Matthew
02-13-2004, 02:28 PM
Ok here it is, a very easy way to install the DGM front AutoExe replica grille! Bear with me because my car is filthy and its about 20 degrees outside. I can post more pics of ANY part of the install upon request. Hell i can get you pics from 20 different angles if you are having problems.
Tools you will need:
Just a flat head screwdriver.
First begin by taking off these screws (which are phillips head screws, but you can take them out with a flathead), circled in red.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto1-screws.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto1-screws.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto1-screws.jpg
Next, remove these plastic do-hickeys here by inserting the screwdriver into the front piece and pulling out...it will pull out a little plastic screw, and then you need to pop out the plastic holder piece with the screwdriver...dont forget, or when you pop off the grille the damn thing could go flying. there are two of these, one on each side of the hood release latch.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto2-plasticpiece.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto1-screws.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto2-plasticpiece.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto2-plasticpiece.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto2-plasticpiece.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto2-plasticpiece2.jpg
Now you are ready to pull out the grille. The first time i pulled it out, i broke two pieces which really seem irrelevant, because i put the grille back on and i cant notice the difference with or without them.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto2-plasticpiece.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto1-screws.jpg
also the first time i yanked it out, i swore up and down the damn grille was attached to the bumper...its NOT, but you have to give it a pretty damn good yank. your bumper is gonna seem like its coming with it, but it wont. be careful, but remember you have to give it some muscle.
the red circle in this picture shows where another plastic piece connects to the body of the car. you can tell where its at on the right side due to the sticker and the radiator mount. you dont take this piece off, but rather it comes out of the hole when you yank on the grille. there is another one on the opposite (left) side.
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto2-plasticpiece2.jpghttp://www.turboprotege.org/howto4-broken.jpg
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto3-plasticpiece2.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto3-plasticpiece2.jpg
when you pull, you need to yank outward before you yank up. this is IMPERATIVE as all the connections that you will be seperating (4 total, including the two i broke) are connected horizontally facing the radiator. the three plugs facing up are immaterial and come right off after you have it disconnected from the body piece in front of the radiator.
here are the two pieces i broke (look at the circled parts for the hole and where the piece used to be)...obviously you cant see the piece cause its gone, but you can see where i broke it if you use your imagination. first pic is the drivers side and the second is the passengers...remember, this piece is IMMATERIAL because A) it doesnt mount to the replica grille and B) if you mount your stock grille back on, it didnt seem to have ANY effect whatsoever without it.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto4-broken.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto4-broken.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto4-broken.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto5-broken2.jpg
ok, all that being said, you are ready to pop off the grille. pull towards you until all four connections are out or broke. youll hear them pop. and youll see the gap widen. to be on the safe side, i tried by pulling on the gille with my four fingers while i braced my thumb on the body of the car. remember, its gonna take some force. you may be able to go down the line at each attachment point and yank individually, but im impatient and just yanked the whole goddamn thing, and when it finally came loose it damn near sent me into the golf course behind me.
here is the pic with the stock grille off...i circled the holes that had mounts (not the mounts you took out before pulling, the ones you had to pull out):
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto6-grilleoff.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto6-grilleoff.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto6-grilleoff.jpg
this pic is the up close pic of the three pegs that stick out. these are used both in the stock grille and in the autoexe replica grille, so dont break them (i dont forsee that happening cause they arent exactly fragile). the grille has three holes on the bottom that these fit into. you may have to push down carefully on that part of the grille to make sure they are seated properly. if they arent, youll have gaps in the bottom of your grille. the pegs are kinda serrated so thats why it doesnt just "fall" on top of them.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto7-pegs.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto7-pegs.jpg
here we see where the "wing" of the autoexe replica grille mounts to the stock wing location with one screw...its the same on the other side, and if you cant figure out this part you should light your car on fire.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto8-wing.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto8-wing.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto8-wing.jpg
look through the mesh and see where the pegs are sticking up through the bottom of the grille. you dont have to actually mount these with any type of hardware, just make sure they are seating completely through the hole.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto9-pegs2.jpg http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto8-wing.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto9-pegs2.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto9-pegs2.jpg
now here is the comparison between the 2loww grille and DG Motorsports...i circled the parts on the 2Loww grille where you can see how huge the gaps were compared to the DGM...in addition notice how the DGM grille is centered, meaning the bottom apex of the grille meets the center of the stock hole, where the 2Loww the apex is off to the left:
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto9-pegs2.jpg http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto8-wing.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto10-fitament.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto10-fitament.jpg
Painted and installed:
http://www.turboprotege.org/tn_DSCN0987.JPG
Tools you will need:
Just a flat head screwdriver.
