[Constellation]

(First post in the forum--apologies if I'm breaking any rules)

Recently got into a minor fender-bender while driving a Chevy Bolt 2017 LT and began going about the process of replacing the lower grille, which was the only part to receive major damage. Of course, in order to get at the anchor points of the lower grille I had to pull off the front fascia.

I was able to get the entire fascia plate off of the chassis, with upper and lower grilles still attached. (HUGE shout-out to some @Adventurebolt2019 's thread on the topic Tearing down a Chevy Bolt front bumper as well as this thread from another Chevy Bolt forum Service manual for 2017 Bolt / damage front car - Chevrolet Bolt EV Forum) and finally this video

Spoiler

Unfortunately, after getting this far I am now stuck trying to remove the lower grille from this series of tabs (the blue things you can see poking up from below in the photo)

Each tab has a small flexible section that is clearly designed to be pushed out so it can move, but none have budged so far even with those tabs pushed down. Do I just need to be using more force? Or is there something other than these tabs holding this lower grille in place that I've missed? Please let me know!

And of course after I'm finished with this process I'll be putting everything back together so if anyone has any tips regarding reattaching the front fascia of a Bolt it would not go unappreciated! Cheers o7

 

[MichBolt]

I honestly have no idea, but that small plate screwed onto the frame - how deep do those screws go? Could any part of the grill (even just a tab) extend into the area where those screws are?

 

[Adventurebolt2019]

I can't remember the technique for removing those tabs without breaking them.I think if you pad a pair of needle nose pliers with electrical tape and climbing tape you should be find to just squeeze down on the hook thingy. I almost had to take mine off when I was putting the light cubes on the lower grille.

 

[cfhgarza]

That style of tab isextremely difficult to remove. Trim removal tools help. It also looks like there are multiple layers to remove but I'm not sure which layer goes first

 

[Constellation]

OK, update: I was able to remove the tabs-they just require a very specific kind of push. There is a divot inside the flexible part that you can't reach with your finger--however if you press into it with a small screwdriver and then grip and push the entire frame of the fascia up it can dislodge it. Once a couple are free the rest are smooth sailing

I honestly have no idea, but that small plate screwed onto the frame - how deep do those screws go? Could any part of the grill (even just a tab) extend into the area where those screws are?

Just for posterity, there was no need to mess with that panel as it's affixed to the grille and the grille only, and at least in my case it came with my replacement part.

In the end I was able to replace the grille and reattach the front fascia. Knock on wood that I never have to go through that again!

 

[Adventurebolt2019]

OK, update: I was able to remove the tabs-they just require a very specific kind of push. There is a divot inside the flexible part that you can't reach with your finger--however if you press into it with a small screwdriver and then grip and push the entire frame of the fascia up it can dislodge it. Once a couple are free the rest are smooth sailing

So I wanted to update this thread because today I had to repair a Chevrolet Bolt with a busted lower grille. This is the trick. One thing that helped me was to take a wide trim tool puller and put it between the bumper and the black fascia and pry up as I undid the tabs, then have another person hold the fascia up as I undid the rest of it. The lower ones are tricky, what I did was break the lower part of the grille so I could see the tabs as I worked them out (because I was replacing the entire unit).
Will post photos of the process soon.

 

[Packard V8]

As most of you know, I like most of the Bolt, but that GM would design the first piece of front the car which contacts solid objects in the real world to be fabricated of fragile rigid plastic and then not have that as a separate replacement part which can be removed and replaced from the front !! That's just insult and injury.

Jack Vines, whose Bolt front plastic was cracked by a careless parallel parker and is still pissed about it.