Hi Everyone, newbie here

I have a 'R' reg 323F

Not long ago I hit a Range Rover in the back, very lightly, not very hard at all.
The Range Rover was unscratched but my 323F was dented.

The bonnet, bumber and sides have shifted a bit.
The bonnet probably needs changing, but I hope to
fix it.

How do I take the panels off and re-fit them properly?

Thanks You for your help

C_O

Hi and Welcome.
Can't offer any practical help as never having done it i'm about as much use as a chocolate firedguard
Someone will be along to help you soon though

Front bumper removal guide: http://www.club323f.com/club323f/forum/ ... hp?p=11521

(Follow in reverse order to refit it again)

Front wings and front and rear doors removal guide is as follows (follow in reverse order to refit again)

[quote="parvez"]
For rear doors:

1. Open rear door and front door on same side.
2. You'll see 4 x 10 (or 12?)mm bolts. Undo all of them.
3. There will be a pin in he hinge holding the door to the body. Smack the pin with a hammer from underneath until it flys out.
4. Disconnect the wiring loom and you're away.

For front doors, I found I had to remove the front wings to access the bolts I had to undo to remove the front doors.

To remove the wings:

1. 2-3 x 10 (or 12)mm bolts along the edge where the wing meets the bonnet. Remove these bolts.
2. Couple of 10mm bolts at the very bottom edge of the wing, just before the wheel arch. Remove these
3. 1 x 10 (or 12)mm bolt along the edge where the wing meets the front door. Open the front door and access through the space created between the wing and the front door. Remove that bolt.
4. Think there's also a Phillips head screw somewhere along the edge where the wing meets the bonnet - close to the windscreen. Undo that - maybe a little awkward as its so close to the windscreen. If you can't get a screwdriver in to undo it, try removing the scuttle panel along the bottom edge of the windscreen to give you more space. There should only be about 4 Phillips head screws.

To remove the front doors...
1. Once the wing is off, like you did for the rear, you'll see 4 x 10 (or 12)mm bolts holding the door to the chassis. Undo these.
2. There's pin in the hinge that holds the door in. Again, smack it from underneath using a hammer till it pops out.
3. Disconnect the wiring loom and you should be away.

Hope that helps.[/quote]

The bonnet is held in place by a hinge on either side with two 12mm bolts on each side which you'll see after opening the bonnet. Undo these with the help of another pair of hands and you should be able to lift the bonnet off. To refit, line up the bonnet again to the hinges on either side and redo the bolts.

Told you so
Therss not much this lot don't know

Wow, Parvez i'm guessing you would know because you just took your car to pieces. I'll have to see how long this takes
I don't want to start it and then be without the car. This is going to take me a while since I've never done anything like this
before.

but thanks for the instructions, I hope they work out for me.

C_O

I got to fit a new front passengers door to a friends car tomorow and was having a look to see if i can do it without removing the wing. Would it be possible to unbolt the door from the hinges? Then refit the new door onto the old hinges, looks like it doable without having to remove the wing?

yep its doable with the wing in place, i've done it on my drivers door

its easier with the wing removed tho as i had to use vice grips to tighten the nuts when the wing was on, wen i took the door off the scrappy car with the wing already removed it was possible to use a socket set on the nuts

You can remove the wing also without removing any other panels or taking the wheel off. Parvez's guide for the wing is pretty much spot on.
You only have to loosen the headlamp to get access to 2 bolts and remove the side indicator housing.

[img]http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/rr305/swelch29/SDC13708.jpg[/img]

[quote="CuriusOne"]Wow, Parvez i'm guessing you would know because you just took your car to pieces. I'll have to see how long this takes

C_O[/quote]

Yep

With the right tools (a decent socket set, basic screwdrivers and a hammer), I managed to get all those panels off within a couple of hours

Your pic is wicked, you should have set up a step by step guide while you where taking it apart, you would have been king.
You would have had the images to go with it.

A couple of hours for you seems a day for me lol, from your pic os looks like the metal surround around the
wheel could have bent inwards causing the panel to move, so it could be that the surround needs beating back out?

Thanks for the advice

C_O

Hi, I have a BA 323 hatch, and was wondering if the parts from the V6 fit onto my 1.8? The parts in question: bonnet, bumper and drivers quarter panel. I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I rear ended a guy a few weeks ago and don't want to go through insurance.

Yep the body panels are all interchangeable on the BA hatchback

Thanks man. I ended up finding a whole 1.5 someone was selling for heaps cheap so I snatched that up. Parts galore