Post#30 » Fri Oct 11, 2013 1:15 am
Making this modification(painting the grille, bumpers and flares and removing the running boards) is much more complex than meets the eye. I have been working on it for a few days and removing the flares and bumpers is time consuming. To remove the front bumper you have to pull the fog lights, oil cooler, driver side body mount etc. The grille is very easy to remove but you have to scratch off all the fake chrome with a razor which is time consuming and can take an hour of two. Each flare take about an hour to remove because you have to remove the fender liners. I also have reconditioned my rubber trim pieces that go between the flare and the body. It's these little details that are time consuming.
Under the front flares you will probably have a few rust spots you want to address. The running boards are a pain to remove because it is a tight space. It makes it much easier if you have a torch to heat the bolts but it still takes a few hours to remove the running boards.
Realistically you could be looking at 40-50 hours of labor to remove, paint and install the flares and bumpers. It's not really a difficult job as far as mechanic work goes, it's just time consuming, but when it all done you will have one sweet looking rig like Tommy's.