posted
I know this is nothing new, and I've got a copy of the procedure, seems pretty straight-forward. Just curious to hear from anyone who has installed theirs, ...how it went, any tips? Thanks, Kevin
While I'm asking... ...The same question for gauge faces, ...the (one piece) complete face (that I believe requires needle removal). If anyone has done this, ...suggestions? tips? (I'll post pics of the gauges when done... very set)
-------------------- Kevin Kolvenbach, 2002 Sunset Orange SS (#3455), Convertible, Black top, Ebony leather, Bilstein, ASR, 6SP w/Hurst, 345HP Dual-Dual Posts: 1046 | From: Pine Bush, NY USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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We opted not to install our SS grille because we don't want to drill holes in our original fascia. We'll buy another one, have it painted and install it on that first. Trouble is, that darned money tree in the back yard STILL hasn't sprouted.
As far as the gauge face goes, Steve da Wrench has installed a few, and another board member just installed their TA Bezel last weekend. Knowing how careful you are, you'll do fine.
Steve might be able to give you some tips if he comes on later today.
posted
Steve did my White face Gauges and did a great job. looks really nice with the T/A bezel.
Posts: 1579 | From: Portland, OR. | Registered: May 2001
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The holes that get drilled - two on the side and two on the top - are covered by the original grille if that ever goes back on and if you have a front plate they already drilled holes in the facia so I was not overly concerned.
Remove the original by removing the four fasteners on the lower edge of the facia and removing the three speednuts on the bottom. For the top nuts, slide a thin screwdriver along side the stud through to the nuts behind the facia and work the nuts off with the screw driver. It takes several minutes for each one but if you don't want to use the "yank and break" method it's the only way without removing the facia.
Set the new grille in place and if you're working alone, tape it in place and mark the holes.
Remove the grille, drill the holes, put the grille back in place and push the XMAS tree fasteners in to secure it. Apply the emblem and you're done.
Now you can start to worry about the front plate! Posts: 3403 | From: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, USA | Registered: Dec 2000
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...Thanks for the input guys. Not that I'll ever take the SS grill out (or re-install the stock one for that matter), ...but it is good to know the holes would be covered with the stock grill. ...and as far an 'yanking' the thing off, ...that's not for me. I'll be taking my time, ...I like your idea Rich...
Thanks, Kevin
Posts: 1046 | From: Pine Bush, NY USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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YANK-its the only way. We did hundreds that way and never bkoke anything. The takeoff part is even reusable.
Posts: 1163 | From: Rochester Hills, Mi | Registered: Feb 2000
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You guys are making me think of Chris Farley here! Like Buddy Whackit used to say...Let's go Yanks! Posts: 191 | From: Hudson Valley New York | Registered: Sep 2002
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Its alot easier to yank it off plus the only thing that it hurts is the old Grille . Heck the reason your changeing the grille is cause its ugly and probally will never put it back on . If you do it the other way you have to take a bunch of stuff apart . I did mine the YANK method. The gage in lays are pretty simple and look great . Have fun
-------------------- ChuckSSter * 72 Z/28 Matching #s All Orig * 85 Z/28 All Orig * 99 Z28 Pewter T-Tops * 00 SS Black T-Tops SLP # 5873 Posts: 398 | From: Middletown NY | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote:Originally posted by JeffY: YANK-its the only way. We did hundreds that way and never bkoke anything. The takeoff part is even reusable.
JeffY - alot of folks have said the yank it method broke the studs off the old grille. The bottom ones are easy enough with needle nose pliers, the top ones do come off with my screw driver method - are you sure you didn't even break the studs on the old grille?
Posts: 3403 | From: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, USA | Registered: Dec 2000
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I bought a T/A bezel from Steve... at any rate the way I'm going to do mine is remove the trim piece and hush panel.... and then drop the steering column to give me some extra room. On air bag cars its best to disconnect and leave it sit for at least a half hour (I may go longer) so the system can de-energize... there are two bolts for the column and then it should be a breeze. There is one extra tab on the T/A one... just compare the origional and the new one and you'll know which one to cut... good luck! Posts: 1045 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Nov 2001
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quote:Originally posted by JeffY: YANK-its the only way. We did hundreds that way and never bkoke anything. The takeoff part is even reusable.
JeffY - alot of folks have said the yank it method broke the studs off the old grille. The bottom ones are easy enough with needle nose pliers, the top ones do come off with my screw driver method - are you sure you didn't even break the studs on the old grille?
The only thing that broke were the speed nuts that are on the studs. The OE grille is TPO- a very flexible and tough plastic. Also, very slippery. The speed nuts just get pulled off of the studs. The studs then have a semi-thread on them from the speed nuts, but like the gentleman above said, are you going to put it back on?
Posts: 1163 | From: Rochester Hills, Mi | Registered: Feb 2000
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I can contest to the breaking part. I was gonna try and just remove the grille, casue ilike that look. The side tabs came off easy, but when i went to take the bottom ones out the first one broke, so I stopped there and just left my grille on unfortunately Posts: 2651 | From: Enola (Harrisburg Area), Pennsylvania | Registered: Jan 2002
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I put an SS grill in my 2000. Overall, it's not too difficult. Two things that helped me a lot.
1. Tape it in place to mark the holes - already mentioned but really helps. The grill does sit in a grove or find it's own place in the facia, you have to place it.
2. Get a drill that can turn 90 degrees. There is not much space to put a drill motor in there. Unless your drill can run at 90 degrees or it's really small, like a pnumatic one, it's very hard to drill the holes streight. You need those holes streight so that the x-mas tree holders push in streight and pull the grill tight and in the correct direction.
