front end removal (bumper and grill)

[MGV]

Hi all...
During a trip away over Christmas, i encountered a couple of plagues of locusts! The outcome was a lot of dead smashed locusts covering my radiator... I managed to hose a lot off, but today, decided to give it a good clean! I recalled Captain Bungers had taken off his front end to install a nudge bar, & he convinced me it wouldn't be too hard to do.
There were a few T25 torx screws at the front of the 2 wheel arches, 4 beneath the bumper, along with 1 at the top centre of the grille, & a T30 either side of the top of the grille. The whole set-up popped off quite easily with a little bit of jiggling back & forth, & all went back together quite easily. A couple of clips broke, they are SO flimsy, it's like they are designed to fail...
Here's a couple of shots with the front end off:




This is the tool for the job! A mini ratchet driver attached to the only screw i had trouble locating (beneath the arch-guard).




Many thanks to Captain Bungers for the detailed proceedure!

[team_v]

Jesus, looks like a fun job.
Always good to have a guide to follow for these things.

[Captain Bungers]

That mini ratchet looks the business - I used a small shifter with the torx bit...

Looks kind of full on without the bumper!

[aussietig]

Yes ... I never watch RPA on TV, if I'm eating.

Now need to add this thread onto that list!

[philsan]

G'day all
Just been thru this exercise myself.Installing the ECB nudge bar.What a pita that was.It also cost me an extra $256.00 due to trying to [carefully mind you] pull out the wheel arch moulding to get a better go at the top screw. The top clip which is different to the lower three, it still managed to split the moulding.When I rang our friendly parts dept.,I could not believe what they wanted for a bit of moulded plastic?? I gave the poor parts bloke a mouthful and he ended up hanging up on me.But the moral of my story is be bloody careful when unclipping these parts as they are obviously designed to break.
Phil

[HaywireTig]

Wow MGV, this looks full on!! Lol but very good pics to show how to get to things.

And good tips on what to look out for Phil.... That's an expensive replacement...

On top of this, anyone know how to remove the side black plastic moldings on the doors and the rear bumper??

[Captain Bungers]

Wow MGV, this looks full on!! Lol but very good pics to show how to get to things.

And good tips on what to look out for Phil.... That's an expensive replacement...

On top of this, anyone know how to remove the side black plastic moldings on the doors and the rear bumper??

All I can say is it shouldn't be too bad - you just need to be patient and not force anything. There is a thread in here somewhere with info on installing the rear parking sensors etc.

[HaywireTig]

Cool thanks! I'll look out for it!

[tigger73]

OK so I had my grille off today. If you need to do it check out this thread: http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/foru...how-58583.html

Anyway I'd meant to do this a lot earlier but once I'd run through a plague of locusts decided I really ought to give my front grille a mesh treatment (that and to cover up the bird hole...)

Steps in the process:

• took the front grille off
• took all the plastic bits apart
• inserted wire mesh
• put all the bits back together

Anyway here's the end result:





Heading off for a country trip so will get a road test this week.

[Tiggy1]

Hi all...
During a trip away over Christmas, i encountered a couple of plagues of locusts! The outcome was a lot of dead smashed locusts covering my radiator... I managed to hose a lot off, but today, decided to give it a good clean! I recalled Captain Bungers had taken off his front end to install a nudge bar, & he convinced me it wouldn't be too hard to do.
There were a few T25 torx screws at the front of the 2 wheel arches, 4 beneath the bumper, along with 1 at the top centre of the grille, & a T30 either side of the top of the grille. The whole set-up popped off quite easily with a little bit of jiggling back & forth, & all went back together quite easily. A couple of clips broke, they are SO flimsy, it's like they are designed to fail...
Here's a couple of shots with the front end off:

This is the tool for the job! A mini ratchet driver attached to the only screw i had trouble locating (beneath the arch-guard).


Many thanks to Captain Bungers for the detailed proceedure!

Great fun indeed! One of the first things I did when I got my Tig was to put some mesh on the inside of the front grille to stop bugs and other crap getting in there (learned from previous experience)