gabeh1018

I hope everyone reads this who is interested in buying a GT grille conversion kit for their V6 pony. After much research I decided to go with the kit from West Coast performance. It is a great kit, but there a few things they fail to mention. First of all, the instructional video provided with the Kit is ridiculous. Maybe it was my particular car, but the grill does not just pop right in even after muscling it in. So, after contacting Charlie from West Coast and other members, I mae the decision to cut the bumper. .... well the relief cuts didnt help... So, i was thinking wow I have some pretty bad luck. So, after some more research the fellows from T2auction helped me out. I basically had to screw the grill in to keep it put and stay back and fit. .. so its in.. and it looks great actually.. it barely even overhangs and it looks stock.. however i encountered one problem... where the front bumper meets the body of the car.. it is slightly uneven now for some reason.. i will post pics soon for anyone who is concerened.... So my point is that Charlie is a great guy and was really helpful.. but his ad and ebay auction is a bit misleading. it does require a lot of hardwork and frustration.. maybe i got unlucky,, but other people have been experiencing the same thing as myself.. so if i had to do it all over again.. id get the GT front bumper... and get the grille... im not saying the west coast kit is bad.. but its not a 100% guaranteed fit... and it will require some patience.

thanks

LesteR723

i read a few other threads like this one, seems to be a molding problem... the plastic gets molded differently on occasion and swells. I actually noticed the uneven grille/bumper on my stock bumper/grille, so its not just the upgrade its just the plastic used and how it was made. (i know a lot about this- my dad works with that kind of stuff)

rygenstormlocke

I'm really sorry to hear this. I did the WPP first, before my garage messed up my bumper and it went in fine.

Sorry to hear about your problem man.

Jim Smyth

I did the same kit from Charlie at West Coast. Charlie is a great guy to deal with, before/during and after the sale. I got my kit before they had an instruction video. I read the instruction sheet real well before I started. Everything went real smooth until I tried to get the grill in. I emailed Charlie and told me it takes him about 45 minutes to get the grill in (and he does it all the time!). I read alot about this mod prior to buying the kit from him and when it started giving me problems on the install, I notched out the bottom inside corners of the bumper and champhered the edges on the inside of the black plastic grill. I did this to preclude breaking off the tabs and it then went right in. Its deffinately not a kit for the faint of heart or for anyone who isnt normally pretty handy.

burdweiser

I bought the same kit as well from West Coast on ebay before the intructional video came out. I knew it was going to be hard, but not that hard! I ended up having to cut the grille tabs in half to make it fit ok. It really stretched out the holding tabs on my bumper too. I think that over time, the tab holders on my bumper will stretch and break. I contacted Charlie from West Coast about the problem after the installation and he offered me a portion of my money back, but I just kept it since the damage was done to my bumper already. I will eventually go with a front and rear bumper from Casco. The guys at West Coast are great guys, but I would just go with another bumper if you want the double fog lights.

05redfireV6

I went and bought a lot of the pieces from the dealership when I first got my car. I had a lot of trouble getting the grille in, but what worked for me was when I put some hand soap on the bumper and it slid right in, I know it might sound simple, but it worked out and water took the soap right off, so I didn't have to worry about it ruining the bumper.

Jim Smyth

Charlies instructions tell you to use liquid soap too. Its just a real tight fit that really wasnt meant to be when Ford built the V6. They want you to spend the extra 7K for the GT!

gabeh1018

What do you guys think will happen to the grille and/or the bumper cover over time??

burdweiser

The clips that hold it in place are made of plastic, over time I'm pretty sure they will stretch and snap.

rygenstormlocke

Street Scene did come out with a V6 fog light grille designed to fit the V6 bumper properly, you may want to go that route if your grille ever breaks.