Hood bezel (again)

[57 bluebird]

I have ordered the NM chrome bezel. I read on Ddot's site that you ccan just "pull" the bezel off. Can someone be a little more detailed on the process? Where and how to grab it. Do you use any tools? Pliers? Screw driver? I can just picture me pulling on this thing and having it scrape all the way down the hood.

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2002 Black/Black/Full Red
1957 Starmist Blue
1981 Shay (sold, made a good down payment on the '02)

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[thenewtbird2]

57bluebird,
the new search works quite well & I was able to come up with quite a few topics that talked about the bezel. one in particular describes taking it off in several places. Scroll down and read gobird's and birdman56's responses. Their's are towards the end. http://www.fordthunderbirdforum.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000123.html

 

[Gobird]

Thanks Dot,I know I said something on this somewhere along the line.
57 bluebird, Just follow those directions. Sounds easer then it is thou. I had to work mine off from side to side for about 1/2 hour. It finally let go. The new one is easy. Just push clips into slots.

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02 T-Bird 9293
69 Vette
73 MGB
97 F-150 4x4
2-Seadoo Jet Skies
Live Long and Prosper!

 

[Red Roadster]

57 Bluebird:

Just as an FYI, my servicing dealer (Sutliff Capital Ford in Harrisburg, PA) removed the "old" Torch Red bezel and installed the new chrome bezel in about 15 minutes. They charged me about $12-15. The removed Torch Red bezel remains in mint condition and I've stored it away in the chrome bezel box for posterity's sake.

By the way, it was your post that helped us get our premium red/red/full red accent T-bird! The car's running great and, if you ever get to the Harrisburg area, count on a free dinner at a local restaurant if you have the time.

 

[BotNew56]

The dealer installed the chrome bezel for me. I have the old one. It is in good condition, but they destroyed the clips which hold it in. I assume that those can be replaced, some came with the new one.

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VIN 106587 White, White, with chrome hood scoop bezel

 

[57 bluebird]

Thanks I'll give it a try, It won't be in until next week. I hope it isn't too easy to get off, I'd hate to return to my car and find the new one missing. That's what happened with my Thunderbird chrome air valve caps

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2002 Black/Black/Full Red
1957 Starmist Blue
1981 Shay (sold, made a good down payment on the '02)

 

[57 bluebird]

Red Roadster, could you please E-mail me, I am curious how I helped you.

 

[TbirdMarty]

57 Bluebird;

It just so happens that I installed the bezel myself yeaterday. It is very simple. I suggest that you open the hood and remove the sound/heat baffle from the underside of the hood. It is held in place by about 10 to 12 black buttons. they are about 1 inch round and all you have to do is either pull them out with your fingers (this is what I did)or you could get some kind of flat tool like a butter knife (so as not to cut the baffle) and pop out or unscrew the buttons. They are made so that they can be reused when you are ready to replace the baffle. After all the buttons are out just let the baffle lay on top of the engine while you remove the old bezel. I used a pair of pliers to mash the retaining clips in and push them back through the slots they were in. Once the old bezel is out you simply push the new bezel through the slots and the retain clips will spring open and hold it in place. then put the baffle back in place and put all the buttons back in by just pushing them into the holes they came out of and your done. It takes about as much time to swap bezels as it took me to type these directions. Good luck and the chrome bezels look great on every color bird I've seen them on. "Bruiser" especially likes his "formal wear".

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Courage - and shuffle the cards

 

[lilbrd2002]

I agree with TbirdMarty. It was easy to do,
and quite quick too. I just used a needle-
nose pliers to squeeze the tabs together and
then eased them into the hole. Pulled the
whole thing out after squeezing the tabs and
the chrome one just popped in.
I was apprehensive about what it would look
like on a yellow car, but afterward everyone
agrees that it looks great.

 

[FyrDawg2]

Anybody have any pictures of the 'bird with the chrome bezel?

 

[SugarDaddy]

It was very simple to remove the original bezel and install the new chrome one. But, our local dealer would not even touch removing and replacing the bezel as they thought that they would scratch the hood.

We installed our chrome bezel ourselves last Friday evening. We used the same method as TBirdMarty and lilbrd2002. It took us about 15 to 20 minutes as we had to clean the area where the original bezel sat (bugs, water spots, etc.) after we removed it. There were no scratches on the hood or the original bezel. We stored the original bezel in the same box as the chrome one. The buttons holding the sound/heat shield popped right back in with a little pressure. It looks great!



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Triple Black Premium
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