68 Charger Upper Cross Bar Removal

[The Rebel]

I'm in the process of repainting my upper cross bar and am looking to see where all the bolts are to get this out. I'm hoping I don't have to remove the entire grill.

 

[moparnation74]

I'm in the process of repainting my upper cross bar and am looking to see where all the bolts are to get this out. I'm hoping I don't have to remove the entire grill.


View attachment 711364

Sorry, Roger....you have to remove the girl, bumper, valence etc.......Welcome to the pains of the extra parts on a charger.....

 

[The Rebel]

Ugh...and the picture in the FSM looked so easy. Well I'm not going to go thru all of that to paint the upper cross arm. Low tack tape & plastic sheeting it is.

As always thanks for your help Justin!

 

[moparnation74]

Ugh...and the picture in the FSM looked so easy. Well I'm not going to go thru all of that to paint the upper cross arm. Low tack tape & plastic sheeting it is.

As always thanks for your help Justin!

Roger.....Anytime...

Removing the front assembly is not difficult but is time consuming.....Plus, you don't want to rip stuff apart now and run into problems and miss the show season coming up.....Do a touch up now and save that for another winter project....

 

[69bfan]

When you do decide to remove the grill, make sure to clean all of the hardware and soak very well so as not break any of the clips. There are some unique clips that are impossible to find new.

In the short term, loosen the five bolts on the front leading edge and lift up on the plastic washers so that you have the ability to spray paint around the area as well as the the two in the rear. The latch assembly can be removed simply and just tape off the spring.

 

[Runner 68]

That grill looks as if it may have a few cracks in it already.
Late 60s plastic sucks.
Treat it like an egg.

 

[The Rebel]

Agreed. There is a small chunk missing in 1 spot, but I have it. I also discovered 1 of the upper plastic tabs where a top bolt attaches was separated. Also doing this in 40* increases the chance of causing more issues with it being brittle. Unfortunately I'm at a standstill as temps are going down below 40* and down into the single digits in the next few days.

That grill looks as if it may have a few cracks in it already.
Late 60s plastic sucks.
Treat it like an egg.

 

[Runner 68]

We just went through this on my sons 72 Duster. It came out in pieces, we Gorilla glued it back together, painted it and it looked pretty good. After we re-installed it all the glue joints cracked again.
Thankfully OER / CI just started manufacturing them but ours is on back-order until god knows when.