Well, I just finished swapping the hoods on my mavericks about a half hour ago and now swapping the grills are next. How do I go about getting the darn things off? I would just dive in like I did on the hood thing, but I can't afford to bugger up the good grill.
The grill is pretty simple. All the screws are visible with the hood open. you should be able to see them looking down on the grill, just unscrew and yank. A long screwdriver with a magnetic tip would come in handy. I removed the turn signals first and then the grill, I think it may be possible to remove the grill with the turn signals in place tho.
Dont forget the screw that attaches the grill to the hood latch support down low towards the bottom of the grill.Dont gorilla those screws either when you install them again you may crack the grill around the screw holes.
if it's never been removed, it will probably have the plastic rivits on each side near the headlights bezels that will need to be drilled out...
I had to pull one of those out with needlenose pliers when I was looking at it earlier today. I'll be drilling the rest for the sake of my sanity.
No need to drill them out. Just take a good size nail, ground the point off, and use it as a "punch". Take a hammer and pound out the center pin. Save all the parts and re-use.
Well, since I started this thread I've dove headfirst into the work on my new maverick. The grill thing has become a huge headache. All of the screws are stripped save for one. I have no idea what to do. i don't have drill bits strong enough to drill out the screws. (I did get one drilled out, but thrashed the bit) I even went out and bought new drill bits, but no dice. Plus the screws on the bottom are so far away I'd need a really long bit or an extender or something. So the grill thing has been put on hold while I work on the paint.
Wow, how many screws hold the grill on 5? Should be a walk in the part, if the screws are stripped, use some vise grips. If the old grill is just, break it up, then the screws should be loose enough to use vise grips to spin them out, and use side cutters to cut the plastic rivets.
Sears sells bits called Screw-Out for stripped screw heads. When working with old cars, if there is a hint of rust you should spray a little penetrating oil on them before doing anything. The grill screws go into small metal clips, surpised they are stuck at all.
The screw heads are flat to the metal. I can't use vice grips. I can't break the grill, the one I'm trying to remove is the good one so i can put it on the new maverick.
I did that with one, and I got that screw off but it destroyed my drill bit. I went and got some Titanium whatever whatever drill bits to help me out and they did exactly diddly squat to the screws.
