Replacing Chrome trim on bonnet?

[yabby4749]

Is it easy to do, mine has stone chips over it and I want to put a fresh trim on. I found one on eBay for Mk2 facelift. I have a 2009 saloon which I assume is a Mk2 facelift.

 

[Lenny]

Easy to do but they tend to snap when removing

I've replaced mine with a colour coded ST here's a link with a pdf guide

You may also like to Google "full list of lennys guides" 

For more mk2.5 modifications 

[yabby4749]

Thank you very much 😄 I am not bothered if the trim it self breaks as I would just throw it out anyway, I will take a look at the link you posted too cheers! I ordered the part from eBay, made sure it fit my car and it was the last one from a buyer, not sure if there are many more for this car.

[Lenny]

2 minutes ago, yabby4749 said:

Thank you very much 😄 I am not bothered if the trim it self breaks as I would just throw it out anyway, I will take a look at the link you posted too cheers! I ordered the part from ebay, made sure it fit my car and it was the last one from a buyer, not sure if there are many more for this car.

No problem, 

I've been on here eight years now lol I remember things that have been documented and as result can easily link to them,

The chrome is plastic coated to look like chrome, its secured to the bonnet with three plastic clips, You will see them when you open the bonnet, 

I used a pliers to squeeze them and push back out from the bonnet, then use some petrol and an old sock or cloth to remove the foam sticky pad strips leaving a smooth clean surface for the replacement,

Mine broke in three pieces when removing 😓

You may also like to view my build thread here: 

 

[yabby4749]

P.S. It looks like that there are three lugs? under the bonnet, how easy does the trim come off once the sticky tape is dealt with with the hairdryer and knife? Sorry I posted this after you just posted your last reply lol.

[Lenny]

Just now, yabby4749 said:

P.S. It looks like that there are three lugs? under the bonnet, how easy does the trim come off once the sticky tape is dealth with with the hairdryer and knife?

I didn't bother with the knife, 

I just squeezed the lugs with a pliers to gently push them back out through the holes and used the hairdryer to soften the foam adhesive strips,

Petrol on a cloth will dissolve the polystyrene based foam strips 

Don't leave the hairdryer in the same location for two long as it could crack the paint.

[yabby4749]

Ah, so you used the hair dryer before you pushed them through or whilst you were pushing the clips through? I may wait until the stone chips get worse before replacng. To be honest I have not had the car long and just seem to have gotten unlucky that there are two big stone chips in it already.

[Lenny]

23 hours ago, yabby4749 said:

Ah, so you used th hair dryer before you pushed them through or whilst you were pushing the clips through? I may wait until the stone chips get worse before replacng. To be honest I have not had the car long and just seem to have gotten unlucky that there are two big stone chips in it already.

I used the hair dryer to heat the chrome strip while also pushing the lugs, probably easier if you had someone to help with the dryer while you push the lugs, my wife was never willing to assist with my car modifications in complete protest 😀

She's happier now I've moved on to improving the house: https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/80864-living-room-project/ 

The chrome will get worse as winter now progresses; the initial chip allows water to get under the surface, freezing conditions then causes the water to expand which then cracks the chrome blistering and flaking, 

Will see more and more of this happening on Nissan and Renault alloys in the future as both now sport chrome or painted sections on the alloys.

Chipping Isint as noticeable on the colour coded lip 

[yabby4749]

6 minutes ago, Lenny said:

The chrome will get worse as winter now progresses; the initial chip allows water to get under the surface, freezing conditions then causes the water to expand which then cracks the chrome blistering and flaking, 

Will see more and more of this happening on Nissan and Renault alloys in the future as both now sport chrome or painted sections on the alloys.

Isint as noticeable on the colour coded lip 

Oh dear I might just wait until after the winter months then. One day they will probably stop supplying these chrome lips unless I can still get them for my car but seeing as the saloons are rare then maybe not. I quite like the chrome look, I think getting it a different colour wouldn't suit my car, will just have to deal with chips and replace once a year or something ha.

[Lenny]

16 minutes ago, yabby4749 said:

Oh dear I might just wait until after the winter months then. One day they will probably stop supplying these chrome lips unless I can still get them for my car but seeing as the saloons are rare then maybe not. I quite like the chrome look, I think getting it a different colour wouldn't suit my car, will just have to deal with chips and replace once a year or something ha.

The front lip is the same on all focus hatch and saloon from 2008-2011 

The chrome boot panel on yours would be more of a difficult find although the focus saloon and focus van are quite common over here in Ireland if you were to log on to eBay.ie instead of uk

there's also chrome wrap available on the market which maybe an alternative option.

[yabby4749]

Oh great so I just ordered one for £10 more than a focus hatch one which I cancelled the order on lol. Oh well. I will look into the chrome wrap too, thanks for you help! 🙂

[Lenny]

Just now, yabby4749 said:

Oh great so I just ordered one for £10 more than a focus hatch one which I cancelled the order on lol. Oh well. I will look into the chrome wrap too, thanks for you help! 🙂

Ouch! 

The bonnet is the same aswell as the doors only the rear window and bum is a bit bigger 

No problem anytime 👍