Hood cowl removal?

[joemomma]

How hard is it to get the hood cowl panel out? I'm going to hit my mirrors with a fresh coat of trim paint, and was thinking I'd do the cowl as well, it's pretty faded. Does it come out easily or is it a PITA?

 

[FastballRacing]

Very easy, just be careful not to crack it.

 

[RAU03MACH]

Fur sure dryed out from the heat

 

[PinkieT]

I found if I loosened bolt at the bottom of the A pillars the A pillar trim can be pulled out a little and make it easier to get the cowl out without cracking.

 

[Snorky]

Pull the rubber hood strip off of the top of the cowl panel. Take the 3 or 4 screws out of the engine bay side of it. Then go in with a flat blade or a plastic pry tool and lightly pry it up by the clips

 

[ttocs]

yea I tried to pull the one off of my parts car when I had it and when I tried to flex the plastic a little to get around the a-pillar it cracked. As mentioned it would be a good idea to loosen or remove the pillars

 

[joemomma]

Thanks lads!

 

[joemomma]

I'll be extra careful with this - I just priced a replacement at LMR and they are almost $200 lol.

 

[ttocs]

and they are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo brittle after years in the sun.

 

[Wood's 5.0]

Count your blessings if it doesn't break when you go to remove it. Not trying to be Mr. Negativity but @ttocs is right. They do become brittle after years in the sun or even just plain old age. Good luck as it will freshen up the appearance.

 

[Snorky]

Count your blessings if it doesn't break when you go to remove it. Not trying to be Mr. Negativity but @ttocs is right. They do become brittle after years in the sun or even just plain old age. Good luck as it will freshen up the appearance.

Like balsa wood

 

[ttocs]

Like balsa wood

Well that isn't necessarily true. Fresh balsa has a pretty good amount of give to it as its great for making rc airplanes with but now old balsa, yea that is a different story and a very accurate description.

In my years installing stereos I had a LOT of times when we had to push/flex a part further than we would want to in order to get it in and out. Have you ever pulled the radio out of an old fox body? They installed the radio in the dash, then installed all the ac/heating vents/wiring and then installed the dash in the car. The one time I did one it was a vert and with the top down my supervisor showed me how to pull/flex the dash upwards while I was on my back trying to wiggle it out from the back and getting all the dust form that in my eyes. If ya did that today the dash would just rip