Am I going mad

[bigwinn]

The garage owner has looked at the car and said several times that "I wouldn't do that for a couple of quid" each time I told him that they don't cost a couple of quid, the receipt I have is for £63.00. I made it clear to him that I was NOT after his money, I just wanted to know what had happened to the car in the 8 hours he had it. He was calm and respectful and didn't get nasty but denied that it would not have happened at his garage. Basically he new I wasn't going to get anywhere and couldn't prove anything. I have calmed down a bit now and will not leave the car anywhere on it's own for more than a couple of hours. Something I remembered last night was leaving the car to visit a customer and a house 2 doors down was having wall insulation pumped in, it was very noisy. Was wondering if the guy doing it thought to himself, look at that twat in the suit in the nice car and drilled some holes. I will try filling and painting the holes and see how I get on with it before major works and expense. No matter how much I like the car and how great I think it is, in the real world it is not worth the money or the stress.

Has he got cctv to back up his belief that it would t happen in his garage?

 

[MikeyH]

4 years outdoors does. I've a feeling those parts will be polypropylene (PP) or HDPE which aren't as UV stable as ABS but better at resisting impact damage, especially important with the open mesh sections, and cheaper to make.

It looks soft where its been drilled

 

[MikeyH]

Has he got cctv to back up his belief that it would t happen in his garage?

I don't know but he's not going to let me see it and I had wondered if it had been taken away somewhere to a mates place to do it. If he is in on it and I am beginning to think he is, as it is not a huge workshop, he will have removed anything incriminating already. While I was there he had a phone call from a customer and his side of the conversation went along the lines of "We had no reason to go under the bonnet, bring it in and we will have a look for you". Someone had their S54 changed for a 2.0L four pot? No, it's a place I am now keeping well away from as the more I think about it it's something to do with them, and trying to putting it all behind me like it's a bad dream. Mike.

 

[MikeyH]

So, I have had another look and I can get my fingers in the gap between the bumper and the grill at the top and I can see the plastic pins you mention enuff_zed, they are about 8mm in length. they are just missing the holes and most seem to be intact. Sorry but I'm not convinced that the grill can't be removed without taking the bumper off as I think this is what they did and there is a tutorial on Zpost discussing this. There looks to be lots of room behind the grill and I wonder if the kidneys are removed it can be wriggled out through the hole. I don't think that any of the fixings around the bumper have been messed about with or removed. Has anyone on here tried to do this? Mike.

 

[bigwinn]

So, I have had another look and I can get my fingers in the gap between the bumper and the grill at the top and I can see the plastic pins you mention enuff_zed, they are about 8mm in length. they are just missing the holes and most seem to be intact. Sorry but I'm not convinced that the grill can't be removed without taking the bumper off as I think this is what they did and there is a tutorial on Zpost discussing this. There looks to be lots of room behind the grill and I wonder if the kidneys are removed it can be wriggled out through the hole. I don't think that any of the fixings around the bumper have been messed about with or removed. Has anyone on here tried to do this? Mike.

I’m 99.9% sure I went to remove a prefacelift lower grille from one of my cars expecting it to be an easy job and being disappointed that I needed to remove the front bumper

At a push I think you can get away with not undoing the 7xt30 across the top of the bumper but you have to undo the undertray and the arches

The arches have very specific central push pin grommets are any of them missing or have they been replaced with new expanding fixings?

 

[enuff_zed]

So, I have had another look and I can get my fingers in the gap between the bumper and the grill at the top and I can see the plastic pins you mention enuff_zed, they are about 8mm in length. they are just missing the holes and most seem to be intact. Sorry but I'm not convinced that the grill can't be removed without taking the bumper off as I think this is what they did and there is a tutorial on Zpost discussing this. There looks to be lots of room behind the grill and I wonder if the kidneys are removed it can be wriggled out through the hole. I don't think that any of the fixings around the bumper have been messed about with or removed. Has anyone on here tried to do this? Mike.

I have managed to get at some of the fittings from underneath by removing the undertray, but not sure you can reach them all?

 

[MikeyH]

I’m 99.9% sure I went to remove a prefacelift lower grille from one of my cars expecting it to be an easy job and being disappointed that I needed to remove the front bumper

At a push I think you can get away with not undoing the 7xt30 across the top of the bumper but you have to undo the undertray and the arches

The arches have very specific central push pin grommets are any of them missing or have they been replaced with new expanding fixings?

They all look the same bigwinn

 

[MikeyH]

I have managed to get at some of the fittings from underneath by removing the undertray, but not sure you can reach them all?

Is removing the undertray a pig of a job? enuff_zed

 

[enuff_zed]

Is removing the undertray a pig of a job? enuff_zed

No, but you do need to be able to get right under the engine bay to access the rear screws

 

[Pondy]

Remember the garage will have a 4 post lift to get the car 10 feet in the air, so everything underneath becomes a whole lot easier. None of you have one of those!

