How to replace header panel & grille?

I wrecked the panel and grille on my 92 Cherokee. I have the new parts. What are the nuances I need to know before I try replacing the old with the new. I have never done any body work before, just knuckle busting, so I need all the help I can get. What other parts do I need to reassemble? Are there some plastic nuts and bolts that will break when I remove the old parts? What can I damage if I don't do things in the right sequence, etc? All of those and others that you can think of are the kinds of things I probably need to know?
Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Nothing plastic that can break from what i remember, its mainly just bolt up and screw in the grill. Its pretty self-explanitory, i think there is 2 bolts on either side where it bolts up with the fenders and thats how the header panel goes on. Then the lights and stuff like that screw into the header panel if i remember correctly. Then the actual grill just screws in. Hope this helps

take off the grill, the take off the lamps, lights, and bevels. Attatching to the fender you will see 2 bolts that need to be removed. then CAREFULLY without breaking it off lift it out. Very easy swap. Probobly 15-20 minuits for it all.

I hit a sign last winter and had to replace the header panel and grill, I pulled the parts I needed from a yard so I kinda figured out what I needed to do by removing them. I had no Idea what the hell I was doing and it took me about an hour and a half, mainly because my fender was bent in so I had to punch it back out so I could bolt the header panel to it. Its not a hard thing to do, The only thing that was a pain for me was the little springs that angle the headlights (don't loose one like me)

As others have said, it's a pretty simple job. The most annoying thing you're going to run into is getting the darn thing lined up, especially if it's a non-OEM header panel. Hopefully it's not painted yet, since you may need to sand down the edges of the panel to fit smoothly against the fenders. It might even be necessary to unbolt the fenders and shift them around, but I wouldn't do that unless I absolutely had to.

In additon to the main nuts and bolts that hold the thing on, there are four bolts along the top of the header panel that fasten it to the top radiator support (near the center hood latch). They reside in ovaled slots so that you can adjust the vertical height of the panel to ensure that it aligns evenly with the front of the hood. Is the replacement panel fiberglass or plastic? Even though mine was plastic, I had a heck of a time getting it straight -- it's still not perfect. Fiberglass might be a little harder.

You're also going to want to remove the little white screw bosses from the old header panel for use in the new one (I doubt the replacement part comes with them). This is where the grille, headlight bezels, side marker lenses, etc. attach. I used needle-nosed pliers for removal. They break easily, so be careful.

If you forget where anything goes after removing the old parts, let me know and I'll upload a few pictures from my rebuild.

Thanks to all. I'm off to do the job. The picture idea is great. I'll take them at each step in the event I run into trouble, I will be able to better explain my problem. However, from what I've read, it doesn't sound all too bad.
Thanks again.

hankdz said:

Thanks to all. I'm off to do the job. The picture idea is great. I'll take them at each step in the event I run into trouble, I will be able to better explain my problem. However, from what I've read, it doesn't sound all too bad.
Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I could really do with those pictures right about now.

XocoMan said:

I could really do with those pictures right about now.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ZuFcYaxhyYZFBCR21VNHphb0E/view?usp=sharing

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