taking off front grill?
 

Does anyone know how to take the front grill off? I have a front plate on mine and I took the holder off.

I'm trying to lower the plate holder because it is touching my bumper. I saw another RX8 yesterday and the holder was lower than on mine. So I assumed I could lower the holder.

There is a piece that the holder bolts into behind the grill, basically I would have to lower that piece but I can't see how to get it out.

It looks like the grill has 2 clips (top right and left) but of course I didn't want to break anything.

So anyone have any ideas, if I can lower my plate?

Re: taking off front grill?
 

I have the same problem and as a temporary fix put some foam weatherstrip behind the plate holder. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

We have not had one off/out yet, but it appears there is NO way without removing the whole nose.

Attached picture of a grille shows the bunch of clips and brackets that are around the actual part you can see.

I've been thinking that instead of going to all the trouble to redo the holes for the existing plastic plate mounting bracket, it might be more feasible to get a cheap plain black license plate holder and mount it using the existing holes. It would take some "stand off" ferrules to push it out to just in front of the grill, but might be an easier fix to the plate holder being positioned to rub against the bumper. Any mechanically inclined folks out there with a plan?

Hum, I have not mounted front plate holder yet as I do not have plates yet - assuming I do mount it, I wanted to make the holder one notch lower too. This seems to work when holding the frame up to the grill... It looked as if the frame was to be attached with sheet metal screws that go into the plastic grill (as that is all that is in the sealed bag the frame is still in) - there are dimples where the screw holes go -

Is there really something behind the grill that the screws have to mate with? I thought maybe one could just drill the holes one row lower and the sheet metal screws would simply go into the plastic in that row...

Is this not the case? (I have not looked behind grill yet)

Dave

speaking of taking off grills, does anyone know how to take off the back grill?

i want to take it off and do something like this

http://www.knowledgelink.jp/user/tk/030803/08_00.jpg

The back 'grille' is integral to the whole read bumper.

I think the photo shows someone who's manualy cut out all the centres.

there is a crack/line on either side of the grill, im pretty sure it has to be able to be taken off. i dont think the guy woulda been able to cut out all the squares with the grill being still on the car.

Yes there is those threaded screws, but there is also 2 threaded bolts that are mounted in there. Maybe I'll put some type of foam on the back of the plate.

This is odd, because mdmaclean's RX8 has all his holes a bit lower and his plate doesn't rub.... ODD!

Ahh forgive me, I wont see my car until at least November... Our only chance to glimps the motor in the UK has been a breif pre-production car appearance here and there.

The threaded bolts are just on the bracket, not on the grill itself, correct? I was also hoping to just drill 3 holes in the grill (only 3 holes in the bracket for some reason) and use sheet metal screws to hold the bracket on. My only fear is hitting something behind the grill. I can't even see behind the grill.

Anyone know what's back there and how close to the grill?

Yes, the threaded bolts are on the piece mounted in the back not on the grills.

You can just drill holes or just screw through the plastic but I don't think it will hold all that well that way.

You lost me. :confused:

Are you saying, there is something behind the grill (inside the engine compartment) that the bracket screws are attached to? I can't get behind the grill to even see what's back there.

so.... what's the scoop here? My plates just arrived. My dealer didn't attach the front plate holder, and so now I'd like to go ahead and do it.

In my trunk is the plate holder, and three screws. Two screws are merely for attaching the plate to the plate holder. The third screw, a sheet metal screw, presumably is for attaching the plate holder to the front grill.

So there are THREE candiate holes on the holder -- left (a horizontal slot, really), right, and bottom (a bit to the left of center). Through any of these, the screw would only extend about a half inch.

The plastic behind the grill on my car has no holes. There are dimples in some spots, which some have suggested indicate where the screw goes, but there are many such dimples, some of which obviously have nothing to do with the plate holder.

So... what's the deal? Do I have all the hardware I'm supposed to have? Am I missing two sheet metal screws? What is behind the plastic behind the grill -- is there someting that the sheet metal screws will "bite" into?

Has anyone actually installed their front plate holder themselves?

The dealer told me it was a pain to get the bracket on when they were getting it ready for me.

I think that the bracket kit comes with some nuts that need to be mounted into the solid plastic part on the grille.

When I took my plates off, the bracket was being held in place by the two machine screws and dealer mounted nuts on the backside of the grille and a sheetmetal screw in the lower left of the bracket that screwed directly into the solid plastic part of the grille.

Make sense?

dont put it on IMO

I ended up taking my front plates off and sticking the plate inside the car in case I ever get questioned by the police.
I will risk it until then.
I will come up with some lame excuse of why it's not on there if I get stopped.

There are 2 dimples on the plastic front grille.
They are in the third row of opening recesses from the top of the grille.
One is supposed to take an 8mm drill bit (5/16" if no metric bits) and drill in precisely 6mm deep.

There are nuts behind there and you expose the threads by doing this.
One then threads in 6mm hex bolts.

You should have received a front plate kit with you car, in a clear plastic bag.
It includes the two bolts and a sheet metal screw.

If you did not receive this kit see your dealer.

The installation procedure is in the owners manual.

Thanks!

I've looked several times in the owners manual, but see no mention of the procedure -- perhaps its not in the US manual? (I see the Canadian users manual has a different part no.) What page is it on in your manual?

As for the front plate kit, yes, I have all those pieces.... I was assuming the hex bolts were for attaching the plate to the holder, rather than the holder to the plate. Apparently it does not come with any hardware actually to attach the plate to the holder?

Tell 'em you had problems with overheating with the plate there and you have an appt with the dealer to look at it. anyone got a better fib please post it cuz I'm keeping the front plate under my seat.

I put mine as low as I could. Forget the mounting holes, use a couple of 3" toggle bolts and go through any convenient grill hole. Also I cut the extra width of the sides off the plastic frame that came with the car, covered the plate itself with a wide plate-frame painted black to minimize apparent plate size.

Might not be a big deal but you are blocking some air from entering the lower half of the grill.

Here's the Service Bulletin on installing the front plate holder.
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...09_015_03.html

Thanks. That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

(And thanks, again, to canzoomer, too.)

OK, I found the proper instructions.
Mazda issued a service bulletin on it, so don't feel bad if you find it puzzling. Apparently you are in good company!

Here it is: