Road Runner Nest

Another in my long string of newbie questions --

Any tips for removal of the bumper, dash or grille? Do I need to pull the bumper to get the grille and bezels out?

I'm converting the interior to black, so the dash needs to get painted. I'm kind of dreading that.

I would help you,but i have different year car,ha ha ha


but if this question was for a 74,yes its possible,:lol:

just call me i will tell how to do it is 197172 car?

1 613 628 6723 kevin

Yep, it's a '71

billzilla wrote:Yep, it's a '71

You snuck it in the title i also missed that,lol

I snuck it in after the fact... (edit)

billzilla wrote:I snuck it in after the fact... (edit)

hmm SNEAKY SNAKE!,lol

grille unscrews...they're kinda hidden lol took me a lil bit to find where they were, but they're there...

ahh the rear bumper....i had to use a breaker bar plus a 4' pipe to get enuff leverge to get the darn thing off

dash.........my car was also converted to black...but before i got it...may not be too bad of a hassle....i need to figure out how to get the dash pad off whenever i get the dough to get a new one

my advice is...label everything....i started out not labeling just trying to remember...that didn't work...so take your time and label

Do like I do,take a lot of pics, when you put the car back together it helps,The headlight grills have to come off first,then the center grill,then you can acess the bumper bolts.This is for a 71

Pics and labels sound like GREAT ideas. What kinds of labels?

Has anyone here used the SEM dyes to redo their interior, before?

i've done dye, ya...looks good...only seat that doesn't look good is my drivers and it wasn't all that great to begin with

and i haven't tried it yet, but i would suggest krylon fusion paint for plastic parts...i tired to just paint and dye them and i've been fighting it ever since

I also use ziplock bags and just put a note in the bag as to where parts go.

I used little sandwich bags,and freezer ziplock bags wich are about 3 times bigger,and any thing else i wrapped in giant bags that are used for christmas trees,lol and i just wrote on the bags,contents,and date it was out in there

As has been said, grille comes out without removing the bumper. Dash isn't really that bad, loosen the steering column--bolts on the firewall and bolts holding it to the bottom of the dash. Remove the pin on the steering box connector. Be sure to loosen the connectors on the wiring to the column. Then pull the column out.

You'll need to remove the fusebox from the bulkhead connector, so the wiring will come out with the dash.

Remove the radio speaker cover--phillips screws holding that in--then you'll see 4 bolts holding the top of the dash. You should remove the kick panels as well, you'll see a bolt on each side holding the dash in, just loosen those. Remove the bolts from the top of the dash and the whole unit should swivel out into your lap, pivoting on the bolts you loosened under the kick panels.

You'll have to make sure everything comes off the heater box--defroster vents and such. Speedometer cable needs to be removed. There are bound to be a few wires needing disconnected or taken out of clamps, like the ones to the dome light, etc.

It's really NOT that hard, I've had the dash in and out of my Runner 3 or 4 times for a variety of reasons...

Good luck!

How do you guys remove the center grille - do you pop those little plastic tabs out and remove the grille from the metal bracket, or do you pry up the lower edge of the grille from the bumper and undo those bolts holding the bracket in? Either way seems kind of a pain -- either you risk scuffing up the grille by prying the plastic tabs out (top edge) or you risk scratching the bumper by wedging a wrench in under the (lower) edge to get those bolts for the bracket.

I'm halfway through the grille - the middle bolt (lower, not the one for the bracket) is tough to get to. I'm waiting for my plastic/nylon pry tools from Eastwood before I try to pry off the plastic tabs.