bumper, grille removal DIY
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,880
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From: socal, corona
Rep Power: 312 
bumper, grille removal DIY
in the last week ive seen 3 threads about how to change the grille.. i did it today and took pics... so here.. now stop asking questions...
yes you have to take the bumper off to change the grille.. no you dont have to take it all the way off, you can leave it hanging by the clips underneither the car, but between snow and removing my bumper like 1000 times all of mine are broken..
this is for a sedan... however with the exception of the radiator cover piece and the shape of the grille everything is the same..
1 - at the top of the bumper inside the fender there is one screw, remove it (both sides)
2 - pop the hood and you will see 4 clips, remove them with a flathead screwdriver, dont twist or you will break them, you have to pry them out till you can grab them enough to pull them out.. they are $4 each from honda if you break them, however you can use long zipties if you do break them.
3 - at this point yer bumper is still on the car, you can skip this step if you want to let the bumper hang off the car.. if not theres a few clips under the car, these can be removed by laying on yer back, you dont have to jack up the car. anyway, if i remember correctly its 4 clips in the middle and one screw on each end. either way you dont have to remove these unless you want to.
4 - now its time to take the bumper off, if its windy or yer not that strong you may want a second person to help you "catch" the bumper. you can also just put a blanket, towel or large piece of cardboard down on the ground just incase you drop the bumper. the bumper is not going to come flying off but you do have to hold onto it, ive found that simply keeping one knee pressed against it is the easyest way to keep it from falling.... anyway back on track here.... reach inside the fender (one side at a time) and pull the bumper out away from the car, its plastic so its not going to shatter if you pull on it so if it dosent come right out just give it a tug and it will... the bumper only weighs about 10lbs.. once you get the bumper off the best way to put it down is to lay it licence plate side down .. if you dont have a licence plate a towel will come in handy now so it dosent get scratched up, or you can put it on the lawn if you have one
5 - now the bumper is off... tada... look at the back of the grille.. theres 6 screws holding the radiator cover, remove these first or you will have to try and hold the grille and remove the cover which is a pain in the ***... there is also 4 clips and two screws holding it to the bumper, remove those.. the grille has 4 "lips" along the bottom, from the back of the grille push it foward and it will slide out..
6 - i swaped my stock sedan (bottom) grille with a stock coupe (top) grille
7 - as you can see by this pic the radiator covers do not match up.. so depending on what the grille you are getting is made for you may or may not need to pick up a new one.. you can get these off ebay, junkyard, another 7thgen member or hondaautomotiveparts.com... anyway, now just put yer new grille in place and screw it back in, if the cover fits use it if you want, if it dosent dont flip out you will still have 2 mounting points when you put the bumper back on
8 - now its time to put everything back together.. just put the bumper on as best as you can but dont worry about getting everything lined up just yet for now just let it hang, be careful not to scratch up yer fenders with the side of the bumper. the easyest way to get the bumper lined up is to do the center first then worry about the sides. just get it in place and put the clips back in.
9 - now that the bumper is hanging by itself its time to get the sides in place, under the headlights there is a metal bar with some "slots" on it.. top lip of the bumper goes between the slots
inside the fender is a plastic splash gaurd this goes inside the lip of the bumper, under on the inside/top (no real word for this part) there is another slot, on the top of the bumper theres a lip, it goes in the slot.
you may notice that it might not want to slide in easly.. this is normal.. i suggest giving the bumper a nice kick with yer knee, this is known as the "get a bigger hammer" method.. also small wacks with the side of yer fist will help everything slide into place.. i have faith in you.. you can do this..
10 - now put the screws back inside the fenders, and if you undid the clips/screws on the bottom put those back in place as well, the "brush gaurd" should sit inside the bumper..
congrats... yer done... enjoy
and dont say you cant do it.. i did this diy by myself when it was really friggin cold...
yep.. thats right.. it was 8.. so stop being a sissy..
yes you have to take the bumper off to change the grille.. no you dont have to take it all the way off, you can leave it hanging by the clips underneither the car, but between snow and removing my bumper like 1000 times all of mine are broken..
this is for a sedan... however with the exception of the radiator cover piece and the shape of the grille everything is the same..
1 - at the top of the bumper inside the fender there is one screw, remove it (both sides)
2 - pop the hood and you will see 4 clips, remove them with a flathead screwdriver, dont twist or you will break them, you have to pry them out till you can grab them enough to pull them out.. they are $4 each from honda if you break them, however you can use long zipties if you do break them.
