I want to replace the grille pony with another painted one. Any easy way to remove the old one? Tried to remove retaining clips and the plastic studs on the pony starting precariously bending. is there some secret to removing them or do I just snap the plastic pins and reuse the retaining clips? I'm stumped, see no easy way to remove ans salvage the old pony. Any suggestions or experience would be appreciated.

 

I originally painted my pony while still attached to the grill. I taped off the surrounding area, sanded, primed and painted the pony ultra flat black to match the color of the grill. Came out awesome, but after a few days noticed that the paint was chipped in a few spots, because its a daily driver, and faces all the elements.

I decided to pull the grill off, remove the pony, and sand blast it. This got rid of all the original finish, primer, paint and dent from a rock chip. I decided to use a rubberized paint similar to rhinolining that is used in pickup beds. Came out awesome. Now no worries about rock chips or paint flaking.

Now on to your question about the retaining clips that hold the pony in place and the pins. they are very fragile, so be carefull to remove the clips(rings around plastic posts) you basically have to get something thin underneath it and work slowly until it comes off the post. When removing mine one of the posts broke off, but the rest were fine. The one thing is that when you put the retaining ring back on it will no be as tight as it was originally, so I used RTV on the posts and clips to hold everthing together.

 

Thanks for the info. I already tried removing once, when I tried loosening the ring to get something underneath it to begin prying, I noticed the plastic pin bending badly. Decided to try again later when I had more time and patience. Slow and careful seems to be the lesson here, I guess I'll try again...real slooowww. BTW used to live in Arlington, now in the Alexandira/Springfield area.

 

Have you checked out the northern virginia mustang club? great group of people, lots of events, cruises...

 

Will do - thanks

I'll be the one with the missing grille pony ... lol

 

I will be the one with a blacked out grill pony LOL