D1 brush guard question

[Roverjoe]

does anyone know how to remove the head lamp guards (the horizontal bars) on the stock brush guard on a D1? They have these plastic knobs that don't seem to do much. I want to remove them to grind and paint.

thanks

 

[96DiscoSE7]

those knobs lock the gaurd onto the bar, they sieze into place, use pliars and a good tight grip and unscrew, when reassembling clean with wire wheel or brush and coat with anti sieze .....the plastic knob might come off the threads but you can still get in there with pliars -Andy

 

[Roverjoe]

thanks - andy that is kind of what I figured. All of my knobs twisted right off and broke. I think that I may take my grinder and just cut the nubs off. I will replace with regular bolts. Any other thoughts? Also - any thoughts on removing rust and refinishing the brush bar? That is the project at hand.

thanks again -

 

[96DiscoSE7]

if you cut off the remaining nubs then you will have to re drill and tap new holes, that will be a big PITA, you will need to remove those nub studs, use PB Blaster or the like and a pair of vice grips and work at it, then you can clean them up and coat with anti seize....
as for refinishing... well the best is to remove the bar, media blast and powder coat but for the shadetree body shop remove just the affected area with the grinder and repaint that area, as for a matching paint try some diffferent brands but I have found POR-15 to work the best at sealing up steel.... start in a small area and see what the results are -Andy