OK and some more..
I need to remove a decent amount of material in the wheelhouse so that the tire had actually room to turn.
As you can see I was able to get the front axle out in one piece ...

but that is not really an advantage since I can't get the tire off the axle.

I really can't figure out what is holding it on the axle, I can turn the whole tire while holding the axle with pliers, but the tire didn't come off.