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Bumper, grille and valance adjustments...

Started by myk, February 27, 2020, 10:14:46 PM

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myk

Hello folks,

I'm trying to adjust my bumper, grille and valance as best as I can in the hopes of not having to take the car to a body shop.  I figure the best thing to do is remove the valance, bumper, possibly the grille and support and then slowly reassemble it.  The valance came off easily enough, and I got all of the bumper bolts off except for one that just won't come out.  It spins around in its hole which tells me that the square part of the bolt inside of the bumper is damaged or rounded off, keeping me from removing the nut.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to how I can get this bumper bolt out?  I can't really think of a way that won't damage the chrome. 

If I can't remove the bumper then at least I can straighten it out as best as possible, although I really wanted to get at the grille and try to figure out why it's canting slightly upward on the passenger side.  Question on the bumper and its brackets: am I correct in assuming there is up and down adjustments possible with the mounting?  I see fore and aft adjustments possible for the brackets.  Also, I did notice that the farthest right bumper bracket is completely loose in its rear-most bolt hole which is why the bumper sags on the passenger side.  I did try to tighten it but I can't get the bolt in any deeper-I might just shim it until I can get the bracket tight enough.  In any case, any ideas and suggestions are appreciated; thanks in advance...

Kern Dog

You can take a grinder with a cutoff wheel and just whizz the nut and bolt off flush with the bumper bracket....Then get another bolt.

myk

Quote from: Kern Dog on February 28, 2020, 12:09:23 AM
You can take a grinder with a cutoff wheel and just whizz the nut and bolt off flush with the bumper bracket....Then get another bolt.

I thought about that, but theres barely enough room in there for the wrench.  I MIGHT be able to get my dremel in there; I'll check tomorrow morning...

WHITE AND RED 69

Put some tape down to protect the chrome and see if you can get get some vice grips on it to hold it in place. If not, unbolt from the frame and remove the bumper and brackets as an assembly. Then you'll have all the access needed to cut the bolt off.
1969 Dodge Charger R/T
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee 75th edition
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1972 Plymouth Duster

BLK 68 R/T

Weld a nut to the outer head? Do it quick and cool it quick should be able to avoid and damage to the bumper chrome.

myk

Good idea but no welder on hand.  I'll have to take out the brackets like Clayton suggested and just lift the whole assembly out.  What a pain in the a@@.  Now I see why body work costs so darn much...

Bronzedodge

Brush off any exposed threads past the nut.  Soak with a good penetrating oil; - Kroil, PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, etc.  Wait a few hours and soak again.  Apply axial force while you turn the nut - an old screwdriver between the bracket and bumper, pry bar, etc.
Mopar forever!

myk

Next opportunity I have with the car I will try that; I have been soaking any bolts down there with liquid wrench.  At this rate there is only one bumper bracket connected to the bumper so maybe I'll take that bracket off and then be able to get into a better position to take it out.  Rolling around on the ground with car parts instead of a playboy centerfold is not fun.

While this is going on, I wanted to see if my understanding of the front end is correct: theres the lower valance,  the bumper and its brackets,  the grille assembly and the grille support.  Once I get the bumper off, do I remove the grille assembly and grille support as a unit?  It looks like I can just remove the support with the grille still inside of it which will make further disassembly easier.  Watch me end up having to buy one of those 'repop grilles.

Thanks for the support guys...

WHITE AND RED 69

Take it all out as an assembly. I don't like pulling out the 50 year old brittle plastic on its own. Much safer to take it out with the support.
1969 Dodge Charger R/T
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee 75th edition
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1972 Plymouth Duster

Kern Dog

Maybe I missed it but why are you doing this now? Were you in some minor collision?
I recall that you had something happen quite a while ago.

myk

Quote from: Kern Dog on March 02, 2020, 12:39:56 AM
Maybe I missed it but why are you doing this now? Were you in some minor collision?
I recall that you had something happen quite a while ago.

Back in 1996 I did a dukes of hazzard thing and jumped the charger off of an on ramp on to the freeway below, and the valance, bumper and grille were never adjusted as well as they could have been, so I'm handling it now.  

In any case, I finally got the bumper off, thanks to you guys!  Once I realized that the bumper bolt had a cap on it and was hiding corrosion underneath the bolt became expendable and i just vise-gripped it in place while I torqued it off from behind.  



And now thanks to my chatty neighbors I'm out of time, but at least I can ask you guys what's next?  I'm guessing I can unbolt the grille and support and remove them together?  Also do you see how the passenger side of te grille is pointing up?  Even with the valance and the bumper off I dont see why this is happening because the grille support is straight as an arrow.  Can the plastic of the grille be bent?
I figured the grille would've broken before it bent. Thanks again for the support fellas!

Oh and I finally figured out a way to take the Charger to bed with me lol.


timmycharger

 :cheers:  I spy an old school RC buggy! Nice! looks like a vintage RC10?  I have a bit of an addiction to the 80's and 90's stuff, probably 35 of them or so  :brickwall:

myk

Quote from: timmycharger on March 04, 2020, 02:53:13 PM
:cheers:  I spy an old school RC buggy! Nice! looks like a vintage RC10?  I have a bit of an addiction to the 80's and 90's stuff, probably 35 of them or so  :brickwall:

Ha yes!  That is my Kyosho Optima Mid that I bought brand new in the 80's that I bought with saved lunch money!  Back then I only used my lunch money for playboy magazines at the liquor store and RC cars lol.  I'm thinking about converting it to brushless!

timmycharger

Awesome!! I see the decals on it now, the front threw me a bit, badass car!  I have a couple of Turbo Ultimas that I am restoring, love the old Kyosho.   That gearbox can definitely handle brushless, as long as you don't go overboard with the batteries.  I converted some old Tamiyas with no issue.

Good luck man!

myk

Hey guys, how do you remove the grille trim?  I'm guessing the entire grille has to be removed in order for this to happen?  As for removing the grille support/assembly, I'm seeing four bolts on top and two below that connect to the radiator support, am I right?

Things I've noticed so far:

1. I don't think the passenger side of my grille is actually bent upwards; it looks like the trim isn't sitting on the grill correctly and is canted upwards, making the grille look crooked.

2.  Most of the fasteners that hold the grille to the grille support are gone/broken.  There are a couple of areas that take a bolt but are now broken.  I've been reading a lot about plastic weld and other substances other members have used to rebuild parts of their grille.  Would I be able to rebuild the plastic that needs to take a bolt with those substances?

3.  I wet-sanded my hood and years ago and it stained the silver on the grille.  I'd like to try and clean it up and I'm figuring I have to use some sort of a cleaning pad, but what can I use that's light enough to not damage the paint underneath?  Maybe just use paint polish/rubbing compound?  The silver's not bad for it's age and what it's been through on this car so I'd like to try and preserve it before I paint it.  

JB400

Should be some small nuts on the backside of the grille that hold the trim on.

myk

Quote from: JB400 on March 06, 2020, 02:59:01 AM
Should be some small nuts on the backside of the grille that hold the trim on.

Right,  and I've never seen lock nuts like those before.  But, it does look like the grille will have to come out.  Thank you.  It's too dark to see right now but, can I just remove the grille without the support or would it be easier just to pull the whole assembly out together, grille, support and all?

myk

Just a progress report, I have now removed the grille, grille support, bumper and valance.  The bumper seems to be in pretty good shape, not bent as far as I can tell.  The brackets seem to be ok as well.  The valance had a gap issue from left to right, but I'm not worried about that right now.  The grille isn't GREAT, but buying a repro grille and trim isn't an option right now, so I'm going to clean it up and re-use it as-is.  Honestly, the paint isn't even that bad.  

What troubles me is the headlight support.  All I ever saw of it was the top, and it looked fine, especially after I spray painted it semi-gloss a few years ago.  But now that the entire support is out, I can see that everything but the top of the support has a layer of patina/rust on it.  Structurally, I have these glaring issues:






As you can see the vertical portion of the grille support is twisted in several spots, and in picture #4, you can see that it is broken at the very top where it connects to the top portion of the grille support.  The horizontal portions of the grille support seems straight, as far as I can tell.  My first reaction is to just buy a new reproduction, but I'd rather not make a purchase like that right now.  Should I try to hammer this thing out and then weld it where the break is?  Would it be better to take it to a body shop and have them try to straighten the bent sections and weld it?  I'm thinking that after the hammering and welding I'd be at the same number as buying a new reproduction anyway.  

Meanwhile, I am going to buy some JB putty and try to rebuild the two bolt holes on the grille that are broken.  What can I use to polish the grille trim?  I also have new bumper bolts, the grille mounting hardware kit and headlight adjusting hardware on the way.   All thoughts and suggestions are appreciated...

Eldovert

Those brackets should be dead straight..if you don't have the tools to drill out the spot welds,straighten and then weld back together you might be better off buying a repop grill frame. You can hand polish the grill trim pieces with 1000 grit sandpaper..just make sure they are straight before polishing.

myk

Quote from: Eldovert on March 10, 2020, 07:34:08 AM
Those brackets should be dead straight..if you don't have the tools to drill out the spot welds,straighten and then weld back together you might be better off buying a repop grill frame. You can hand polish the grill trim pieces with 1000 grit sandpaper..just make sure they are straight before polishing.

Thanks for the response.  I'm going to check with the body shop and see what it would cost to straighten and weld it.  If it comes too close to the AMD piece I'll go that route instead but...some places charge $200 shipping on that thing...

bill440rt

Myk, your inbox is full.
Sent you photos of my grille support.
If your trim is bent, I have some nice used ones here as well. Straight, not bent, no major dings. Just nice used ones.
"Strive for perfection in everything. Take the best that exists and make it better. If it doesn't exist, create it. Accept nothing nearly right or good enough." Sir Henry Rolls Royce

myk

Found a body shop that was willing to straighten and re-weld the support for very cheap.  Although it isn't perfect, I'm going to give it a chance before I resort to other options.  Now, before this thing goes back in, I want to remove the surface rust and prime, then paint it.  My plan was to go over the support, and the vacuum pod mounts and arms with a wire brush/wheel, spray them with some Rustoleum rusty primer, and then paint them flat black.  Will that do?  Also, the top of the grille support already has paint on it, but I'd like to respray it.  What grit sandpaper or procedure should I use for the top of the already painted grille support?  Another question: what do I do with the hood latches and hardware that attach to the grille support?  Their finish is bad but they're not structurally damaged.  Can I just clean them up, prime and paint them as well?  Here are a couple of shots:




One last question: how is the fit supposed to be between the grille and the support?  It's a little tight right now; the grille doesn't "slide" in like it did on that Power Nation Charger episode, and I see a little trouble using the J nuts that you're supposed to use for the installation.  Thanks in advance...


WHITE AND RED 69

Depends how crazy you want to get with the details. I kinda like a little contrast so I'd paint the pods silver but black works too. On the support if you are just adding a new coat of paint a red scotch brite pad or 600 grit will work to scuff it up for paint. I've painted a ton of small parts where I just scuffed em with the red pads, cleaned em with wax & grease remover, and painted em. But if you want to remove all the paint you'll want to get more aggressive. And the release and latch parts can be painted as well. No point making the support look good and then add dirty parts on it.  :2thumbs:

1969 Dodge Charger R/T
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee 75th edition
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1972 Plymouth Duster

myk

Thanks Clayton!  Got another question: to remove the headlight buckets, do I just unscrew the adjusting screws until they completely release the buckets?  Actually, I want to replace the adjusters as well, how do they come out?