3 - at this point yer bumper is still on the car, you can skip this step if you want to let the bumper hang off the car.. if not theres a few clips under the car, these can be removed by laying on yer back, you dont have to jack up the car. anyway, if i remember correctly its 4 clips in the middle and one screw on each end. either way you dont have to remove these unless you want to.
4 - now its time to take the bumper off, if its windy or yer not that strong you may want a second person to help you "catch" the bumper. you can also just put a blanket, towel or large piece of cardboard down on the ground just incase you drop the bumper. the bumper is not going to come flying off but you do have to hold onto it, ive found that simply keeping one knee pressed against it is the easyest way to keep it from falling.... anyway back on track here.... reach inside the fender (one side at a time) and pull the bumper out away from the car, its plastic so its not going to shatter if you pull on it so if it dosent come right out just give it a tug and it will... the bumper only weighs about 10lbs.. once you get the bumper off the best way to put it down is to lay it licence plate side down .. if you dont have a licence plate a towel will come in handy now so it dosent get scratched up, or you can put it on the lawn if you have one
5 - now the bumper is off... tada... look at the back of the grille.. theres 6 screws holding the radiator cover, remove these first or you will have to try and hold the grille and remove the cover which is a pain in the ***... there is also 4 clips and two screws holding it to the bumper, remove those.. the grille has 4 "lips" along the bottom, from the back of the grille push it foward and it will slide out..
6 - i swaped my stock sedan (bottom) grille with a stock coupe (top) grille
7 - as you can see by this pic the radiator covers do not match up.. so depending on what the grille you are getting is made for you may or may not need to pick up a new one.. you can get these off ebay, junkyard, another 7thgen member or hondaautomotiveparts.com... anyway, now just put yer new grille in place and screw it back in, if the cover fits use it if you want, if it dosent dont flip out you will still have 2 mounting points when you put the bumper back on
8 - now its time to put everything back together.. just put the bumper on as best as you can but dont worry about getting everything lined up just yet for now just let it hang, be careful not to scratch up yer fenders with the side of the bumper. the easyest way to get the bumper lined up is to do the center first then worry about the sides. just get it in place and put the clips back in.
9 - now that the bumper is hanging by itself its time to get the sides in place, under the headlights there is a metal bar with some "slots" on it.. top lip of the bumper goes between the slots
inside the fender is a plastic splash gaurd this goes inside the lip of the bumper, under on the inside/top (no real word for this part) there is another slot, on the top of the bumper theres a lip, it goes in the slot.
you may notice that it might not want to slide in easly.. this is normal.. i suggest giving the bumper a nice kick with yer knee, this is known as the "get a bigger hammer" method.. also small wacks with the side of yer fist will help everything slide into place.. i have faith in you.. you can do this..
10 - now put the screws back inside the fenders, and if you undid the clips/screws on the bottom put those back in place as well, the "brush gaurd" should sit inside the bumper..
congrats... yer done... enjoy
and dont say you cant do it.. i did this diy by myself when it was really friggin cold...
yep.. thats right.. it was 8.. so stop being a sissy..
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,880
Likes: 1
From: socal, corona
Rep Power: 312 it was pretty easy once i figured out what i was doing.. hardest part was the electrical simply cuz i dont know anything about it... horn with comprssor was like $30 at autozone.. if you have bolts that fit the pretaped parts it would be a LOT easyer than having to drill a new hole... you cant see it but the compressor is ziptied up under the headlight
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,097
Likes: 0
From: Jacksonville, Fl
Rep Power: 374 
ha chester. great job on the diy, but hahahah, theres a diy for this in the diy section since before I became a member. but heck, ill cut you slack cause your ex girlfriend is a pornstar now.
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,880
Likes: 1
From: socal, corona
Rep Power: 312 i know theres diys.. ive made 2 in the last week within peoples threads.. but this one has good pics and circles and stuff...
and i was bored..
and i was bored..
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,880
Likes: 1
From: socal, corona
Rep Power: 312 yeah it was friggin cold as hell.. but i cant get my car in the garage cuz my stepdad lost the keys for the 4wheeler which is parked in the way
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,362
Likes: 1
From: Portland, Oregon
Rep Power: 388 ^^ rediculous
I like the "pull sissy" tag. haa, dopage.
Btw, if you have fog lights, you probably know how to handle them because you put them in, and if you didnt- your prob taking your car to the shop for them to do it anyways. But good point.
I like the "pull sissy" tag. haa, dopage.
Btw, if you have fog lights, you probably know how to handle them because you put them in, and if you didnt- your prob taking your car to the shop for them to do it anyways. But good point.
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