For those of you who've seen my pics, you know I have the ugly front license plate frame already installed on the car when it first arrived (well before I even decided to buy the car from that dealership). Once I removed the frame, there are two plastic plugs where the screws of the frame go. I can't seem to remove them in a clean manner. I plan to get color-matched plugs from bumperplugs.com. I drew a stupid diagram in Photoshop. Anyone seen these before?


(Taken with my SE K750i 2 megapixel camera phone)

 

Don't know, but if you found out how the dealership put them on, that might give you a clue as to how to remove them.

I expect that they're 2 pieces and may have been glued together, or snap together.

If that's the case, you may need to cut them carefully (maybe with a pair of side-cutters).

Drop in to the dealer.. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing that info.

G/L
C.

 

hard to tell w/o seeing first hand........
But, I agree Colin.. looks like it may be some sort of snap.

B4 trying anything like prying etc.... make sure you protect the paint well.
Tape the area with good quality painters tape.
& if you're going to pry/pop it get some heavy plastic or something to pry against.

for sure wish I could see it.

I'm sure you aren't the only one with this problem though....
someone will figure it out.

 

take the bumer off and hack it from the inside. It may be a pain in the *** to do but you won't have to worry about damaging your paint.

 

Here is what they look like. In one picture you see it straight but in the next after inserting it into the bumper the center toggles down and now you have this "T" shape plug. So there is not way you are going to remove this.

Your options are to try and cut just behind the head of the plug or get access behind the bumper and try and push "T" back straight again.

 

Having seen the apparatus, and how flimsy the 'T' section is held in to the 'I' section, I'd be temped to try to grab the head of the 'I' with a plier and pull just hard enough to break those small pins. I can't see them them being very strong and giving much resistance.

My original thought of cutting the head off would work, but as Ian says, you'll have to be careful with the paint.

Sedanman has a good point that if you can access the rear without removing the bumper, then manipulating the pin may work.

Another option would be to drill it out with a drill just large enough to catch those 2 small hold pins.
Again, you'd need a steady hand and the right size drill, or you'd enlarge the hole.....

Please let us know how you do it......

C.

 

From Goofy's picture it looks like he can pull it out at least and 1/2" so it would be real easy just to cut off the head. The rest will fall down behind the grill.

 

That's the problem. I can easily just cut the head off, but then the tail would drop inside the bumper, and I don't know how I'd ever find them. They'll end up just tossing all over the place...

 

Maybe try something thin like an ice pick to try and straighten out the "T" piece and then pull it out.

 

Yup, tried that, too. I slid a tiny screw driver in there, but it won't budge. I will have to try again. This time, I should push the piece back in, so the T part will have enough room to rotate back into its original position.

 

Why not just remove the bumper cover, pivot the "T" back in and slide it out?

I know we're not all gearheads here, but it shouldn't take too long to remove/reinstall the cover. Just make sure you have something to lay it on to prevent scratches.