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Removing a '13 grill

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I picked up a "S" grill for my SBY '13. Everything I have seen and read says the bumper cover has to come off to do this. Is there a way to change out the grill without removing the cover and how much more difficult is it?
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
Today, we're going to be installing a Roush Grille on our 2013 Mustang, Gotta Have It Street. The Roush grille removes the fog lights to give your grille a much cleaner look. It will fit both the 5-liter as well as V6 cars, and can be installed using basic hand tools in an afternoon.

Roush provides the grille with detailed instructions, as well as the hardware necessary for installation. The installation will require the removal of your front bumper cover. If your car is lowered, you'll need to support it up in the air to get to the lower bolts.

For this installation, you will need a lift or jack and jack stands, quarter-inch ratchet, 7-millimeter socket, 8-millimeter socket, small screwdriver or right-angle pick, Philip's head screwdriver, and safety glasses.

We have our 2013 Gotta Have It Street up on the lift to begin the installation. The first step is to remove the factory bumper cover so you can remove the grille. To begin, you want to remove the cover on top of your radiator support. Remove it by simply taking out these eight tabs.

To remove the tab, you want to pull up on the center section using a screwdriver or a pick. The center tab will remove, then you can use your pick to pull out the rest of the tab as well. Now, you want to repeat the process to remove the other seven tabs. Once you've removed all eight tabs, you're going to lift up on the cover and put it aside.

Once you remove the cover, there's four more pin-type retainers and four 8-millimeter bolts that have to be removed. These retainers use a Philip's head. You simply unscrew the Philip's head and pull the retainer out.

Next, you want to move on to the four 8-millimeter bolts. Now, you want to turn your wheel to the right so you can access the three 7-millimeter bolts on the side of your cover. Now, you want to repeat the same process for the other side of the car. Now, you want to pull your car up on a lift or up on jack stands so you can access the three 7-millimeter bolts holding on the outside of the valance.

Now, you want to repeat the process with the other side. The next step is remove the lower air deflector. It is held in place with six 8-millimeter bolts in the front, five 7-millimeter bolts in the rear. Now, move on to the five rear 7-millimeter bolts. You can now remove your lower air deflector. While under the car, you want to remove the plug for your marker lights.

Simply press the end of the plug and slide out. Repeat the process for the other side. Now, you're ready to remove your bumper cover. You want to reach behind the end and pull out the separated tabs between the clip and the fender. Do the same thing on the other side. Now, you want to grab the top of the cover and pull outward and down to remove the cover itself.

At this point you will need to disconnect the fog lights before you can remove the cover. Now, you can put your cover aside. Before you can remove your factory grille, you have to remove the factory fog lights. Each one is held in place by three 7-millimeter bolts.

The factory grille in the 2013 is going to be a two-piece design. There's an inner grille and an outer grille. The Roush performance grille is only going to replace the inner grille, so you want to make sure that's the only one you remove. There's two style tabs. You'll see a tab with a painted surface coming through. That holds the outer grille. You want to leave those alone.

These style tabs holds your inner grille. These are the ones you're going to want to remove to install your Roush performance grille. You want to apply a slight pressure on the grille to remove it. Once you get the first tab, the other tabs will usually follow suit. You want to use a small screwdriver. Just push the tab back and press down.

Now, you can place your inner grille aside. You're now ready to install your new grille using the supplied hardware. You want to make sure the metal end of the tab is facing outward on the grille when installed. Roush supplies one metal clip for each plastic tab on the grille.

Simply place it on top. Press it down into place. Now, you're ready to install your grille by aligning your tabs and pressing it into place. You're ready to reinstall it back on your vehicle. Our plan is to eventually relocate the fog lights down to the bottom of the bumper. For now, we're just going to tie the harnesses up out of the way.

Now, we're ready to reinstall our bumper cover. Installation must be in the reverse order of how you took it apart. That completes the installation of the Roush Performance Upper Grille on a 2013 Mustang. Expect to take about two hours to install this part, so you'll be back on the road in no time.

if you google it a youtube video is available (I cant access youtube at work)

http://www.cjponyparts.com/roush-grille-upper-high-flow-v6-gt-boss-302-2013/p/G122/#youtube
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
you can try taking off the radiator shroud up top and see if you can get your hands down in there. probably not worth the headache and easier to pop the front bumper off.
 
Yup, you're right, no room to get to the side tabs. I always wanted to take apart a new car I haven't even made my first payment on yet.
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
the2finger said:
Yup, you're right, no room to get to the side tabs. I always wanted to take apart a new car I haven't even made my first payment on yet.
lol I had the shifter swapped out before I made my first payment I think lol
 

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