While I plan to post a detailed thread with pictures on my 2005 SV8 project (supercharger snout upgrade, pulley and belt tensioner replacement, and replacement of every coolant hose) I hit a wall this evening and thought I would post my frustration.

So... I have every old piece of coolant and heater hose out of the car and replaced, including the rear firewall hoses, EGR and throttle body hoses, valley hose, and front hoses. Not at lot of room on the front intercooler hoses... well, just noticed that I ripped $40 of new hose getting one of the intercooler hoses on, and determined that I have to take off the front bumper beam in order to get at that hose and no properly reattach the IC to supercharger pump hose without ripping another hose.

Easy enough, says the manual: "Remove 4 bolts, and remove 4 retaining rivets."

Not so fast... the retaining rivets are buried 4 inches deep in the bumper beam, and I don't have cobalt drill bits quite long enough. So... project on hold, new bits ordered... but seriously, Jaguar, why rivets? Why not a bolt? I can forgive the valley hose (but some designer does owe at least beers to various enthusiasts that have 'gone to the valley') and the easy-to-strip EGR bolts, but rivets! Well, I'll just have to wait until the weekend to drill them out.

Can't wait to get the car on the road... I purchased it with an unresolved coolant leak (it was the rear firewall heater hose) and am looking forward to getting done with the job and driving it.

If there are any pointers on easy rivet removal in the bumper... I would love to hear! The side-chiseling approach wont work b/c there is no access from the side, only straight on.
- scooter

 

For the benefit of others that need to remove the bumper beam, the rivets aren't too bad if you have the right tools. Start with a (long) punch and hammer to dent the face of the rivet, then use a set of 6" long (give or take) cobalt drill bits in various sizes.

 

Had a similar frustration a few weeks ago. Had everything else taken off including the bumper bolts, then come to realize the rivets were still holding it in place. Ended up leaving the bumper on and doing the job anyways (much more work).

Did you get any pictures during the removal?

 

Bumper is still (mostly) detached, so I just grabbed some pictures (sorry, they are very large). I believe the suspension air pump is attached on the driver's side (something heavy is there) and so I undid all the bolts save one bolt on the driver's side. I need access to the passenger side, so with one bolt in place I can drop the bumper down. Here are pictures with the bumper beam dropped down, the rivets identified. With the beam dropped and the plastic cross support that holds the headlights removed (I haven't done this yet -- tomorrow) I believe access to the heat exchanger inlet and outlet goes from difficult to very easy. I'll know more tomorrow. Once you have the rivets mostly drilled out, a pry bar makes quick work of easing the beam free.

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