Man, am I annoyed

[Phr0st]

Ok, I've had it. I'm willing to admit my complete blundering idiocy as a mechanically inclined individual.

When I installed my AEM CAI, I started to go about it by removing the front hood, but couldn't figure out how to remove/replace that annoying little black screwcover thingies that hold the bumper's retainer clip in place.

So I decided to go with the removing of the tire/wheel lining route, only to discover that those same little black headless screw things were utilized by the wonderful engineers at honda. Sooooo.. I took the path of the greater good. I decided that the wheels had less of those annoying little screws to deal with, so I just ripped them out, installed my CAI and by some miracle of god jammed just enough of them back in to hold up the wheel lining and the splash guard.

Anyway, I can't stand it anymore, I just had to go through the rigorous chore of tearing off those little things and beating them back in again to clean out the Filter. Is there some trick I'm missing to getting these little retainer screws back in place? For God's sake, someone please help before I go postal on my car's wheelwell!

[xivera]

Ever turn your wheels for more workspace?

[ric]

i would personally just take the whole front bumper off, i got it down to a science in my civic, i could get the thing out in under 5 minutes. 5 plastic plugs on top of the grill, 1 plug with a press thingy on each side of the grill, two screws in the wheel well lining (1 per side) and two screws underneath. first time i did it i was actually in awe that thats the only thing's holding that bumper on......

[Phr0st]

the plugs are what I don't understand. I had to break two of them to get them out, and had to kinda jam 1 or 2 of them back in, is there any easier way to get these things out and in?

[ric]

yeah in all honesty i use a flathead to pull it out a little then use a frayed prybar to get it out the rest of the way. or you could go to the bodyshop and buy them for like 25cents a piece and just replace them. i do beleive there is even a special tool to get them out.