clipped a deer

[sandrew]

The first one leaping out of the ditch caught me by surprise, the brakes were on by the time the 2nd one jumped out but I clipped the 3rd one while still going about 25mph.

The impact seems to have been just hard enough to break the filament in the driver's side turn signal bulb. It'll stay on solid when you turn on the headlights but won't blink when you hit the signal. No biggie - it looks like I can get to that by removing the headlight.

But upon further inspection today the impact also broke 3 of the supports for the 'spear' in the middle of the grill that has the FORD logo on it. After poking around back there it feels like that whole piece (spear and supports) is an insert behind the grille opening. The big question is, how much to I have to remove to get to it if I decide to replace it? Can I get to it from below if I just take the splash shield under the front fascia off or do I have take the whole !#$% nose of the car off?

thanks in advance,

Scott

 

[HotRodKid]

General rule of plastic bumpers with plastic grills: if the grill clips to the BACK of the bumper cover, the bumper cover has to come off in order to remove the grill.

cant think of any car that doesnt follow this rule either

 

[Inkertinker]

The whole thing comes off and screws in from the back. Its not hard take the bumper and splash guard off as one piece.

 

[sandrew]

It's not terribly difficult but it's a bit of a PITA. I was just hoping to avoid it if possible.

The grille insert is only $20 from RockAuto so that's not bad.

Another possibly stupid question - is the shape of the SLO bumper cover different enough from the SHO to require different license plate brackets or are they the same piece? I'm asking because I haven't found an aftermarket one yet & Ford/Motorcraft parts places want around $50 for one. If I can get one from a JY for a couple of bucks I'm all for it - there's tons of regular gen 3s in the local yard but no SHOs that I've found. If it is SHO specific I'll put up a request in our WTB section.

Thanks for your help, guys.

 

[medgraphsho]

the front bumper is SHO specific

 

[fitefanSHO]

 

[sandrew]

I know the bumper is SHO specific, I was asking about the license plate bracket/ugly stub that bolts to the bumper cover. I wish my state didn't require front plates...

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear.