Know anything that will soften/loosen sealer in rear wheel well seam?

[Fleetw00d]

I've gotten restarted on my quarter panel rust repair. Got rust free sections from another car. To do my repair correctly, I need to replace part of the inner wheel well before installing the new quarter skin. My problem is separating the inner wheel well from the qaurter skin on the new part. Does anyone know of anything that will soften/loosen the factory seam sealer at the wheel well arch? I have all the spot welds cut, but the seam sealer is a pretty effective adhesive.




back edge of wheel well opening from inside

Inner wheel housing separated from quarter skin at top, looking down at top center of wheel well opening from inside

Inner wheel housing separated from quarter skin at top, looking down at forward edge of wheel well from inside, seam sealer stops here

I've been able to separate the front edge of the inner wheel well from the outer skin up to the point where the seam sealer starts

[steelbluesleepR]

oven cleaner or paint stripper can soften it up a bit

[Fleetw00d]

Did some additional searching online. Sounds like heat might be the way to go. I'll let you know how it goes. Any other suggestions in the mean time are welcome.

[steelbluesleepR]

a propane torch and a scraper or a drill and a wire brush attachment work too. that is how i got mine out of my engine bay.

[Fleetw00d]

SUCCESS! Didn't take a torch, but a heat gun loosened the bond working from the inside of the wheel well. Mostly could just pull it apart as I worked along the joint.


Inside of outer skin


Inner wheel well