Hi, I need to remove the undertray in order to remove the front bumper. The undertray is fixed to the front bumper using a number of what seems to be plastic rivets, see pictures below. How do I undo them in the best way? I saw a Youtube video from Brickskatton where he removed the undertray, but he didnt mention what tool he used

 

They are a plastic equivalent to a pop rivet (blind rivet?)

Pushing the inner pin out of the back with a small twist drill or similar inserted at the front should allow you to extract the rivet body. Part # is KRA106001, and SNG Barratt has them for €1.32 each:
https://www.sngbarratt.com/us/#!/Eng...8-c3f6137c6407 (DE site)

You can use a pop rivet gun to fit the new ones, although I found that getting the gun locked on the pin properly was tricky where I couldn't get behind to hold it in place.

The other fasteners are re-usable.

HTH,
Mike

 

Thanks a lot for this info Mike!

 

The diagrams in the Parts Catalogue are often more helpful than those in the Workshop Manual:




Graham

 

To add to my earlier half-answer:
It's easier just to cut the back off the rivets that you can get to with a pair of wire snips. You will need to gently drill out those that you can't from the front.

 

Today I removed the plastic rivets. When putting the bumper back again later on I will most likely use stainless steel bolts and nuts instead

Now next obstacle. The last piece of the bumper to let loose now is the upper central part that is bolted to the chassie with 6 bolts with 8 mm heads. Those I have removed. BUT! There are also 3 plastic "bolts" with almost flat heads, made for no standard tool as far as I know. How are they supposed to be removed?

 

I think those are 'fir tree' fasteners that just prise out.

This post by woox4 contains a youtube link that will give you a few pointers to removing the front bumper:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...8/#post2015308

 

I removed my under tray last month, and it only took a split second. No tools were needed.

hitting a truck tire carcass @ 80 mph which was in the middle of the road ( at midnight ) just beyond the crest of the hill removed that under tray like it was never there.

I was lucky there was no reaction time for me to try and dodge it. In that case I surely would've ran over it with one of my wheels and caused some major damage. And probably lost control to boot.

it's great to have "luck" like mine.

Z

 

Thanks for everyone's input on the Undertray. On my 1999 XK8, my undertray is in bits, cracks, bits missing, and flaps around at speed.



I'm planning to fit the new undertray part no. HJE6486484AB and just like Higgins, I'm planning to replace the standard fittings with something a bit more maintenance friendly.

Strange thing to note, as I'm in Bahrain I got the parts from British Parts UK as their delivery charge was a lot cheaper than sourcing the part from the USA.

One thing to note is that I note past owners have used a trolley jack on the chassis cross member that is covered by this undertray. Is this the correct way to jack the car from the front?

 

Yes - It can be used if the belly pan has been removed first but it not recommended for safety reasons.

No. If the belly pan is in situ. You'll crush the belly pan and run the risk of missing the cross member altogether resulting in nasty damage to the engine. Stick to hard points suggested for an ordinary jack and use a cup over the head of your trolley jack. Alternatively, locate the recommended hard points recommended by Jag for the positioning of axle stands - sometimes these are also recommended for trolley Jacks.

Cheers,
Cubist

 

Hi Higgins,

J.Skatton of the Brick Skatton here. Glad that you got your matter sorted out. The undertray removal was so easy (to me) that I didn't understood that it would be any kind of an issue. Those were just plain metal screws, and nothing fancy with them. I used the same screws when I installed the undertray back.

It has been a while. This forum is pure gold

Cheers,
Jässe

 

Then I guess someone already changed the plastic rivets on your car for metal screws instead. Otherwise your video was Great and of big help!

Just like this forum, as you say, worth its weight in gold 🥇

 

FWIW - my 2004 has screws and I am pretty sure they are original. They are definitely not from a local hardware.