GT GRILLE REMOVAL
11/2/05, 04:12 PM
#1
Team Mustang Source
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I have attepted to remove my grill but am afraid of breaking off the keeper tabs. Can someone please advise me of any special tricks to do this? :scratch: :scratch:
11/2/05, 05:20 PM
#2
Bullitt Member
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I just did this this past weekend to install my flag pony.
I used a med size flat blade screw driver, starting on one side. pry out the tab (toward the engine) on the frame. The ones that give the friction to the grille tabs. Be easy, but don't worry too much. The grille and the frames are made of a flexible plastic. After you get the side out, work on the bottom tabs. They should come out easier. After you have just the other side tabs left, it will come off. Basically the more the grill is loosened the easier the remaining tabs are.
I went back and worked the frame keepers back to center before I "stabbed" the grille back in.
Kind of a lousy description, but I hope it helps...
I used a med size flat blade screw driver, starting on one side. pry out the tab (toward the engine) on the frame. The ones that give the friction to the grille tabs. Be easy, but don't worry too much. The grille and the frames are made of a flexible plastic. After you get the side out, work on the bottom tabs. They should come out easier. After you have just the other side tabs left, it will come off. Basically the more the grill is loosened the easier the remaining tabs are.
I went back and worked the frame keepers back to center before I "stabbed" the grille back in.
Kind of a lousy description, but I hope it helps...
11/3/05, 01:47 PM
#3
Cobra Member
Join Date: November 27, 2004
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
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It's actually pretty easy with a large flat blade screw driver AND a clean towel to pad your bumper cover.
You need to start at the left or right top and do the two tabs on one side, then the two tabs on the other side before going to the four tabs on the bottom. Getting them loose is fairly easy:
1) Looking at the grill insert from the front of the car, place your towel against the bumper cover right next to the grill insert.
2) CAREFULLY place the screw driver against the towel and work the blade BETWEEN the grill insert and the bumper cover. Slide it stright back until the blade comes up against the tab. At this point, the blade of the screw driver will be sitting right UNDER the tab on the grill insert and BETWEEN the tab and the bottom of the opening in the bumper cover. The tip should be pushed up against the "hook" part of the tab.
3) Gently twist the screw driver slightly clockwise and then counter-clockwise while carefully pulling the grill insert forward. What happens is the lock tab portion of the bumper cover will be forced backwards by the upward pressure from the screw driver. This allows the tab on the grill insert to come up over the opening in the bumper cover and it is undone.
4) Go to the next tab and repeat.
The bumper cover is very soft plastic, so you are not damaging it at all. Those "lock tabs" on the cover will spring back down and be read for you to reinstall the grill when you are ready. Describing how to do it takes about five times longer than to actually do it!
And just for the record, I was in your boat not too long ago. I could NOT figure out how to get to the lower tabs from the side like I did the top side tabs. It was only when I was thinking about what PonyXPress said about a LONG screw driver that it finally dawned on me what I had to do. After that, it was cake!
You need to start at the left or right top and do the two tabs on one side, then the two tabs on the other side before going to the four tabs on the bottom. Getting them loose is fairly easy:
1) Looking at the grill insert from the front of the car, place your towel against the bumper cover right next to the grill insert.
2) CAREFULLY place the screw driver against the towel and work the blade BETWEEN the grill insert and the bumper cover. Slide it stright back until the blade comes up against the tab. At this point, the blade of the screw driver will be sitting right UNDER the tab on the grill insert and BETWEEN the tab and the bottom of the opening in the bumper cover. The tip should be pushed up against the "hook" part of the tab.
3) Gently twist the screw driver slightly clockwise and then counter-clockwise while carefully pulling the grill insert forward. What happens is the lock tab portion of the bumper cover will be forced backwards by the upward pressure from the screw driver. This allows the tab on the grill insert to come up over the opening in the bumper cover and it is undone.
4) Go to the next tab and repeat.
The bumper cover is very soft plastic, so you are not damaging it at all. Those "lock tabs" on the cover will spring back down and be read for you to reinstall the grill when you are ready. Describing how to do it takes about five times longer than to actually do it!
And just for the record, I was in your boat not too long ago. I could NOT figure out how to get to the lower tabs from the side like I did the top side tabs. It was only when I was thinking about what PonyXPress said about a LONG screw driver that it finally dawned on me what I had to do. After that, it was cake!
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