Fascia Removal - Step by Step

[Junior]

If you need to remove the headlights for any reason, or any number of other projects that require you to expose the front mechanicals, you'll need to remove the front fascia. It's an intimidating thought to most people at first, but I hope to show that there's not much to it at all. There's a total of six nuts and bolts, a handful of plastic fasteners, and just a bit of creative wiggling.

Your first time, this may take 45 minutes or so - but once you know the locations of things and what has to happen, it goes very quickly. I've had mine off four or five times, and I can go from "wheels on" to the picture above in about 15 minutes.

So first off, a starting point. Jack up the front end, and place the car on two jackstands. Remove the front wheels (but remember to break the lugnuts loose while the wheels are still on the ground, but not before lifting the jack up enough to support the weight just in case).

Remove the black plastic bellypan that goes from the front lip back. I didn't include this step in the write-up, as I haven't had mine on there since the day I bought it. Once the car's up on stands, you should be able to get underneath and see what needs to happen.

Here's where we begin:


There are eight two-piece plastic push rivets along the top front of the fascia:


Go ahead and remove these. It helps to use a large flat screwdriver, with a pair of pliers or something to use as a fulcrum. A plastic panel tool works well too.


You're prying only the INSIDE part of the two-piece rivet. Once it's up, you can pull the whole thing out:


There are three Christmas-tree type push rivets along the front outer edge of each wheelwell:


Go ahead and pull the rivets from the edge of the fender liners. As shown below, I've replaced the Christmas tree-type push rivets with three of the two-piece push rivets, same as the others inside the wheelwell. These are different than the eight on the top of the fascia. I recommend you do this as well, as they're cheap, reusable, and hold much better than the stock ones at this location. If you have the stock rivets in there, just pry with the big flatblade or a panel tool between the liner and the fascia - they'll pop. If you have replacements already, and you don't need to save the stock rivets, just get under them with your sidecutters, and kill 'em.


Now I mentioned before that I haven't had the bellypan on since day one. If you choose to run without it, as many of us have done, you MUST do something like this to secure the front of the fender liner to the fascia. Otherwise, the airflow at speed will cause the fender liners to pull back into the front tires, and ruin them. This is especially true if you're still using the Christmas tree type push rivets. Simply run a good zip-tie through the fender liner and through a corresponding hole on the fascia. At this point, though, stuff's coming off, so clip that bad boy with some sidecutters.


Inside the wheelwell, there are three more two-part rivets as shown below. The easiest way to remove these guys is to use some side-cutters or nippers to get underneath the sides of the inside piece - not to cut them, just to get underneath the "mushroom head" and pry them up. A panel tool will also work well here. If the inside part pops out of the outer part, don't sweat it - they pop right back together.


The ESP/BAS sensor connector shown below also needs to come off.


That one pulls right out if you simply pry the wire clip out a bit, like this:


Once he's loose, just tuck him out of the way down in the other brake lines.


At this point, double-check to see that all the plastic rivets and the ESP/BAS connector have been removed. If so, you're ready to start peeling the fender liner back. Look at the top of the wheelwell, and see how the liner fits into some channels in the sheetmetal there. Here's where a little bit of creative wiggling comes into play, but look at what you're doing, and it all makes sense. Start at the ESP/BAS connector hub, and lift the liner away from that point first. Then pull the liner toward the inside enough to pull it out of the channel.


Don't worry about the rear of the wheelwell, just the front half or so, and the object is to be able to move the fender liner behind the front hub, and out of the way, like so:


So far so good - grab a beer and a 10mm socket and a ratchet.

[Junior]

Part Two:

There are three threaded fasteners on each side (two bolts and a nut), each of which is removed with a 10mm socket. The approximate location and orientation of these is indicated below:




Here's the top one, it's a bolt, and the socket wrench will be oriented like this:


Here's the resulting hole:


Here's the next one, another bolt, at the front of the wheelwell.


You want to remove the unpainted one, NOT the body color one in front of it. (Though it'll help to loosen that one slightly - one full turn or so).


