Discussion
ident said:
Good Morning
Looked at my Vantage today and noticed that the rear metal grilles above the diffuser are quite rusty
Does anyone know how to take them off so I can get them powder coated ?
Thanks in advance
Same here, although I should have got them done when I had the parking sensor brackets replaced under warranty for corrosion. Planning on doing them myself if they are easy to remove, I did have a quick gander under there and it looked like the bolts were obscured by the bumper.Looked at my Vantage today and noticed that the rear metal grilles above the diffuser are quite rusty
Does anyone know how to take them off so I can get them powder coated ?
Thanks in advance
Parts like this are vulnerable to salt, stones etc..... Would it really have killed AM to spend an extra £2 quid and fit stainless mesh??
Or are they happy to see scabby 5 or 6 year old cars driving around.??.... Who knows, but it shouldn't happen on a car costing as much as a Vantage..
Or are they happy to see scabby 5 or 6 year old cars driving around.??.... Who knows, but it shouldn't happen on a car costing as much as a Vantage..
Lunablack said:
Or are they happy to see scabby 5 or 6 year old cars driving around.??.... Who knows, but it shouldn't happen on a car costing as much as a Vantage..
Mine is not even 3 years old, and they look rough. It's a shame that they make them so cheap, they could of at least made them easy to get off.
CRIKEY... all that to get to the grille!
I would put the carbon diffuser on and throw the grille away after going to all that trouble :-)
Actually my grille is starting to show signs of rust since driving it in the bad weather over the past month or two. I really dont like the ieda of pulling the car to bits to get at it.
The longer I own AM the more I think they have some very bad flaws in the basic design... This item, in direct firing line from stones and salt, should not be made out of a material that can rust?
There are so many faults, features, quirks, whatever you want to call them, that I feel are just poor workmanship and/or poor design on a car of this level.
I still like to droool over it though :-)
Whinge over!
I would put the carbon diffuser on and throw the grille away after going to all that trouble :-)
Actually my grille is starting to show signs of rust since driving it in the bad weather over the past month or two. I really dont like the ieda of pulling the car to bits to get at it.
The longer I own AM the more I think they have some very bad flaws in the basic design... This item, in direct firing line from stones and salt, should not be made out of a material that can rust?
There are so many faults, features, quirks, whatever you want to call them, that I feel are just poor workmanship and/or poor design on a car of this level.
I still like to droool over it though :-)
Whinge over!
Arjxh56 said:
CRIKEY... all that to get to the grille!
I would put the carbon diffuser on and throw the grille away after going to all that trouble :-)
Actually my grille is starting to show signs of rust since driving it in the bad weather over the past month or two. I really dont like the ieda of pulling the car to bits to get at it.
The longer I own AM the more I think they have some very bad flaws in the basic design... This item, in direct firing line from stones and salt, should not be made out of a material that can rust?
There are so many faults, features, quirks, whatever you want to call them, that I feel are just poor workmanship and/or poor design on a car of this level.
I still like to droool over it though :-)
Whinge over!
They are no longer fitted on the current model I would put the carbon diffuser on and throw the grille away after going to all that trouble :-)
Actually my grille is starting to show signs of rust since driving it in the bad weather over the past month or two. I really dont like the ieda of pulling the car to bits to get at it.
The longer I own AM the more I think they have some very bad flaws in the basic design... This item, in direct firing line from stones and salt, should not be made out of a material that can rust?
There are so many faults, features, quirks, whatever you want to call them, that I feel are just poor workmanship and/or poor design on a car of this level.
I still like to droool over it though :-)
Whinge over!
Lunablack said:
Mine still look ok..... But to be honest if they do start to look scabby, I'll just hand paint them in situ.... A bit of masking tape, and a really good, rust converter paint like POR-15 will smarten them up in no time
Quite like that idea... Wouldn't mind them painted in a brighter silver or something, just to give the back end a new lease of life.... Or replace with stainless silver mesh like my front grilles, Chiltern did that for me and it looks great still.yeti said:
Quite like that idea... Wouldn't mind them painted in a brighter silver or something, just to give the back end a new lease of life.... Or replace with stainless silver mesh like my front grilles, Chiltern did that for me and it looks great still.
Well I can certainly recommend POR-15 in silver.... I've painted directly over rusty steel with this stuff and its brilliant....converts the rust, and the paint dries as hard as nails...You do have to follow the instructions for best results though
Before
After
ident said:
How difficult was it to remove the bumper ?
Looks like a lot has been removed in your pictures !
Looks like a lot has been removed in your pictures !
mikey k said:
Once the lower lip is off (easy) I'd have thought you could get to the bolts holding the grills on (with a bit of contortion?)
To be clear, I removed the rear bumper because I was installing the N420 carbon diffuser. Installing this piece requires drilling several holes in the bottom of the bumper. That being said, removal of the two outer grilles requires removal of bumper because there are two bolts that are inaccessible otherwise. In order to remove the rear bumper, the rear wheel liners and the taillights need to come off as well as a few assorted bolts along the bottom that attach the exhaust tip brackets to the frame. It's like one giant puzzle piece really. Nothing in the process is very difficult, just a bit time consuming—especially when working alone.
Note, there is a wiring harness for the lights and parking sensors that is attached to the bumper with a multitude of snaps that must be undone. This can be seen in the pics I posted above.
Here was the final product after I put everything back together:
yeti said:
Quite like that idea... Wouldn't mind them painted in a brighter silver or something, just to give the back end a new lease of life.... Or replace with stainless silver mesh like my front grilles, Chiltern did that for me and it looks great still.
Note in my picture above that I used a silver mini mesh for the diffuser. (Great minds and all that…). My reasoning was to a) be different from other cars; b) match the clear taillights; and c) draw the eye toward the diffuser so that it was more noticeable since it is such a nice piece.Hmmm .... thanks for all the comments .... I think I am leaning towards doing this all without removing them by the look of things !
As a lot have mentioned, it seems a shame that a part that will clearly rust is made so difficult to remove and fix !
A coat of proper powder coat and they would look fantastic again or if they where made from stainless ( a cost to AM when made of maybe an extra few quid ) they would last forever ....
The cars really are sometimes both ends of the spectrum ! The quality of the leather is beautiful and then you have bits that rust after driving in the salt once and you have to take half the back of the car off to get them fixed .... Characterful before someone adds this !
As a lot have mentioned, it seems a shame that a part that will clearly rust is made so difficult to remove and fix !
A coat of proper powder coat and they would look fantastic again or if they where made from stainless ( a cost to AM when made of maybe an extra few quid ) they would last forever ....
The cars really are sometimes both ends of the spectrum ! The quality of the leather is beautiful and then you have bits that rust after driving in the salt once and you have to take half the back of the car off to get them fixed .... Characterful before someone adds this !
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