Removing the grill - Ford was very cruel

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 15, 2011, 9:00 am

I didn't a search and found how I'll remove it. I'm going to remove the header, grill, and valence all as one piece. 3 of the 4 header to fender bolts snapped off. To be fair, one was already snapped off and another bolt was frozen about half way out. I did find a neat pair of tiny dykes in there.

Letting the PBB set on the bolts for the valence for a bit.

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 15, 2011, 9:03 am

Damn, after studying the picture I posted, I just realized I have to get the hood lock support bolts out of the core support.

Any hints on that one?

ezernut9mm · Post by **ezernut9mm** » December 15, 2011, 9:57 am

take your time on those. they are caged nuts and i snapped them both when i removed them. i ended up having to drill holes from the bottom to put regular nuts back on them.

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 15, 2011, 9:58 am

I think one of them is stripped. I'll have to work on the other one. Looks like the grinder is coming out. @#$%

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 15, 2011, 12:11 pm

When I finally got it off, I stood up and said "I .... HAVE MADE FIRE"

The most ridiculous design I've ever seen.

rickairmedic · Post by **rickairmedic** » December 15, 2011, 12:43 pm

Mike for future referance get your hands on some Kroil . I have PBB as well but I go for the Kroil first most of the time . I would bet the 2 cans of PBB I have are 2 years old or older and pretty much full

.

Rick

Hunter's 64 · Post by **Hunter's 64** » December 15, 2011, 12:59 pm

Or try a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid .

Google it !

Danny

slickmainer · Post by **slickmainer** » December 15, 2011, 2:36 pm

you should have video taped it and put it on youtube, a how to slick teardown

DukeRoche · Post by **DukeRoche** » December 15, 2011, 3:59 pm

I honestly almost quit working on my truck when trying to take this off. When it was all over I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment and was glad I didn't quit, but doing it was an absolute nightmare

Uncle Skip · Post by **Uncle Skip** » December 15, 2011, 4:12 pm

I used a hole saw under the two stuck cage nuts on the header supports and then put needle nosed vice grips on to hold the.
One worked, one didn't.
The 1/4" die grinder cut the head off the other one from the top.

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 15, 2011, 4:44 pm

Gregg, I don't think YouTube allows 3 hour videos, plus there was lots and lots and lots of naughty words. About an hour of that was trying to figure where all the damn bolts were.

I used PBB on all of them because it's all I had. The most difficult part was doing it with just me. When I got a bolt loose, I would work it back and forth, spray some PBB, work it, spray, etc. There were two bolts that no amount of back and forth would work and I finally said screw it and just kept twisting it until they broke.

The hood support that goes into the core support, one bolt came out like butter. The other one was slipping. I tried prying up on the bolt and turning it and it worked for about 2 turns. I was prying up so hard that I pulled the nut through the core support, opps .... didn't hurt anything though. So I'm going to use a hole saw and drill the bottom of the core support for my shiny new bolts and nuts.

Check my build thread for new pics.

frdnut · Post by **frdnut** » December 15, 2011, 11:40 pm

BigMike is that grill painted?..I have been thinking of painting ours rather than trying to find an aluminium one..

Post by **foodstick** » December 16, 2011, 1:04 am

There is NO bigger test than an old slick front clip take down !

You will yell, cuss, cry, its the law.

And heaven help you if those bolts in the front top of the fenders spin, and they will.

My hands were so torn up they looked like a de-boned chicken

I will never forget the day Kid and I tore down a front end to get a nice stainless grill. I had this brilliant idea on how to get the last few bolts I tweaked the whole unit around for a SLIGHTLY BETTER angle with the tools, and pop crunch smack, the thing just ripped apart on the end, it was ugly.. I wasn't sure if kid was gonna drop his tool box on the ground,,, or my head ! It was a bad call on my part to be sure..

We still got some good parts, and kid showed me a magic trick, how to make 30 tires DISAPPEAR !

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 16, 2011, 7:16 am

The grill was originally white but repainted silver. It looked good but needs to be painted so it's going back white.

I had one of the top header bolts spin. I was able to read my big paws up inside the fender to grab it with a wrench though. Even though it's a J-bolt, it does have a nut on it.

64 f100 · Post by **64 f100** » December 16, 2011, 9:38 am

I found the easiest way of dismantling the front end of one of these trucks is by removing the front clip where I can roll it around on the grass and use the air wrench on it. I also find a good soaking with PB blaster a day before I start helps.

Rich

BigMike · Post by **BigMike** » December 16, 2011, 10:06 am

64 f100 wrote:I found the easiest way of dismantling the front end of one of these trucks is by removing the front clip where I can wrestle with it around on the grass and use the air wrench on it. I also find a good soaking with PB blaster a day before I start helps.

Rich

Fixed it for ya!

Soaking the bolts the day before requires forethought.

Toyz · Post by **Toyz** » December 16, 2011, 8:16 pm

Smoke wrench, cobalt drills, and Keenserts= little problem, and a hell of a lot less blood to clean up.
Paul

JOELHEWITT · Post by **JOELHEWITT** » December 25, 2011, 3:03 pm

Took me 4 hours to take mine off BUT that was taking bolts or cutting them off that I didn't need to do, BUT I learned a trick that I WILL use on those I get out of junk yards. On the bottom bolts on outside of the frame bumper bolts center lines I will measure over toward outside the distance from the bumper bolt ( premeasure this on yours ) I will then take my battery operated Dremel tool with cutting disc and cut a section out of the panel below the grill where the bolts are located, I will then use a wrench that the end pivots where I can get to the head of the bolts, I'll try this in a few weeks and report back, of course this is for those who don't care or want the panel below the grille.

Leeroy · Post by **Leeroy** » September 21, 2013, 12:54 am

Ok I am resurrecting this because I have been bitten by the hood lock support bolts......

One came out nicely, the other.... Required cutting. I regret to say I couldn't reach the bolt with the grinder so it was the tab on the bottom of the grill that was cut off. Luckily the one next to it is fine so it will still line up, but I still need to get the bolt out and the grill tab to weld back on!
I wasn't intending on dismantling anymore, thinking a hole saw from underneath to expose the j nut?? Then I can put a fresh nut and bolt through.

This sound feasible?

Toyz · Post by **Toyz** » September 21, 2013, 6:17 am

That is pretty well the standard method of repair, Leeroy.[ If anyone has a damaged nut in an un-accessible location; and Ya'll know where those are; just Google "Keenserts".
Looks like you are progressing right along!
Paul

Removing the grill - Ford was very cruel

Removing the grill - Ford was very cruel

Re: Removing the grill - Ford was very cruel

Re: Removing the grill - Ford was very cruel

Re: Removing the grill - Ford was very cruel