General Panel Gaps

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General Panel Gaps

JNAnderson

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Looking for advice on how big is acceptable for panel gaps where the bumper meets just bear the wheels. Noticed tonight the gap at the bottom of where this meets looks slightly wider than the gap the rest of the way, like as it gets to the end, it's slightly gapey. My bumper was removed last week for mot failures to be fixed and not sure if it's maybe just not been put back on 100%.

Don't want to complain if it's normal..
 
I don't want to come across like I'm saying they've done a bad job. If a tab has broken off, how would they sort the gap though?
 
I don't want to come across like I'm saying they've done a bad job. If a tab has broken off, how would they sort the gap though?



They would have to fit a new bracket. They are about £7 and are held on by 2 pop rivets.

It could be the bolt in the wheel arch is done up too tight pulling the top down. Where is the uneven gap, nearer the headlight or nearer the Wing?
 
They would have to fit a new bracket. They are about £7 and are held on by 2 pop rivets.

It could be the bolt in the wheel arch is done up too tight pulling the top down. Where is the uneven gap, nearer the headlight or nearer the Wing?

This is the gap...
 

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Here's pics to each side of ours, the drivers side does not have the bolt in at all(fixing snapped off, I've had the bumper off twice) but seems to make little difference, a guess on yours would be misaligned plastic tabs/fixings(or snapped off due to rough handling/in a hurry) and the bolt holding it together, remove bolt gap gets bigger?
 

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Here's pics to each side of ours, the drivers side does not have the bolt in at all(fixing snapped off, I've had the bumper off twice) but seems to make little difference, a guess on yours would be misaligned plastic tabs/fixings(or snapped off due to rough handling/in a hurry) and the bolt holding it together, remove bolt gap gets bigger?

This is my worry. It wasn't meant to be finished until later in the day, yet theyvtext me that morning at like 840 saying works were finished, so I'm worried they've rushed it. If fixings have snapped, can they still fix it? Surely if it's their wrong doing then they have to. My car wasn't like this when it went in for its MOT
 
I've seen worse to be honest and whenever I put new bumpers on I rarely get a perfect gap. I think the plastic tabs can get stretched/bent downwards just by the action of pulling the bumper off. If that happens then it's never going to fit snugly.

I suspect that they may show you the door though.

Here's a picture of the bracket, you can see the tabs towards the bottom are the ones that slot into the holes on the edge of the bumper.IMG_2248.JPG
 
I've seen worse to be honest and whenever I put new bumpers on I rarely get a perfect gap. I think the plastic tabs can get stretched/bent downwards just by the action of pulling the bumper off. If that happens then it's never going to fit snugly.

I suspect that they may show you the door though.

Here's a picture of the bracket, you can see the tabs towards the bottom are the ones that slot into the holes on the edge of the bumper.View attachment 178185

Thank you. Can the bracket be replaced?
 
I've seen worse to be honest and whenever I put new bumpers on I rarely get a perfect gap. I think the plastic tabs can get stretched/bent downwards just by the action of pulling the bumper off. If that happens then it's never going to fit snugly.

I suspect that they may show you the door though.

Here's a picture of the bracket, you can see the tabs towards the bottom are the ones that slot into the holes on the edge of the bumper.View attachment 178185

I found unlike, the very good YouTube video on how to remove the bumper where they just pull it off, careful prizing apart of the clip(from under the wing) with a screwdriver released the bumper clips in a controlled safe manner, perhaps why ours looks fine with the missing wing edge bolt?

Yes (wing) clips can be replaced
 
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I found unlike, the very good YouTube video on how to remove the bumper where they just pull it off, careful prizing apart of the clip(from under the wing) with a screwdriver released the bumper clips in a controlled safe manner, perhaps why ours looks fine with the missing wing edge bolt?

Yes (wing) clips can be replaced

Have phoned and they'll look at it this afternoon. Not sure where I stand if they say it's fine and doesn't need moved yet I don't think it looks fine at all x
 
Yes, it is secured to the wing by two pop rivets. 5 minute job to drill out the old rivets and pop rivet new one on. I do it all the time as my crashed cars often have broken brackets.

Thank you. I'm hoping they'll fix it for me, I'd be willing to pay if I had to. My car wasn't getting a new bumper, they just had to take it off to put in the new shock absorbers and whatever else on it's MOT. Roughly how much would a garage charge?
 
Thank you. I'm hoping they'll fix it for me, I'd be willing to pay if I had to. My car wasn't getting a new bumper, they just had to take it off to put in the new shock absorbers and whatever else on it's MOT. Roughly how much would a garage charge?

Just go back to the garage and get them to unclip it and re position it, don't worry.
 
This happened to my wife's previous 500 when the cowboys down at our local Fiat dealership made a total hash of removing and refitting the front bumper. I eventually removed it myself and noticed the riveted bracket was damaged. Looks easy enough to replace. I would argue the point with them, even get them to remove the bumper in your presence, any damage to bracket would be quite obvious.
 
Thank you. I'm hoping they'll fix it for me, I'd be willing to pay if I had to. My car wasn't getting a new bumper, they just had to take it off to put in the new shock absorbers and whatever else on it's MOT. Roughly how much would a garage charge?
They shouldn't charge you anything. It's also possible if they rushed it, that the bumper hole is underneath the tab, rather than on top of it, therefore not holding it in position properly.

They put it on incorrectly, they should sort it out. It's probably no big deal and a simple unclip and reclip would do the job.
 
They pluttered about unscrewing, shifting and putting back on and moved a screw further down it, but looks the same to me. Will this be right enough? He said the 'lugs' he called them are all clipped in right?
 
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