Automotive Manual, Car Parts and News

You have purchased one of the highest quality Miata products available today. Installing your new fender brace involves many steps, but is really not that difficult if you take your time and understand what you are trying to accomplish. These instructions will clearly illustrate the methods we have found to work the best. If something does not fit properly, we would like to know about it, so that we can improve our products.

Many people who will install this product do not like to read instructions, but need some general direction on what to do. For these people, we have provided a summary of the steps (in bold) preceding the detailed instructions.

We recommend setting aside some plastic bags or small containers to put fasteners and small parts during disassembly. These parts will be reused during final assembly, and there is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find a part or fastener when you are almost done. While we supply lockwashers, some people prefer to use locktite – your choice.

REMOVE THE FENDER
1) One side at a time.
• We recommend installing one fender brace at a time, so the opposite side can be used as a reference.
• There are many various fasteners attaching each fender to the chassis, so it is important to keep all the fasteners together.

2) Jack one side and remove the front wheel.
• Raise and prop the hood, set the emergency brake, and block the rear tires.
• Using a floor jack, raise the car at the front lift point (see Mazda instructions for location).
• Remove the wheel and tire, and block the car so that it cannot accidentally fall (2a).

3) Remove the Fender.
• Fender removal requires some time and patience. Fender mountings vary from year to year, but these instructions will provide some general guidelines.
• Using a 10mm socket, remove the bolts along the top edge of the fender, including the one inside the door frame over the hinges.
• Remove the plastic inner skirt and braces from the fender. The plastic fastener centers screw out with a Phillips head screwdriver, then pull the whole plug out.
• Remove the various bolts along the bottom edge of the fender.
• Remove the 2 nuts from the horizontal bolts at the very front of the fender.
• Remove the bolts holding the top of the front bumper assembly (3a). Tip the top edge of the bumper forward to reveal a bolt at the very front of the fender (3b). Remove this bolt using a 10mm wrench.
• There is a hidden nut at the rear of the fender (3c), which can be accessed from inside the wheel well. Use a socket with a long extension, and this nut only needs to be loosened (not removed).
• Carefully remove the fender.

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