Replacing air vent grills just in front of windshield

[RRoller123]

Can anyone advise procedure to get at and replace the plastic air grills that are right in front of the windshield? One is broken and they were painted in the past, so I want to replace them. Chrome would be nice, but black at a minimum. Does the windshield unit have to come off? My manual has nothing in it regarding how to go about this. Another very related issue is that the body panel that the grills are set under is low on the driver's side (by about 1/4") so the hood bounces up and down. I am assuming that this panel has to be formed to fit. There is no obvious adjustment for positioning that I can see. Any advice appreciated. Thanks. Pete.

[narfire]

You will have to take the scuttle off. There are 5-6 phillips screws that hole that down. Disconect the wiper motor and washer fluid line as well. Lift the front up and wiggle it side to side and it should come out from under the windshield
Turn it upside down and you'll see three rubber screw type thingies in the center. They sometimes have some kind of sticky goo on them but you unscrew them and they back off the plastic vent. I think there are a couple of clips as well near each end, but once you get a look at it you'll figure it out. Check the cars being parted out here and someone should have a spare for sale.
Chris

[katsi]

While you are under there, go ahead and take apart those wiper arms, clean em up, get em painted and lubed. You will be supprised how well your wipers will work afterwards. I give the job a difficulty of 1 on a scale from 1 to 10.

[124JOE]

putting the cowel back on
plug in the motor and the washer hose
set it down a bit forward and push with one hand and slap it near the windsheild
start on one side and move across to the other
then replace the screws


ps the nuts that hold the wipers mecanicals on are on the topside

[RRoller123]

Great info. Thanks to all. Pete

[aj81spider]

If your car is like mine then you slide it back in the rubber molding is going to roll under. Take a flat blade screwdriver and slide it under the molding to make it lay flat.

[124JOE]

If your car is like mine then you slide it back in the rubber molding is going to roll under. Take a flat blade screwdriver and slide it under the molding to make it lay flat.

on the paint?

[aj81spider]

If you hold the screwdriver up a little it doesn't contact the metal.

[azruss]

careful when removing the cowling. it is a good way to trash your fender paint. when you pull the cowling forward, it closes the gap between the fenders. once you have it lifted, the washer connection is short and requires some fiddling to get to it. I recommend some towels on both fenders so the cowling can rest on the towels while you are fiddling underneath. i would not use a flat screwdriver to pull the rear cowling seal forward. try one of the plastic tooth picks. you know, the curved ones with the straight handles and the end with a small plastic curved piece. if you do use a screwdriver, wrap some masking tape around it so it wont scratch.

[vandor]

This is also a good time to make sure the fresh air flap works right and that there isn't a bunch of trash on top of the heater core. The fresh air flap is usually rusty, this is a good time to paint it. Oh, and lube the cable.

[124ADDHE]

I guess we have all done this one, some good tips

Run 18" of electrical tape along that fender corner so that you dont chip that paint accidently on the install....removal always seems to go off without a hitch though

[RRoller123]

Excellent info. Thanks. I hadn't thought about fender protection. I will undertake this as soon as this storm passes.

[124JOE]

man if tony had this kind of info
he would never have to fix it again

[whiterabbit]

Hi. I have the same problem with the body panel alignment. The cowl edges sits about 1/8" low compared to the fenders. I guess you could attack it one of two ways. Lower the fenders or raise the cowl. Probably cause all sorts of alignment issues lowering the fenders(& alot of work), so I'm gonn'a raise the cowl. Looking for 1/8" thk rubber strip or I"m thinking heavy tar paper folded over a few times? Would standard body panel shims work under it? I have the back edge of the hood high anyway because my distributor isn't clocked correctly acording to the factory letter to point it at #1 cyl. for hood clearance. So it really looks ugly with the cowl low.
Oh, the grills. If you paint them use a good UV stable paint. NOT THE 99CENT CRAP FROM WALLY WORLD. If you want an aluminum or silver color use the silver rim paint the parts store sells or the rim black. Real tough stuff! I blasted and painted the steering wheel with 3 coats of the rim silver and 3 coats of the rim clear a year ago and it still looks perfect. It's the wifes' daily driver. Tough as nails!
Hope all goes well for you!

[azruss]

on the corners below the windshield there are those rubber screws. use those to adjust the fit to the fender and the windshield at the corner. To adjust at the hood, you can put washers under the screw just under the corner of the hood.