Side Skirt Trouble

[MadDog]

I am in the process of removing the side skirts, and making a how-to. Unfortunately, I have run into a slight snag. [*] After reading the forums, it appears that all the fasteners are plastic. One of the skirts came off ok, but the second one had a fastener I havnt seen before. See the picture (in the picture you are looking up into the jack point well). This is a metal fastener (at the very least it has a metal head). It doesnt have a flared head on it. It wiggles a bit, but I doubt I can pull it straight out. I tried unscrewing it, but that isnt working. The fastener has a single small hole in the middle. If I had the car up on a rack I would be tempted to drill it out, but the car is not elevated at all.

Dos anyone know what this is and more importantly, how I get it out ?



thanks,

Mad Dog

[*] OK, thats a slight lie. The first problem was that the jacks I have (nice 3-ton units) wouldnt fit through the jack point cover openings. So, I spent an hour with my head under the skirts (barely fitting), pulling the fasteners off. They should of made the covers a bit wider.

 

[squeek]

Looks like a poprivit, maybe the previous owner put it in for support.

 

[MadDog]

Im the only owner, so this came from the factory or the dealer. So, if it is a pop-rivet, drilling out is the only way ? Crap. I cant lift the car if I need to get to the pop-rivet in the jack point bay. I might have enough room for a Dremel......

thanks,

Mad Dog

 

[Smokinjoe]

Looking foward to seeing this how-to. Thanks man.

 

[MadDog]

Working on the How-To, so maybe a day or two.

In the mean time, I have the skirts off. THe pop rivet actually wiggled out. Now, after I hosed them off, washed them twice (once with some added dishwasher detergent), they still are dirty as hell. After 12 years, do I need to be sanding the really nasty surfaces ? What about the big scratches - is there anything I can do about those ? More sanding ?




....oh...one more thing.... is it normal for the jack line (is that what you call it ?) to be so bent up ? It looks like over time some of the service crew got in a hurry...




thanks,

Mad Dog