FRONT CHROME GRILL BAR

[Nik]

Hi Everybody , hope all is well with you all , I have a question for technical amongst you !!! My front chrome grill bar is slightly maked and I have bought a replacement , how on earth do you remove the old one and fit the new ???? If you know the answer please don't hesitate to be as concise as possible many thanks NIK
P.S She is a 1998 XK8 coupe with a standard front end

[GrandTourer]

Hi Nik,
firstly, it was nice meeting you at Harewood Hse last Sunday. I enjoyed our chat.
Now, sorry I don't have the answer to your question but I hope someone will be able to help. If not, why don't you contact our Technical Support man, David Marks, he is very experienced.
If you do get the info outside of the forum, we would appreciate it if you put it on this forum bulletin board, for others to benefit from the info, including myself.
I have also bought an XK8 grill splitter vane with the two 'rabbits teeth' overriders, but found the overriders had the number plate fixing holes in them so I did not use them (I was looking at a lower mounted number panel). But the issue might come up again.
Hope to see you again sometime.
Karl

[Nik]

Hi Karl , thank you for your kind comments and I will contact david straight away !!! Best Wishes NIK

[mike020150]

Hi Nik, The car's 'nose' has to be removed to get at the rivets holding the splitter vane and overiders in position. Hence, the job may take a little longer than you might have thought at first. Mike.

[roberto]

Nik,
I have just removed the grill bar and overriders on my XK8. With the car on ramps, I removed the number plate then, using a large hacksaw blade, carefully sawed through the 4 plastic 'rivets' (under the flat heads) securing the overrider flanges at the top and removed them. I then sawed through the rivets at either end of the grill bar from the nose of the car and the rivet at the centre, which I accessed from under the car behind the front 'spoiler'. The grill bar can then be carefully removed. You will need to purchase a set of new rivets to fit the new grill bar. I have replaced the grill bar with an early XKR grill and overriders which certainly does require the front spoiler to be disconnected. Not particularly difficult but took some time.

Tony

[MyQuest]

A few months back I replaced my 99 XK8 coupe's bar with a mesh grille. I did not need to remove the nose.

Remove the number plate plinth and the 3 X 6mm bolts holding the bar. Each overrider is held by (I thinK) a bolt and a plastic 'rivet' type fixing. The only tough bit is getting these rivets out. I ended up by cutting them with diagonal cutters. I guess a Stanley knife might do it also.
With the bonnet (hood) up you can just about get to the bolts from one side or 'tother - although an under-nourished trained mouse would be an asset. To replace the 'rivets' - I guess they just press in.
(This bit may not interest you) I sawed off the overrider mounts (plastic), installed the mesh grille (fiddly) and made new number plate angle brackets. The plinth was then secured to the lower part of the 'mouth'. It looks O.K.

Worth a try - good luck. Michael

[Nik]

Hi Guys , thanks for all the help , I will tackle this job as soon as I have an afternoon spare , maybe I will train the undernourished mouse as well!!

Hope to hear from you all soon , NIK