Rear Bumper Screws and Washers

[paza1]

Has anyone tried to replace the rear bumper fixing screws and washers without removing the bumper The 4 screws that are directly behind the rear wheels are easy to remove but the others fix into M5 rawlnuts. Nitroman says the rawlnuts turn to dust on removal and I believe him. Is there enough flex in the bumper to allow the rawlnuts to be replaced? Any info/help much appreciated. (manual 10.23A page 2 items 85 to 88)

[chrisP]

There is more than enough flex to replace the rawl nuts with the bumper in situ. However you would need to remove all the bolts that you are talking about in one go, as it wont flex enough to do them one at a time. They may have siezed as well, so a pair of mulgrips on the brass nuts might help

Chris

[paza1]

ChrisP, Thanks for responding though I am not sure which 'brass nuts' and 'bolts' that you mean. I am referring to the 5 crosshead screws (Items 85 and 86). Could you clarify please I don't want to risk cracking the paint/lacquer.
Cheers

[chrisP]

Sorry I haven't got the manual at work, I was assuming you meant the five or so bolts that go thru the bottom of the bumper up into the boot where the spare tyre lays. The brass nuts I was referring to, are the ones in the rawlnuts (encapsulated in rubber) sometimes the bolt screwed into them corrodes enough to sieze the two together. Hope that helps

Chris

[paza1]

ChrisP, Yes that explains it. The manual is not clear about that. No mention of brass nuts, only rawlnuts. Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.
Mark