Hood Support-Rod Bracket Removal

[JohnGunn]

The plastic bracket that the hood support-rod snaps into, when not in use, broke on my 1990 Festiva L. I found one in a junk yard yesterday, but couldn't figure out how to remove it without breaking it. It looks to me like I'll have to get to the back side of the engine compartment wall to release it. Here are my two questions:

1. Is it possible to remove this bracket from inside the engine compartment?
2. If not, what do I have to remove to gain access to the other side of the engine compartment wall? Since I'll be removing it from junked Festiva, a quick and dirty answer would sufice.

Hope some of you have solved this problem and will share your experience with me.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[Festiva_Fred]

Just pull the fender off and you can unclip it from the backside then.

[sasquatch]

you may be able to get a puddy knife behind it to pust down the tabs that hold it in.... just a thought....

[Ogrestiva]

Just pull the fender off and you can unclip it from the backside then.

This would be the easiest way to do it, just 4 10mm bolts

[hotfordcat]

This would be the easiest way to do it, just 4 10mm bolts

Don't forget the wheelwell screws!!

[sasquatch]

and the bumber mount and the one down by the bottom of the frnder (by the side skirt)

[Ogrestiva]

^^Or the one on the inside of the door, but that's assuming that they are salvageable. You could just bend a rusted fender aside to get at it.

[knux511]

what does the original hole look like? I had this problem on my accord once, lots of head scratching cuz it was a square hole, and on the bottom of the bracket was a cross... took me ten minutes to realize that I just had to turn it 45 degrees to get it out... so give that a try

[Ogrekhan]

CHAINSAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! err... no sorry ... the fender ... yeah. "twitches"

[JohnGunn]

Done - Thanks to All Who Helped

what does the original hole look like?

The hole is square, though with the bracket in place it is difficult to see that. Before launching into fender removal, I turned the bracket through 360 degrees, trying to work it loose as I tuned. No luck. Looking at the removed bracket I would say it would be impossible to get it out from inside the engine compartment without breaking it. The reason for the shape of the hole would seem to be so that the bracket will hold in the correct position and not rotate, as it would if the hole were round.

Getting the fender loose enough to reach in and release the bracket wasn't difficult. It took only about 15 minutes, working at a leisurely Southern California pace. I had to remove only four bolts before being able to pull the fender away enough to get my hand through the crack. No damage was done to the fender in the process. The bolts I removed were the three on the top of the fender and the one revealed when the left side running light is removed.

Thanks to all who responded. Wanting to do my part for any who might come to this thread with the same problem, I am attaching a couple of pictures of the bracket so they will know exactly what they will be dealing with.

I love this car. To me it represents the perfect essence of what an automobile should be. Less would be less and so would more. Thanks again.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA