front grill removal

[Dieter H. Marschall]

Hello all,
as I want to install two badges, I need to remove the middle section of the front grill. I removed the four screws at the corners, but the grill does not move. Do I have to remove the two inner front lights or did I not find any other screws?
Best wishes,
Dieter - from Germany.

[NeilR]

Nope, just the four screws out & it should fall off onto the floor.

[Dieter H. Marschall]

Neil,
I am afraid, this does not work in my case. When I have the four screws removed, the centre section of the grill is still stuck between the inner lights and won't bulge ....
Dieter.

[NeilR]

Must be some hidden extra fixings then. I have never seen any though.

[sujitroy]

4 screws as mentioned and should fall out without removing inner head lights

[ramjam2005]

The 4 brackets soldered/fixed to the back of the grill section which the screws hold it to the headlamp panel are notorious for breaking off over time so maybe a PO has affixed by an addition method. As others have said it should just fall away with the screws removed so Don't use too much force to pull on it in case you snap one (or all) of the brackets off. Good grill sections with brackets in tact are becoming rare as rocking horse s**t.

[Dieter H. Marschall]

When I remove the four screws, the grill is obviously loose. But then again it is stuck between the inner head lights .... Dieter.

[ReddiStag]

Sounds like either you've a non-standard (slightly over-size) grille somehow, or your inner headlamps are in the wrong position.

I've just measured mine - I have my grille off as it happens - and the inner lights (bezel to bezel) are (21 1/2") 540mm apart and the grille (centre slat) is (20 7/8") 530mm wide. So there's not much room to spare but, like others have said, my grille came out without any problems even with the 5mm clearance either side.

Neil

[ramjam2005]

Sounds like either you've a non-standard (slightly over-size) grille somehow, or your inner headlamps are in the wrong position.

Maybe the headlamp panel has had aftermarket outer corner repairs to it and account for the changed gap/tolerance ?

Not normally necessary but If it helps, the chrome headlamp retaining rings are easily removed with 2 (or 3 ?) screws just be careful of the glass headlamp bowl dropping out.

As far as I recall there is no adjustment with side to side positioning of the headlamp bowls as they simply screw into push-fit plastic nut/clips which in turn clip into square holes in the metal headlamp panel. Only adjustment is the beam angle screws.

Ray

[mole42]

As far as I recall there is no adjustment with side to side positioning of the headlamp bowls as they simply screw into push-fit plastic nut/clips which in turn clip into square holes in the metal headlamp panel. Only adjustment is the beam angle screws.

Ray[/SIZE]

Unless you have an early car where the headlamp bowls are held by screws into tapped metal bushes in the headlamp panel. Just adding this to aid puzzled owners in future searches!

ERROR! Please ignore this post - I puzzled myself confusing the headlamp fixing and the grille fixings.....

[ramjam2005]

Unless you have an early car where the headlamp bowls are held by screws into tapped metal bushes in the headlamp panel. Just adding this to aid puzzled owners in future searches!

Well spotted Mole ! My car is a 1972 Mk1 but I did have major front & rear collision damage repaired in the 1984 which included replacement of the headlamp panel so maybe this accounts for the use of the later square plastic push-fit clips. To keep costs down on the repair I decided to do the refit of lights, all exterior chrome strips etc and recall purchasing all the new clips, bolts , screws from Greenwich Autos, a surviving BL spares shop, now long gone.

[Dieter H. Marschall]

My Stag is a 1971 Mk1 .... So the headlamp bowls are fixed by screws?

[mole42]

CONFESSION TIME - I c*ck*d up in my earlier post about the headlamp fixings - I was confused about the changes to the grille panel fixing - the headlamps are fixed on my car using the square nylon blocks and self-tapping screws, the grill is fixed with machine screws into tapped bushes in the front panel.

Front Panel holes.jpg

[ramjam2005]

CONFESSION TIME - I c*ck*d up in my earlier post about the headlamp fixings - I was confused about the changes to the grille panel fixing - the headlamps are fixed on my car using the square nylon blocks and self-tapping screws, the grill is fixed with machine screws into tapped bushes in the front panel.

3 Hail Marys as your penance Mole .