How did it go? Would love to see the final results.

 

Thanks again. Besides the masking tape along the top edge along the fender under the hood, did you put a towel or anything else to protect the metal?

 

Nothing else, just the tape. I slid it behind the vent as far as I could and in front of it all the way around. Top and bottom just to be safe. It's also critical that you open the door as the vent will shift while you work it off. You don't want it rubbing against the paint and door edge.

 

Finally changed the vents. Went as smooth as advertised. Look great. Thanks all for your comments.

 

Glad to hear it went well...

Any pics you can share?

 

Glad to hear Beemer... not as scary as it sounded, right? And you probably saved the one hundred + that the dealer would have charged.

 

The installed vents look great with the black wheels on the red. The interior is red/black extended leather w/red seat belts. Actually contrasts well with the Salsa red paint.

 

Looks great! Much better than the chrome with those black wheels. I like the black growler center caps. I have been thinking about switching out my red ones. The hood vents are very easy to switch out too if you want the gloss black R style instead of the flush vent.

 

I use black vinyl wrap the chrome. No need to remove the vents and cheap. Materials cost me nothing sure you can buy it online for $5 maybe. You don't need a lot anyway. Spend 10 minutes use hair dryer and sharp utility knife to finish the job. I showed it to my wife she just couldn't believe it.

 

I installed the carbon fiber side power vents, hood louvers and mirror caps. I used the method of removing the fender bolts and one small trim piece at the seam to the door - and I easily removed the old vents with no damage. Total time was 10 minutes per side; no damage or broken clips.

And for those wondering why not just sacrifice the old vents, I sold the old ones for $200 US. A nice return on the investment of 20 minutes. Happy to provide more details to anyone who wants to take on the job.

 

bump

i need to replace one of my side vents as there's a finger print under the clear coat from jag quality control

have my replacement vent polished and ready to go

i too am not keen on prying underneath the vent

re the 2 fender vent bolts, are they the body coloured painted bolts?

are you pulling the fender out and away from the chassis to get your hand behind, or going in from the fender liner?

 

I had to remove the upper body color bolts inside of the hood/bonnet area as well as the upper body color painted bolts inside the front door crease. I was able to slowly pull the upper edge of the fender straight out, away from the vehicle, and made enough room to get my hand in behind the power vent. I started working the clips free from back toward the front and when I was about 1/3 to 1/2 done with the clips, the vent pulled free with a gentle pull out and toward the back of the vehicle.

 

Did you have to remove both bolts in the door crease or just the upper one? Any other tips you can think of? Thank you!

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, but does anyone have pics or video showing the removal of the bolts that allows easier access to the side vents? I'd really like to see exactly what I might be getting into before starting this process. Thanks.

 

I haven't done it myself, but it looks like people are referencing the two bolts circled in red. You should be able to see these bolts after you pop the hood. After removing the two bolts, you should be able to pull the fender SLIGHTLY away so you can slide your hand in and pop the tabs from the back. It looks like there might be another bolt on the side, towards the top near the door as well.

 

To provide maximum room for working your hand in behind the fender panel, you'll want to remove the two upper bolts in the door crease as well. I don't have my F-type any longer, otherwise I would take a photo for you. You'll want to work on the clips closest to the passenger compartment because there will be more room there after removing those two bolts. Once I had worked three or four clips free, I was able to pull the rear end of the vent out a bit and slid it toward the back of the car to remove it easily. So, remove the two bolts closest to the passenger compartment under the hood/bonnet and the upper two bolts in the door crease - - four in all. All the best.

 

That is very helpful. Thank you.

 

I tried this today to replace my gloss black vents with recently obtained carbon ones. What a nightmare I had. I have a set of the plastic pry tools and was using tape and cloths to protect the panels but the amount of force required to move them at all was scary. Initially I was able to release the bottom clips just by brute force, starting from the door end of the car, but nothing I could do with the pry tools made any impression on the top clips at all. Next I unbolted the top two fasteners holding on the fender panel and was able to get my fingers in to poke around a little and could even feel the first clip at the front end but it didn't seem to matter which way I pushed or pulled no movement was possible. I then loosened the top fastener on the door pillar but this didn't make any difference. I would have loosened the bottom one too except my 10mm wrench has decided today was a good day to hide itself and my socket wrench won't reach so off to replace that tool tomorrow.

I also wondered about removing the rubber seal panel type thing that is up in the corner. I removed the star pattern fastener and went to try and remove the upper one which looks like a cross head screw but that just turned and turned so I'm not sure if it's broken or I'm just being a dumbass. Not convinced removing that would help all that much anyway. In the end I gave up and pushed the bottom clips of the original vent back in while I go away and think about what to do next. Thinking about it now I wonder if the clip that is being the biggest problem is the vertical one at the door / rear end of the vent as there was certainly something keeping the top half solidly retained and I can't see any way of reaching that clip to help it as it's completely enclosed.

If I end up removing all 4 of the fender fasteners does the whole panel come away allowing me to do this change from the back or are there further complications?

 

Can’t answer all your questions since I’ve never removed the power vents, but if you are trying to remove the plastic retaining screws on various access panels, you occasionally have to get a thin blade under the head to exert some upward/outward pressure while you twist them counter-clockwise.

 

A friend of mine just masked his off and wiped it down with alcohol. He used clear black to get the shade he was looking for. Came out good.