First begin by taking off these screws (which are phillips head screws, but you can take them out with a flathead), circled in red.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto1-screws.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto1-screws.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto1-screws.jpg
Next, remove these plastic do-hickeys here by inserting the screwdriver into the front piece and pulling out...it will pull out a little plastic screw, and then you need to pop out the plastic holder piece with the screwdriver...dont forget, or when you pop off the grille the damn thing could go flying. there are two of these, one on each side of the hood release latch.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto2-plasticpiece.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto1-screws.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto2-plasticpiece.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto2-plasticpiece.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto2-plasticpiece.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto2-plasticpiece2.jpg
Now you are ready to pull out the grille. The first time i pulled it out, i broke two pieces which really seem irrelevant, because i put the grille back on and i cant notice the difference with or without them.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto2-plasticpiece.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto1-screws.jpg
also the first time i yanked it out, i swore up and down the damn grille was attached to the bumper...its NOT, but you have to give it a pretty damn good yank. your bumper is gonna seem like its coming with it, but it wont. be careful, but remember you have to give it some muscle.
the red circle in this picture shows where another plastic piece connects to the body of the car. you can tell where its at on the right side due to the sticker and the radiator mount. you dont take this piece off, but rather it comes out of the hole when you yank on the grille. there is another one on the opposite (left) side.
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto2-plasticpiece2.jpghttp://www.turboprotege.org/howto4-broken.jpg
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto3-plasticpiece2.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto3-plasticpiece2.jpg
when you pull, you need to yank outward before you yank up. this is IMPERATIVE as all the connections that you will be seperating (4 total, including the two i broke) are connected horizontally facing the radiator. the three plugs facing up are immaterial and come right off after you have it disconnected from the body piece in front of the radiator.
here are the two pieces i broke (look at the circled parts for the hole and where the piece used to be)...obviously you cant see the piece cause its gone, but you can see where i broke it if you use your imagination. first pic is the drivers side and the second is the passengers...remember, this piece is IMMATERIAL because A) it doesnt mount to the replica grille and B) if you mount your stock grille back on, it didnt seem to have ANY effect whatsoever without it.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto4-broken.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto4-broken.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto4-broken.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto5-broken2.jpg
ok, all that being said, you are ready to pop off the grille. pull towards you until all four connections are out or broke. youll hear them pop. and youll see the gap widen. to be on the safe side, i tried by pulling on the gille with my four fingers while i braced my thumb on the body of the car. remember, its gonna take some force. you may be able to go down the line at each attachment point and yank individually, but im impatient and just yanked the whole goddamn thing, and when it finally came loose it damn near sent me into the golf course behind me.
here is the pic with the stock grille off...i circled the holes that had mounts (not the mounts you took out before pulling, the ones you had to pull out):
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto6-grilleoff.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto6-grilleoff.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto6-grilleoff.jpg
this pic is the up close pic of the three pegs that stick out. these are used both in the stock grille and in the autoexe replica grille, so dont break them (i dont forsee that happening cause they arent exactly fragile). the grille has three holes on the bottom that these fit into. you may have to push down carefully on that part of the grille to make sure they are seated properly. if they arent, youll have gaps in the bottom of your grille. the pegs are kinda serrated so thats why it doesnt just "fall" on top of them.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto7-pegs.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto7-pegs.jpg
here we see where the "wing" of the autoexe replica grille mounts to the stock wing location with one screw...its the same on the other side, and if you cant figure out this part you should light your car on fire.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto8-wing.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto8-wing.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto8-wing.jpg
look through the mesh and see where the pegs are sticking up through the bottom of the grille. you dont have to actually mount these with any type of hardware, just make sure they are seating completely through the hole.
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto9-pegs2.jpg http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto8-wing.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto9-pegs2.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto9-pegs2.jpg
now here is the comparison between the 2loww grille and DG Motorsports...i circled the parts on the 2Loww grille where you can see how huge the gaps were compared to the DGM...in addition notice how the DGM grille is centered, meaning the bottom apex of the grille meets the center of the stock hole, where the 2Loww the apex is off to the left:
http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto9-pegs2.jpg http://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto8-wing.jpghttp://www.true-true.com/%7Ematthew/howto7-pegs.jpghttp://matthew.dfwproteges.com/howto10-fitament.jpg
http://www.turboprotege.org/howto10-fitament.jpg
Painted and installed:
http://www.turboprotege.org/tn_DSCN0987.JPG