Disassembling your Full Size Jeep Muscle Grille can be tricky. More times than not, people reach out just to buy the center because they broke it trying to remove it to paint.
In this video I wanted to show you how to get it out without actually breaking it. In this muscle grille, they have 8 of these little Christmas tree style clips. (I don't know what they're really called, that's just basically what I've always called them!)
Here is what I do to basically get these guys out without busting off the grill and where you can actually reuse the clips afterwards (if you want, however, for a nice little insurance is always best to replace them just so they don't break or fall out in the long run)
The tool I basically use is this little tiny chisel set (see in video), heat (of course), and a little needle oiler here.
Alright, so I've already basically went through and oiled both sides of the clip. I've already gone through and oiled the upper and the lower section of this clip already, probably about 15-20 minutes ago. And now all I basically do is just kind of work my way around and heat them up and then pop them out.
You can see my rather elaborate system of setting up the grille here so I don't put any undo or excess stress on the center section. (I'm sure you can come up with something equally elaborate or entertaining!) I start using a little heat from the gun. I have a setting set pretty low. So this is a Snap On heat gun so it gets pretty freaking hot but basically, I always start with the bottom and just heat up the bottom section of the clip because the little Christmas tree actually pushes down on this.
As I head the bottom up, I am constantly just feeling it, making perfect heat, and eventually it pops out pretty easily but it's going to take a little while. The key to remember is, if you have to muscle it, you're losing. Just stop. Put some more heat on it and continue the process. Plastic is porous, so as you heat it up, it's going to open up. And that oil is going to work its way into the joints there. So if it doesn't come out easily, it simply may not be enough. When it is enough eat, you'll find it pops right out - and there she is. Boom! Stick it back together. You're good to go.
Hopefully this helps you and your Full Size Jeep out on the road keeping the legend alive!
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