Allan R

Any chance you can post a pic? I'm ready to do mine too. Would be greatly appreciated.

Olds_71_442

As of right now I have the grills all assembled. I ended up having to shave off all of the tab because it lines up with the tab on the inside of the stoneshield. But the bolt will hold it together, so it's not a problem.






The arrow is pointing to the tab I shaved off. By the way, the stoneshield is a perfect match to the original. I tried my old grills in it and they fit perfectly.

Allan R

Ok, you shaved off the tab - on the grill or the stone shield? Can you take a shot of the area you shaved from a top view to make it easier? I've tried wrestling mine into place, but if I get the upper left side slotted in right, the lower right won't seat properly. This is the first time I've had a chance to talk with a pro bodyman about the fitment of these things. I'd like to get mine installed pdq so I can get the stone shield and deck wing painted. I see you have 71, mine are 72 but the only difference is the color scheme and the 442 emblem colors. Thx

If they come apart as easy as you say, is there any chance you could take one side apart, shoot pics of the modified areas and post them? This would help a lot of us who are struggling with these grills.

Olds_71_442

I don't mind disassembling them. I'm going to put them back in the boxes they came in until the body work is finished on the car. That way I keep dust off of them until the car is driveable again.

As you can see, the tab on the inside of the grill is too close and sits directly on the tab of the stoneshield. I shaved a little of it off and it fit, but I had to really press to get it in there. Finally I just shaved the whole thing off. My factory ones had the tabs broken off at the stoneshield and they always stayed together on my car, so I didn't think it would be a problem with these, either.



I should also add, you may have to cut off a little bit of the stud for the chrome. They seem to be very long and they stick into the stoneshield in a couple places. And that is because a couple of them don't line up with the holes that are allowed for them. You can see I shortened this one and I shortened the one for the driver's side too.

Olds_71_442

One other thing I should mention. The grills still fit quite snugly, so if you're putting them in, start the grill on the outside of the stoneshield. Then, it should snap in place in the middle. And just do the opposite when taking them out. I can't get them in very well if I start the grill by pushing in the middle first.

Allan R

THANK YOU!!! That was exactly the problem I was having. I could 'massage' the tab into place on the stone shield with a lot of patience, but then the opposite side of the grill wouldn't line up. I kind of wonder if the tab was necessary to start with - maybe just an indexing from GM to make sure the grills were positioned quickly to line up before bolting in? Just wondering, since the tab will be missing from the grills, I should be able to grind off a bit of the 'slot' they are supposed to go into on the stone shield. That should give even better clearance and make it easier to fit in?

OEM's were probably assembled on the production line inside of 45 seconds! I will shave the tabs on mine too. I also thought about grinding down the metal posts that hold the bright reveal - just to above the holding clip. Might have to dremel the stone shield in a few places to make the fit perfect...I suspect that's what makes the fit so tight.

Olds_71_442

You could probably shave a little off the stoneshield too. I don't think it will hurt anything, since it won't be seen. I don't know if you noticed, but on the factory originals, these studs were bent over, instead of adding a clip. I think that may be why there was never any issue with hitting the stoneshield?

Allan R

Yes, I saw a picture of the OEM one with the detail you described. Also the stud was about another 1/2" further down and not so close to the tab. Probably allowed the fitment a lot easer.

Olds_71_442

Yeah.....I forgot to mention that too. It's the second stud down towards the middle of the stoneshield that's causing all the problems. I shaved both of those off too.