DWS964

Took the front bumper off for some fixes and changes. Needed to change the black "smile" strip. It is held down in two spots by a metal strip that is pop-riveted to the bumper. Seems like a dumb question. It looks like it should pop right back into place over/under the metal hold down strips. I cannot get it in place however.
One of the odd things is that the metal strips are pop riveted on the top side, so the bumper strip has to go on after the clips are on. If the rivets were from the bottom side then I could see the install in a different way.
Tell me the easy way to get this done "right".
THANKS

ghhally

Drill out the rivets. Put metal strips into rubber, position back on bumper, hold back rubber lip to clear the holes for rivets, re-enter rivets and punch them tight.

DWS964

Thanks for the reassurance. That seemed like the way to do it, but I wasn't sure about being able to pull back the rubber to get to the holes for the rivets. That seemed like it had the potential for some more bad language.

BTW, Geert - I have a business trip coming up in January to Belgium - any possibility to have a meeting over a frosty beverage?

Lemass Automotive

Yep. What he said

ghhally

Sure, send me a PM with details.

dutchcrunch

correct me if im wrong but is that not the achor/lock that u leave on and apply glue and remount new smile.

dutchcrunch

thats why the new smile has the 2 horse shoe revessed areas for the rivet head. you can see the bond matereial left on that plate.

DWS964

That's what I originally thought - I would leave the anchor/lock plate on, and mount the new smile on/under it. But I could not get it shoved under the lock plate. So, it looks like I need to remove the plate, insert into the new smile, and attach with new rivets. Still strikes me as odd that the rivets are done on top rather than on underside.

Lemass Automotive

its a right pain to slide it back in, i always remove them and put in new rivets

ghhally

Just compare the rivet head to the other side once punched in.
The head is less tall than the crunched end. So keeping the end on top, rubber side, is the only way to go.

dutchcrunch

i see your in indy so i imangine its cold in the garage. take the smile along with bumber in the house and let it warm up. the area in front of the seal put some blue tape to protect the painted surface. the paint on the bumper has flex agent in it so it should not crack while gently flexing the bumper. use the tape so that once the lip snaps on you can get the tape off without it being under the lip, know what i mean. as the smile is siting foward on the bumper gently bent/deflect the back bumper down so that the lip can slide underneth the metal lip. if your doing by yourself might have to slide half way and secure with tape while you get other side and then work from left to right to get it fully seated. again please dont deflect the bumper lip too much but a 1/4 inch should be no problem. the lip needs to go on parallel to the bumper so make sure you do alittle on each side before you slide all the way on. its a snug fit . with the bumper on the floor just as it would be on the car you are going to go to the rear of those plates that are riveted and push the lip down this will raise the forward lip enough to get it on. the problem is the lip sits in the valley and you cant slide it directly on. please do not put the monster grip bent on it and use tape on the forward painted area because even though its rubber that paint can scratch. BLUE TAPE. you can do it i have faith in you.