I have an 05 Convertible that I am wanting to swap the grill on. Yesterday I went to remove the speed nut that thread onto the plastic post that hold the grill. When I turned them to remove them they just spun. I tried to apply a little pressure with a screw driver between the nut and the hood, but hod no success. I don't want to apply to much pressure because I don't want to break then.

Any suggestion????

TIA.

Mark

 

That is the correct method, keep trying!

 

I've done this a couple of times and you will have to apply sufficient force to "pull" the nut off the plastic stud while you turn it. I use needlenose pliers. I recommend you cover your engine bay with a blanket to prevent losing the nuts or washers. ( I learned this the hard way. ) Be prepared for some skinned knuckles. Good luck!

 

I agree that needle nose seem to work better. The whole wedging with screwdriver was causing to many of them to strip. i used a small pair of vice grips and slowly unscrewed them while pulling back on the nut.

Any suggestions from anyone on what to use on the stripped plastic posts? (I cant believe they used plastic "bolts" to put it on). I was thinking of trying to pull the grill apart and drilling out the plastic and replacing them with metal bolts.

 

This I can help you with. Mix up some J B weld and put a light coat on the outside of the post to fill in the thread area and build up the surface. This works pretty well and with the post being ABS material, this epoxy works pretty well.

 

BTW....Thanks for all the inputs!

 

if your posts get "stripped" (become smaller) you can get "speed nuts" of many sizes from the hardware store