you've got away lightly!

[YogaBone]

right fellas, the 'wing'.
and yes I do believe it could have been much worse, also didn't realise at the time that the wing is bolted on. Isn't there one weld spot somewhere? anyone know how many bolts in total? What about the chrome center trim, possible to reuse the clips from the damaged one?

[mylittletony]

Originally Posted by YogaBone

right fellas, the 'wing'.
and yes I do believe it could have been much worse, also didn't realise at the time that the wing is bolted on. Isn't there one weld spot somewhere? anyone know how many bolts in total? What about the chrome center trim, possible to reuse the clips from the damaged one?

The early cars are all bolted on, later ones have a couple of spots although I think only on the front panels, not the wings. Not sure on how many bolts, they're along the top inside the bonnet, inside the sidelight/indicator opening and a brace at the rear of the arch.

There will also be sealant holding it on. It's straight forward although daunting if it's your first time. Take all the lights and bumper off, inner arch liner then keep going.

I took all the front end panels (both sides and front ones) off a car in a couple of hours no sweat.

As for the trim, if the clips aren't damaged then they should be re-usable. If not, they are available although expensive - try IPD. Sometimes, the clips have tiny pins that push through so you can take the main part out, then refit and push the pin back in

[Richard240]

I pranged my front wing / fender at the weekend, (drove into a lamp post in the car park that I didn't notice in the rain tucked in behind my A pillar)

On the assumption I need a new wing I am confused about the compatible replacements for 1993 SE estate. I'm committed to collecting one I won on eBay but realise now, a bit late, that it may not be compatible.

It's got a sticker on as part number 1315425-7 "Front Mudguard", and it appears to have the correct shaped hole for the indicator and bumper. But an online search for this part number says this wing only fits 1981-83 cars... is there really a specific wing for just this period of car... or is a typo and they really mean 1981-93?

Attached are some pictures of what I am due to collect.

I'm also after a replacement side rubbing strip. Can someone advise if these are fairly standard over many years, either all black for GLT models, or like mine, black with chrome insert, or if I'm again looking at a very specific period.

Many many thanks. I was lucky until Saturday to have a very tidy 240 greatly enjoyed, used and admired over the last 4 years, and feel disappointed that I've pranged it now! Determined to fix it as good as new if possible.

[loki_the_glt]

There's a spot weld on the 1979 cars: at the front of the wing under the lamp units it's welded to the bottom panel that holds the radiator, as I discovered the hard way many years ago. You need to tackle it from the centre out towards the wing as the latter sits on top.

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Richard240

I pranged my front wing / fender at the weekend, (drove into a lamp post in the car park that I didn't notice in the rain tucked in behind my A pillar)

On the assumption I need a new wing I am confused about the compatible replacements for 1993 SE estate. I'm committed to collecting one I won on eBay but realise now, a bit late, that it may not be compatible.

It's got a sticker on as part number 1315425-7 "Front Mudguard", and it appears to have the correct shaped hole for the indicator and bumper. But an online search for this part number says this wing only fits 1981-83 cars... is there really a specific wing for just this period of car... or is a typo and they really mean 1981-93?

Attached are some pictures of what I am due to collect.

I'm also after a replacement side rubbing strip. Can someone advise if these are fairly standard over many years, either all black for GLT models, or like mine, black with chrome insert, or if I'm again looking at a very specific period.

Many many thanks. I was lucky until Saturday to have a very tidy 240 greatly enjoyed, used and admired over the last 4 years, and feel disappointed that I've pranged it now! Determined to fix it as good as new if possible.

That should fit your car; there might be slight differences in the location of any concealed mounting holes but offering it up to the old wing will reveal them, if there are any.

I think only the GLT had all-black rubbing strips.

[Richard240]

Thanks Loki for your reassurance. I'm thinking of getting the panel prepared by a body shop in the correct Arctic White and then fitting it on myself.

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

That should fit your car; there might be slight differences in the location of any concealed mounting holes but offering it up to the old wing will reveal them, if there are any.

I think only the GLT had all-black rubbing strips.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by YogaBone

Hey Guys, Some gigantic truck this morning crunched the passenger side fender of my beloved '78 245 beyond repair taking the mirror and trim with it. As any keen 240 owner might, i do have a replacement mirror.. as for the fender - its just a heart breaker to look at. Highly unlikely that insurance will cover this. Has anyone replaced one before? Aside from getting lucky at a scrap yard does anyone have a good line on these. I obviously need the '74-'85 compatible fender.

Thanks in advance-

Sorry to hear about this - many moons ago (30 years ish) i had a car that was parked in the company car park and hit by an industrial waste lorry/truck. I heard the alarm going and went to the window to look out just in time to see the rear wheel of the truck bouncing down of the front bumper - it had managed to bend the chassis as well which besides the obvious problems of making it dangerous (and very strange) to drive, managed to short the battery +ve cable to earth. Fortunately it didn't start a fire!
Despite having it all captured on the CCTV, the company denied they even had a truck in that area on that day and the insurance refused to try and deal with it.

Before you spend out on the front wing etc, it would be worth getting everything checked over to make sure the chassis (frame) is still in the shape it should have been. Mine was a 1978 car as well but the Ford equivalent in the UK, a Granada. Not sure if you got the equivalent in Canada or what it would be called if you did but that aside, it was ~12 years old at the time so fairly "fresh" metal compared to 43 year old metal.

Hopefully it's just the wing/fender on yours and you can pick up a spare easily. Perhaps ebay would be a good place to start, quite a few on the USA ebay but mostly later than 86 and drivers side.