Mine was almost perfect, one hole could have been a little better aligned. I bought an adapter for my drill - a little power head that attaches to the drill chuck and turns almost 90 to spin the bit.
Good Luck!
Ryan
Posts: 149 | From: Seattle, Washington | Registered: Feb 2001
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quote:2. Get a drill that can turn 90 degrees. There is not much space to put a drill motor in there. Unless your drill can run at 90 degrees or it's really small, like a pnumatic one, it's very hard to drill the holes streight. You need those holes streight so that the x-mas tree holders push in streight and pull the grill tight and in the correct direction.
Ryan, ...good piece of information here. I've heard many people 'concern' that the 'head' of the christmas tree did not sit flush to the grill. Drilling the holes at the correct angle is important to get them to sit flush when pushed all the way in... ...Thanks.
MM, ...thanks for the info on the T?A Bezel as well.
Thanks all...
Kevin
[ 14. July 2003, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: RagSS ]
Posts: 1046 | From: Pine Bush, NY USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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This write up is to install the complete gauge face replacement such as from NRAuto.
First and foremost you must log where the needles are located on your existing car. What I did was to make a photocopy of the gauge face onto 11” x 17” paper. Then I marked where the needles sat at a couple of intervals. The more accurate you are here the better the reinstallation of your needles will be. First with the car FULLY warmed up, mark the needle locations at Idle - Temp, Oil Press, Volts, Fuel, Tach & Speed (d'uh that would be "zero"). The RPM at idle is VERY important. Then what I did was to take the car onto some deserted roads, and log exactly the speed of the car at a specific RPM, for example, how fast are your going in Drive at 2000 RPM, do that for a couple of different scenarios (for an M6 chose a gear and an RPM.) Now that you have an accurate log that you are comfortable with, it is time to start to disassemble.
Start by removing the big panel from under the steering wheel (the one with the power trunk release) I think it was held in with four 7mm bolts. Then the surround which is held in with two fasteners at the top and four snap pins along the bottom. Getting this part out is tricky. To get myself just a little more room to get the surround out, I removed the little plastic cover from behind the turn signal lever. It is stubborn but if I recall correctly you need to squeeze it gently and give a slight pull forward and to the left. Once the little cover is off there is just enough room to squeeze out the surround. You lower the tilt steering wheel all the way down, pry out the four push pins and twist the lens to the back of the car and clockwise. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH THE LENS WITH THE PUSH PINS! Now the gauge cluster is exposed. It is held in with four 7mm fasteners. Two on top and two on the bottom. To facilitate removing the gauge cluster I removed the lens first. It is clipped to the gauge pod, use a larger screwdriver to gently pry the clips and pull out the lens. Then remove the gauge pod, pull it out a bit and sort of tilt it down and pull it out the remainder of the way. There are no wires to disconnect, it unplugs itself.
Now take the pod to your favorite worktable. With the little pry bar that should have come with your gauges pry off the needles. If you did not get the pry bar they do come off with your fingers, be gentle - pull only on the little black circle center “dot”. Once all the needles are off, start at one end and peal off the OEM face. It can be a little stubborn - be careful with the odometer - it is attached to the gauge face, so make sure to peal it off the face too. Use Goo Gone to clean off any glue residue off the clear plastic. After it is all clean align the new face (and odometer) and stick it on.
The gauge pod is ready to go back into the car (with out any needles). Reverse the process to reinstall the pod. It will self align and plug back into the harness. Now this is where your little log comes in. Start the car and let it idle. Ever so slightly place all the needles back onto the gauges in the semi correct location. Just tight enough to stay in place, but loose enough so that they are easily removed. Make sure you have the tach needle back on correctly at idle - fully warmed up. Place the needle, then rev the car a couple times and check to make sure it idles at the correct location. Now go drive around and check the needle locations with your log. Then drive and check your RPM to Speed logs. If the speed is off relocate the needle. Once you are comfortable with the needle locations press then back on, now don’t push then on too far or they will bind (I did). The best time to push them back on is in the dark so that you can see the “halo” around the center of the needle “dot”. Push then all on so that the “halos” are all about the same.
Now align the lens, but you may probably notice that the speedo needle is below the bezel, so take the car out for a quick spin to get the speedo needle out of the way and push the lens back on. Go home and reinstall the remaining hardware and trim, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Hope that helps. I did this purely from memory, it has been a while, so some of the hardware sizes may be wrong but I think I have the major points and some tips covered for you.
Andy
Posts: 608 | From: Schaumburg, IL | Registered: Sep 2000
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Wow , excellent tips Mark, great of you to take the time to put it all down.!
Posts: 3403 | From: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, USA | Registered: Dec 2000
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Andy, ...THANKS!! It is a full face I'm installing (TH ) and I was hoping for some detail such as you provided. I will be posting pics... (come to think of it, I believe I never posted pics of the suspsension upgrade ...oops) I'll get those up too...
Thanks again,
Kevin
Posts: 1046 | From: Pine Bush, NY USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by DaddySS: Wow , excellent tips Mark, great of you to take the time to put it all down.!
I'm ANDY!!! Glad the info is useful!
I believe I made that same mistake at BG....uh oh...I think it's stuck..... Posts: 3403 | From: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, USA | Registered: Dec 2000
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Like Buddy Whackit used to say...Let's go Yanks! ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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) and I was hoping for some detail such as you provided.![[Confused]](confused.gif)
...oops) I'll get those up too...![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
