I have a 2004 f-150 and i need to pop out the plastic piece thats in the middle bc i have a new painted piece that goes around it (the part that actually bolts up to the hood.) How would i go about popping that middle piece out without breaking all the little holders.
Thanks for any help in advance.

 

i have heard that the clips arent necessary to hold the surround on, so it is ok if you break some. but thats just what ive heard i dont have any experience with it personally. i think there are several threads on here about that though.

 

You can use a heat gun on a low setting or a hair dryer on a high setting.Use a small flat head after you warm up the tabs so they dont break and then unclip them.

 

I used a hair dryer and a flathead screwdriver....just work your way around the grill...the ones in the middle tend to be easiest to start with.

 

I read that you had to snap all of the holders on the center piece. From what I remember, that's what I did and everything came out fine.

 

This is all you need to do and take your time.

 

I also used some needle nose pliers to help... I broke a couple of the tabs, but most are OK. If I had been more patient, I could have done it without breaking any... I think:-) No blow dryer used. I'm sure that's the difference.

 

lol thanks gouys for all of the help, If i get the xtra time this afternoon i will take my grill back off and try the blowdryer thing out. Sorry it took a while to replay back to this thread i spent thia whole last week replacing the transmission in my fam's 96 vette that we drag race only to have the the dang bell housing break at the end of the top4 in the bracket . Here is the link to sat nights vids that i took if anyone is interested in this sort of stuff. We ran a 4.39 @ 176 that placed us in 3rd in the qualisying round. We went 3 rounds on sunday and broke at the finish line.

Links:

4.46 @ 172

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-hwnC_KPvI

4.39 @ 176

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m00TD4rHluI

 

I emptied all the butterknives out of our silverware drawer and used them. One knife in each tab and it pulls away from the surround easily. You really don't need those tabs to be intact when reusing the grille. It stays in just fine without them. There are 4 more screws that hold it to the surround on the sides.