I've got a 99 SC400 and the grill is cracked.
No big deal I thought so ordered a new one.

I had the car at a body shop to get a quote on some
touch up on the paint and asked if they could put the grill on
for cheap so that I woiuld not have to mess with it.
I thought it was easy.

They tell me you have to take the whole bumper off.
The estimate is for 2.8 hrs of work.
This seems crazy.
Isn't it more simple than that?

Thanks
3dog

 

Maybe 1 hour. 1.5 tops to remove and install the new grill. Faster if you don't have the fender liner and the engine plastic tray on bottom.

 

So you really do have to take the bumper off?

 

3dog, there really is no other way around it

 

Yea but it doesnt take 1.5 hrs to take off and install and put back on.. more like 30 mins lol

 

lots of nuts, bolts, and screws on the bumper. MAYBE you can remove the grill from the engine bay. just need a small phillips screw driver. grill is held on by 3 screws. also remove the long plastic cover so you can get to the grill.

 

This works for me, but I have a shine bumper... Takes 1-2 min, remove tray in front of radiator and should have enough clearance. Not sure if same with oem bumper

 

yea i just check my fertex bumper and i have clearance also. oem should have the same amount of clearance.

 

Bumper doesn't take a long time to take off, you could definitely do it yourself. It's just bolts and screws.

 

D i y .....

 

I was looking at this from the inside.
It looks like it is just 3 screws holding it in.
I'm not good at mechanical stuff but it sure looks
to me like it can be done without taking the bumper off.

Am I missing something?

Why does the bumper have to come off?

Thanks
3dog

 

I took mine out without removing the bumper, what is this?

 

should be able to remove the top five or so screws on the top and pull the front of the bumper forward to access the grill screws. Just be careful and you shouldn't have to remove the entire thing. However, it is a little bit of a pain to remove the entire bumper. Took me about 2+ hours the first time I did it.

 

Also if you have the OEM bumper be careful not to stress the bumper piece/edges around the headlights. If you do you can easily crack the clear coat and have a cracked egg shell look.