%$&*!! cheap fasteners....

Well, I'm replacing my radiator right now, and when I went to pull the front fiberglass facia off, 3 out of the 4 studs that hold it to the fenders snapped off.

The front of the fender is boxed, so I can't really get to the back side to drill out the stud and replace it with a hex bolt. I'm inclined to drill 'em out and just use a big honkin' sheet metal screw to hold the facia on, but I'm worried that there won't be enough "grip" to support everything. Any suggestions? I'd liek to get this back together today...



I'm so godd_mn sick of the fasteners on this thing snapping, that I'm ready to just sell it....I can't do a simple maintenance job without it turning into a friggin' fiasco cause every bolt and nut is permanently frozen!

And yes, I had the whole thing soaked in PB Blaster for over 12 hours...

I know it's too late now, but you didn't have to remove the front fascia to replace the rad. I've never had to do that on my 95.

K

Actually, I was also re-routing the lines for my tranny cooler, so the front facia removal made the work much easier. But you are correct, that the facia doen't need to come off to just pull the radiator....

Anyways, I ended upcutting the remainder of the studs off flush, then drilled them out and there was enough metal left over to run a 5/16-18 tap through to cut some new threads, and then I used hex bolts from the front. Seems solid enough...

you could of just removed the grill for that as well.

either way...jeeps have ghetto fasteners. what if he did want to do something that required removing the fron facia? no matter ehat i have dont on the jeep, i break something. same thing, cheap fasteners.

Not sure how small your hands are, but there's no way my hands will fit down between the facia and the A/C condenser....with the facia off, I can fit half my arm between the bumper and the condenser.