[salth2o]

Ok first of all a big thanks to Kenny at Cobalt-addiction.com. I LOVE the way the top looks, and can't wait to put the bottom in next weekend.

Also this is my first how to so bear with me.

Ok for the first step is to locate the rivets that keep the plastic shroud that covers the core support. These are marked with the red arrows Remove all of these and save them as you will need to put them back in later. Also you can take out the front 2 rubber hood stops now.



Take all of these out by pulling the center part up, then gently pry the clip out of the whole.



Next you are going to remove 2 plastic screws from the backside of the stock grill. They are located about headlight height, and almost look more like a hex head then phillips, a phillips screwdriver will remove them.



This is what they look like when removed.



Next you need to remove the stock Chevy emblem. by removing the 2 10mm nuts from the backside of the emblem



Now you have to release the stock grille from the plastic clips holding it in place. These will be the color of your car, and you can see them by gently pulling the shroud up.



The grill is going to push in towards the engine to release. Took a little coaxing, but finally you will get it free, and it will slide back and you will be able to remove it.

 

[salth2o]

Now you are going to do some cutting. Take the stock grill out and trace lines (I used red) where I have shown you. You are going to cut the lower portion of the grill away from the shroud at this point.



Now start cutting. I found it easiest to use a dremmel, but use whatever suites your fancy.



Also for the back part it was easiest to cut from the back side, and then you just cut the little bars that connect the 2 pieces.



Pretty soon you will have this completly cut away like this.





Now you have to sand all the cuts smooth so the look good and mount flush. I used a file and it worked really good.

Now you have your shroud completely cut away from your old yucky grille. Set it aside as you are done working on it for now.

 

[salth2o]

Now locate the two outer tabs I have shown in red. Draw a straight line and cut these off so they do not get in the way of your new cool grille.




Soon they will look like this.



Now you are going to cut some notches in the 2 outer tabs on the bottom section of the grille These are shown with the red arrows.



Cut your notches to look like this. This will make room for the "L" brackets later.



Now take the billet grille and attach the u clips to the "L" bracket as shown, then attach the bracket to the grille by screwing from the front side of the grille in. This is kindof a pain in the ass, but the only way I could figure it to look right.



Ok now fit the grill into the car, and look where the holes on the "L" bracket line up with the notched out tabs on the lower section. Take a pen and mark these spots, then remove the grille.







Now using a 3/16" drill bit drill holes in the spots you just marked on the notched out tabs. Once the holes are drilled take a u clip and slide it over the hole you just drilled.

 

[salth2o]

Now attach the billet grille to the car on the lower brackets you just set up for.



Next you are going to re-attach the Chevy bow-tie (if you want to). The catch is when you took the plastic grille off there were some spacers molded into it. To re-attach it now you have to use something for spacers to get the bolts to thread. I used a couple of nuts. This part is a total pain in the ass becuase there is not much room to work in there.



Ok so now you are mounted on the bottom. Make sure your brackets for the top look like this, and were attached the same way as the bottom ones were.



Now refit the plastic shroud onto the car. Go ahead and put a few of the rivets in to hold the piece in place while you work. Now reach down through the hood release opening and feel for the bracket. Take a pen or whatever and mark these holes on the bottom of the shroud. Now take the shroud back out and find the spots you marked. Using the 3/16" bit drill holes on the marked spots. Now re-attach the shroud (hopefully for the last time). Take some screws and screw down through the shroud, into the bracket, that you already put a u-clip on. When you are done it should look like this.




Ok so now you are done!!!! It should look like this.



Also have to give credit to my helper....



I will post some pics of it outside tomorrow, and give you an idea of what it will look like with the bottom installed. I will do this next week. Again a big thanks to Kenny and the crew at Cobalt addiction for providing such a kick ass high quality product.

 

[salth2o]

Ok so here are some additional pics....hope you all enjoy and ask if you have any questions.




Close up





And what it will look like when I install the lower grille next week. It is just set in there now for your viewing pleasure.



I hope you all enjoy cause this took a while to upload all the pics.

 

[CoBIZZLE]

That does look good, nice job.

 

[CoBIZZLE]

P.S. if anybody wants this (or any other how to) to be stickied just PM me or Paul. If there is enough interest it can be stickied, this seems to be detailed enough and has PLENTY of pics so will probably get stickied.

 

[salth2o]

thank you very much....I hope it helps someone out, besides I had looked and looked and could not find any pictures of this grille installed on a SS S/c. I will post the bottom grille when I get to it this weekend.

 

[kelleyperformance]

wow you really cut that grill! i guess the kits are different, i kept the frame of mine in place. yours looks better tho! i wish i would have known that one would come out later lol. nice cuts btw

 

[gretty_d]

LOVE IT!!!

I ahve the same grill on my black SS. Just didn't get around to pics yet. But I think it is awesome. I have gotten so many great comments on it, and I gotta say it looks a good on yellow as it does on black.

I found mine was way easier to install than yours though. I paid a GM tech $20 to install it while I worked.

 

[salth2o]

LOL yeah I would have paid 20.00 for someone to do that job. It was a rainy day and got to spend some time with my boy so I am not complaining.

 

[gretty_d]

Oh yeah I am sure it was a great experience. If I had time, I may have done it myself too. But here's the deal. I work full time AND part time, AND I am getting a bachelor's degree online (I am ALWAYS on the computer), and I have a 17 year old son who plays varsity baseball, and then he will be in legion ball. We have a house and 3 cats and a dog, which is a chow so she is a lot of grooming work. So if I would have done it in my spare time, it would never have gotten done. BTW I have the 12" shorty in billet aluminum, and it really ties the grill and wheels toegtehr (I have a n/a so I have the polished wheels, not the gunmetal ones). It looks sweet. Got to get some pics up. In my spare time.

 

[salth2o]

If you could send me a pic of what the shorty billet looks like I would appreciate it. I was thinking about it but went with the black one instead. I hear you for time, I actually played hooky from work on SUnday to get this done!

 

[gretty_d]

If you could send me a pic of what the shorty billet looks like I would appreciate it. I was thinking about it but went with the black one instead. I hear you for time, I actually played hooky from work on SUnday to get this done!

I will try like heck to get the pic posted Saturday. If not, then it'll be up Sunday. Paid $40 with shipping from West Coast Corvettes, And it does come in black chrome also.

 

[kelleyperformance]

o you ended up getting that anntenna? bet that looks hot! man i should charge them a finders fee lol

 

[salth2o]

funny story....I had my car in for service a few days ago, and asked the service manager why GM did not put a lower grille on the car. His answer was so that they could sell the part aftermarket?????? Did not have the heart to tell him they don't make one. Then he asks when I am putting the "lambo" door kit on. I burst out laughing and told him when I have a "lambo".

Anyway bottom grille is on and loving the way it looks.

 

[gretty_d]

o you ended up getting that anntenna? bet that looks hot! man i should charge them a finders fee lol

LOL!! Gotta love it.

 

[kelleyperformance]

funny story....I had my car in for service a few days ago, and asked the service manager why GM did not put a lower grille on the car. His answer was so that they could sell the part aftermarket?????? Did not have the heart to tell him they don't make one. Then he asks when I am putting the "lambo" door kit on. I burst out laughing and told him when I have a "lambo".

Anyway bottom grille is on and loving the way it looks.

well actually they didnt put a lower grill on it because they wanted that "tuner" look. you know how you always see intercooled, turboed cars with a cutout in the bumper. they wanted an evo/srt look i guess. and they do make a lower grill actually, its the one on the non-s/c ss. but that lambo stuff is great lol. i had some guys ask me everyday when i was gunna "get stobe neons and bags!"