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Easy way to remove front grille ?

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PeteInCT

#LS-378 - So many Porsche's, so little time....
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Just like Cloud9 said/ The intake is within the red boxed area. Home run shot of nice cool air ;D.

2011-12-18_19-48-27_453.jpg
 
Thank you for the picture ! Looks like the Saleen grill I'm looking at may provide a good airflow w/o mod and it's cheaper at a little over half. I'm also waiting for Agent 47 to come up with theirs. I like the way they do their '5 grill.
 

PeteInCT

#LS-378 - So many Porsche's, so little time....
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2,848
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Connecticut
No problem. The 302S grill was $325 + $70 for a new pony emblem. Not exactly a small ticket mod ;D
 
Pete did you remove the material around the pony or did it come that way? When you cut with the Dremel, did you cut vertically down through the back of the grille?
 

PeteInCT

#LS-378 - So many Porsche's, so little time....
Moderator
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Connecticut
cloud9 said:
Pete did you remove the material around the pony or did it come that way? When you cut with the Dremel, did you cut vertically down through the back of the grille?

The cutouts around and above the pony emblem is the way the 302S grille comes delivered. As for the cuts I did on the left and right sides, I used a 1.5" Dremel metal cutting blade at a speed of 15. Too slow and it won't cut well and too fast and it melts the plastic too easily. I did not cut vertically into the back of the grille, I cut horizontally at about a depth of 3/16 of an inch, just a little more than the thickness of the plastic. Start with the smallest vent hole and work your way up. The smallest one is the easiest and there's room for the cuting blade. As you cut sections you gain room to cut the others. The 1.5" blades are ALMOST wide enough to cut totally across an individual section but not fully. I completed cuts on 3 sides and on the 4'th adjacent siide just cut enough to flip the plastic up that I was cutting off for each section (it gets hot, I used a small flathead screwdriver). After I flipped up a section I then finished the cut on that section - flipping it up gives you full access to the last cut of that section. The most important thing is to try to stay as level as you can at all times. After the initial cuts it looks a little ugly becuase there a good amount of melted plastic near and inside the hole. But all that cleans up very easily with an Exacto knife, the newly melted plastic is very brittle vs. the plastic not melted/cut. If you don't make the cuts perfectly level you will probably not be able to tell from the front once it's mounted. Cleaning up each section on the inside of each hole vent is what makes it look proper from the front.
 
You can get a V6 pony emblem for the grille for about $22 at www.partscheap.com. It looks about the same and only someone who knew and studied it could tell.

The drivers side tabs can be removed with your fingers, like Gary said the passenger side is better to use a screwdriver. I wrap it in tape to avoid any damage.

V6 pony
CIMG2288-1.png

Also Mark told me opening up the very right side small bars does nothing so I left them alone.
 
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0
cloud9 said:
It rams right in there ;) It's a direct shot. I'd post a better pic but mine's at the body shop getting the Tiger hood. This is the best one I could find.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

hi Gary, is this your original grille with the mesh installed like Scott, or is it a 302S grille like Pete? (asking because I see you still have your orange surrounds :)
 
Should we move this to the How To forum?
 
https://trackmustangsonline.com/boss-how-to/removing-the-grille/

I have this one there now. It was not the greatest but something I threw together quickly one day. I have no problem moving this but I would rather have people add to the one that is there with better pics maybe?
 

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