Just saying.

 

[Joez4]

I think once you've filled in sanded and painted it, it will be fine, i repaired a scuff on my bumper using a rattle can and had to drill and bolt that lower grill as all the tabs on it were broken, and tbh unless you get on your hands and knees and inspect the bumper you cannot tell, unless the car is concourse condition I wouldn't be to worried about it, I understand your frustration with what's happened, maybe next time service the car yourself, they are very easy cars to work on

 

[MikeyH]

I’m 99.9% sure I went to remove a prefacelift lower grille from one of my cars expecting it to be an easy job and being disappointed that I needed to remove the front bumper

At a push I think you can get away with not undoing the 7xt30 across the top of the bumper but you have to undo the undertray and the arches

The arches have very specific central push pin grommets are any of them missing or have they been replaced with new expanding fixings?

I have had a look today and the wheel arch fixings are a mix of 2 types, please see photos

 

[Joez4]

Certainly looks suspicious with different clips, tbh I would expect a garage to be able to remove the bumper quite easily, I've had mine off a few times now and can probably take it of and put it back on in 20 minutes it's really not difficult to do, even first time watching a video I removed it quite easily.

Check where bumper joins the wings at the top there is a plastic clip that breaks easily if not removed carefully, these clips are very expensive to replace so they might have knicked them too.

 

[MikeyH]

Thank you Joez4, the join between the bumper and the wing has always been poor with the bumper sticking out of line. Having watched a video a while ago with a chap using after market fixings on his dad's car, he needed to remove a small portion of the clip to set it properly. I think this is an old problem as the bumper at some time in the past been removed to respray and fit the new lower grill that these ba$turds stole from me.

 

[MikeyH]

Okay so what would the Zunsport mesh in black be like for the bottom grill as it fits over from the outside and from photos on here dating back to 2018 they look quite nice IMO. However they seemed to get mixed reviews, although I notice that quite a few members from then that are still on here liked the black lower ones.

 

[MikeyH]

I have a spare lower grille here in Chester, you can have it for Free just dont part way with your zed

Hello GenZed, I have calmed down and thought more sensibly about what to do next. I have looked at YouTube and listened to what has been said on here and I have decided to sort it out myself next spring. I will spend the interim sourcing all the bits I need to do the job, so if your very kind offer still stands and you still have the grill, I would like to take you up on it. I have been out with the wife for one of our coffee and lunch runs up on the moors on Sunday and can't imagine my life without my Zed. There's lots of help and advice I can turn to on here if I get stuck.

 

[enuff_zed]

Hello GenZed, I have calmed down and thought more sensibly about what to do next. I have looked at YouTube and listened to what has been said on here and I have decided to sort it out myself next spring. I will spend the interim sourcing all the bits I need to do the job, so if your very kind offer still stands and you still have the grill, I would like to take you up on it. I have been out with the wife for one of our coffee and lunch runs up on the moors on Sunday and can't imagine my life without my Zed. There's lots of help and advice I can turn to on here if I get stuck.

Excellent news.

 

[GenZed]

Hello GenZed, I have calmed down and thought more sensibly about what to do next. I have looked at YouTube and listened to what has been said on here and I have decided to sort it out myself next spring. I will spend the interim sourcing all the bits I need to do the job, so if your very kind offer still stands and you still have the grill, I would like to take you up on it. I have been out with the wife for one of our coffee and lunch runs up on the moors on Sunday and can't imagine my life without my Zed. There's lots of help and advice I can turn to on here if I get stuck.

Hi @MikeyH, yes still here. Let me know when you want to collect it or you want it posted but you need to pay for the postage

 

[Zed Baron]

Scumbags everywhere! when I lived in London I had my wrought iron garden gate pinched, rang the police and they just logged the incident.... move on a couple of years and I'm leaving London, sold the house so giving lots of stuff away as I was heading overseas. I gave a lot of stuff (furniture etc.) to a neighbour two doors up who didn't have much. On my last day they invited me in for a cup of tea, I was sitting in their lounge and looking out the patio doors into their back garden and there was my wrought iron gate lying up against a wall. Scumbags everywhere!

 

[MikeyH]

Scumbags everywhere! when I lived in London I had my wrought iron garden gate pinched, rang the police and they just logged the incident.... move on a couple of years and I'm leaving London, sold the house so giving lots of stuff away as I was heading overseas. I gave a lot of stuff (furniture etc.) to a neighbour two doors up who didn't have much. On my last day they invited me in for a cup of tea, I was sitting in their lounge and looking out the patio doors into their back garden and there was my wrought iron gate lying up against a wall. Scumbags everywhere!

What ass holes, did you take your stuff back?