Then, inside the front fender, up towards the front, there's a nut. This is the one indicated by the uppermost red line, in the first picture of this post.


While you're in there, go ahead and remove the Foglamp bulb from its socket. Counter-clockwise until it stops (an eighth-turn or so), and pull it out.


Then, on the outside of the headlamp assembly, there's a clip on the sidemarker lamp - push it towards the outside to release the sidemarker. You can disconnect the wiring connector before or after you pop the sidemarker out.








NOTE FOR 300C / SRT OWNERS: At this point, you'll need to deal with the plumbing for the headlight washers. I think the easiest way to do this is to remove the tubing at the reservoir, and cap that nipple with a vacuum cap of the right size. Be prepared for spillage.

Okay, folks - you're detached. Take a breath, and clear the area in front of the vehicle.

On each side, the rearmost part of the fascia needs to be pulled out from the body about a half inch or so. Gently pull out and forward at the same time, to get this:


Here's the stud that the nut came off of:


Do that for both sides, and then standing in the middle front of the car, grab the top of the fascia, and lift and pull away from the vehicle slowly. Take it slow, and MAKE SURE NOTHING'S STILL CONNECTED as you pull the fascia away. Set that joker down on the ground, and TADA!




Installation is essentially the reverse of removal, but here are a couple things:

- Take care to line up the studs and alignment pins when you set the fascia back on there. Make sure stuff goes in its proper hole (It's a no-brainer, but if the stud is off-center and misses its hole, it may bend or break).
- Make sure to line up the fascia-to-fender seam as well as you can before snugging up the nuts and bolts.

If I think of anything else, I'll add it, and if there are suggestions for clarification, I'd be happy to take 'em!

[Junior]

As a sidenote, if you are removing your headlights, here are the mounting screw locations. These are an 8mm hex head, or a Torx T30 (either one works fine).





Don't forget to undo all the electrical from the rear of the assemblies first (though you can leave it on there and pull the headlight out a little bit first if you prefer).

This silver one is NOT a mounting screw - this is the headlight beam height adjuster, and it's accessable anytime, with the fascia on.

[moddog]

Nice job Junior did you take it off for any reason or just for a how to.

[ZMagnum]

Wonderful. Great write-up and great pics.

[Junior]

Hey Charlie - yeah, I've had it off a number of times - most recently to finally get my Halos back online:


I've had it off to tinker with a replacement grill:


And to remove the downtube on the Volant intake I used to have:

[PaCharger]

Beans to you....just did this 2 weeks ago...could have used it then!
Perfectly clear - KNOWLEDGE BASE!!!

[NAS T MAG]

Great detailed "How to". The best way to replace headlights or grill.

On the Magnums, it's not necessary to put on jack stands or remove the wheels. I replaced all the fasteners with the center push type. A plastic panel remover works great to get under those fasteners and also work with tail light removal.

Props for the detailed info. Should help a lot of folks, out.

[pigpen]

Good job!!

[PowerWagon896]

This should be in the "Knowledge Base" for sure.

Beans to ya!

As a side note.

A pair of "nippers" will work better than the diagonal cutters & you won't need the screw driver either.

Think of "Nippers" as side cutters W/the cutting edges perpindicular to the handle.

[Junior]

A plastic panel remover works great to get under those fasteners and also work with tail light removal.

Yeah, that's good too. Gonna add that to the above.

A pair of "nippers" will work better than the diagonal cutters & you won't need the screw driver either.

Think of "Nippers" as side cutters W/the cutting edges perpindicular to the handle.

It's funny you mention that - I had in there originally that a pair of concrete nippers works great too - except for the one that's recessed in a little bowl (the uppermost one in the wheel well). Then I hesitated about having to explain what concrete nippers were...

I'll edit that back in there too.

[Pigman 440]

Great write up.I have pulled mine twice on Mag without jacking up. Changed Mag lights by just pulling the top rivets ,10 minute job on Magnum.

[1 tight R/T]

Nice write up I learned the hard way how to do it.

[Magma]

Awesome write-up!! Very well done!

[MAGNUM8R]

Good one Junior!!
The Magnum is much easier than the Charger!