slam panel welded or bolted?

[Pugme]

as the title, the front slam panel. if I remove my lights grill bumper will I then be able to remove my front slam panel? or is it welded in?

im aware it goes right down behind the cooler etc as well.

[MarkSanne]

Spot-welded. So not too hard to get it off though.

[Pugme]

ah ok so its in not really structural then? and if I remove it and bolt it back on it will theoretically be just as strong? as im sure m8 bolts are as strong as a spot weld.

its so I can have it painted, half your bill in amy bodyshop is the labour of removing things and masking up so if I can get it off amd drop it to them, it saves me a lot of cash.

[MarkSanne]

Yes. You can. It has only 1 structural purpose (if you replace the whole front slam panel) and that is the lower part of the slam panel bolts to the center bar underneath the engine (that holds the engine mount upfront).

I have done this a few months ago on my V6 as the (now ex-) wife slammed that car (again).
The topic is in dutch, but loaded with pics which are all that you need :)

It starts here:
http://www.galant-fans.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=859&start=640#p22885

and it continues here (she actually helped me drilling out the spot-welds), you'll also see it is actually made of 2 parts, at first I thought I'd leave the lower part sit, but the idea of a complete fresh front frame won :)
http://www.galant-fans.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=859&start=640#p22945

And then welded in:
http://www.galant-fans.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=859&start=640#p23056

I painted it up as I then still had the plan to completely paint that car pearl white:
http://www.galant-fans.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=859&start=640#p23079

[Pugme]

ah sweet, ill flick thru that tonight but I get the feeling my slam panel will be coming out!!

cheers mark