Removing the front grill on your '98 Mark VIII

[brendangillespie]

I thought that I would post this in case anyone else wants to do this, so that they know exactly how to do it and don't have to do any head-scratching like I did. :Bang

I removed my front grill to paint it, and after some puzzlement, figured out how to do it. There are screws/bolts on the top and bottom of the grill, the top ones are easy to remove, just pop the hood and you will see them behind the top part of your grill. The bottom ones are a little tricky to get out. You have to remove the entire front fender to get the grill of. Not really problem as long as you know how to do it. Remove the phillips head screws from both sides, as well as a few bolts in the center, underneath the car. The crawl underneath the car, and on the left and right side of the fender behind the headlight assemblies there are two bolts on each side of the fender on the inside. Remove those and the entire fender can be carefully slid off. Here are some pics to show:

 

[thamarkman]

Your car looks absolutely stunning!

 

[VaeVictus]

I like ur Mark...looks mint. Quick question though...was ur grill originally that color and u just had to repaint it or was urs chrome. U see mine is the chrome one and I have a '97 Mark...black in color and i would love to paint my grilll black like on the LSC models. If I was going to paint the grill...what paint do u recommend. Any help is much appreciated.

Btw...thanks for the info on the removal of the grill...I was looking at it the other day very quick but i couldn't figure it out.

 

[MrWilson]

question is, how do i get the bumper and lights off of the first gen?

<---has a little project in mind...:giggle:

 

[brendangillespie]

Spray Paint

I like ur Mark...looks mint. Quick question though...was ur grill originally that color and u just had to repaint it or was urs chrome. U see mine is the chrome one and I have a '97 Mark...black in color and i would love to paint my grilll black like on the LSC models. If I was going to paint the grill...what paint do u recommend. Any help is much appreciated.

Btw...thanks for the info on the removal of the grill...I was looking at it the other day very quick but i couldn't figure it out.

That is the original factory paint job on my grill... I think that it will look a lot better with a chrome look. Is the grill on your '97 made out of plastic or metal? I'm assuming that is made out of plastic, although you say that it is chrome, so I'm thinking that it may be a metal grill. Mine is made out of plastic, which will make the chrome paint job look not as good as it would if the grill were metal and I had it professionally chromed, but it will still look good after I am done priming and painting it.

As far as what kind of paint to use on your grill (I'm going to assume that it is made out of plastic), go to Home Depot, hardware store, etc. and get a spray paint can of plastic primer. For the paint, I bought a metallic chrome finish spray paint for all surfaces applications. I couldn't find a chrome spray paint made for plastic, so if you can find that it is even better. Just make sure you remove the grill from the car and clean it really really well with soap and water, and then maybe take some alcohol and clean the surfaces to be painted. I didn't do any sanding on mine, because I didn't think it was needed, but I cleaned it really well. When you apply the primer, use only a light coat and let it dry for 5-7 days before you paint with the chrome spray. I'm doing to do three coats of chrome spray on mine, allowing 48 hours dry time in between. I will put pics up when I'm done!

P.S. Put some pics up of your car in your member's garage!

 

[brendangillespie]

First Gen Bumper

question is, how do i get the bumper and lights off of the first gen?

<---has a little project in mind...:giggle:

I still have my first gen, but the frond end bumper is off due to a crash.. sorry, I don't know how to remove the first gen bumpers, but I'm betting that it can't be that different from removing a second gen bumper.

 

[MrWilson]

I still have my first gen, but the frond end bumper is off due to a crash.. sorry, I don't know how to remove the first gen bumpers, but I'm betting that it can't be that different from removing a second gen bumper.

so, your saying i should crash the mark to get it off! BRILLIANT!...brilliant!