Need Help: Progard Installation

[DeepSea117]

Does someone have instructions for installing the Progard available online? Or posted on a thread? The instructions I have are missing steps 2,3,4 and 5.

[MERCMAN]

Does someone have instructions for installing the Progard available online? Or posted on a thread? The instructions I have are missing steps 2,3,4 and 5.

PM me your fax number, Progard is in my neck of the woods , I will call them and have them fax you a copy if you can't get them any other way

[MERCMAN]

PM me your fax number, Progard is in my neck of the woods , I will call them and have them fax you a copy if you can't get them any other way

They are faxing me a copy you can either wait for me to come back to the office tomorrow and I will fax it to you,, or call pro-gard direct at 317-579-6680

[RF Overlord]

DeepSea, it's pretty simple...if you hold the ProGuard in place, you'll see there's really only one way it can mount. Remove the 2 screws holding the bottom of the bumper cover, and the rear-most two nuts that hold the evaporative emissions equipment to the underside of the trunk. Replace the bolts with the identical but longer ones supplied in the kit. Slide the "back" of the ProGuard into the bumper and put the two tabs of the "front" over the new longer bolts and secure with the new nuts. Then replace the bumper-cover screws. You're done.

[DeepSea117]

Thanks for the swift responses! mercman, i've sent the fax number.

RF_overlord, wasn't sure if there were modifications needed, because I read a few threads talking about some parts of the pro-gard being trimmed for a better fit. I figured those necessary mods might be noted in the missing instructions. I'll definitely give it a look later on this week for fitment.

[the_pack_rat]

Thanks for the swift responses! mercman, i've sent the fax number.

RF_overlord, wasn't sure if there were modifications needed, because I read a few threads talking about some parts of the pro-gard being trimmed for a better fit. I figured those necessary mods might be noted in the missing instructions. I'll definitely give it a look later on this week for fitment.

Here are scanned copies front & back if you want them as well as my experience with the Proguard.

NOTE - I got one of the FIRST batches of these, so there may be a difference in how the instructions were written.

The basics should be the same tho.

From what I have read here ...

The 1st version didn't allow enough clearance to reach around & clean our RH exhaust tips ... as these Proguards were originally a PI CV thing ... which only has standard 2 1/4 exhaust pipes at the back end.

A 2nd version was created to have fixed the issue in V1 ... but was done incorrectly & caused some sort of alignment issues.

The 3rd version is sposed' to be pretty much spot on.

Again I have the FIRST version(standard PI CV) ... that I trimmed to remove the extra on the one side(you need to loose @ an inch off that RH side).

Some general food for thought for anyone that hasn't installed one yet .....

I have read some people have had issues with the holes in the Proguard lining up just right. I upgraded the hardware to larger diameter bolts & matching speed clips(didn't care for the screws Proguard supplies) where the bumper cover(& now the Proguard in-between) bolts to the brackets ... & I still did NOT have a problem with stuff lining up.

Now, I did have to drill slightly larger holes in the Proguard because the bolts I chose to use are of a larger diameter ... but I had "test" fitted it on the car before drilling the (2) holes out, using the OEM bumper cover bolts ... & it all lined up just fine. There's actually a fair bit of flexibility in the mounting of the bumper cover. The brackets it bolts to, hang down from & are attached to the inner bumper re-enforcement, but they are only secured by (1) rivet close to the center of the bracket themselves, so long story short, they are NOT 100% stationary ..... they have a lil' bit of "wiggle" room left to right. Depending on what type of speed clips you use, should you choose to go with different hardware there ... there may even be a lil' bit of "wiggle play" in them as well ... once they are snapped onto the brackets.

Long story short here ..... unless there was MAJOR error made in the "front to back" or "left to right" location in the holes at the bumper cover end of your Proguard - OR ... you fully snugged up the bolts at the fuel separator BEFORE threading in the bolts or screws at the bumper cover brackets ... I can't really see how there can any be any real alignment issues there ... as I said those brackets have some wiggle room there. If you're using screws or bolts of a small diameter ... that allows for some wiggle room as well.(the factory bolts provide quite a bit of this - but too thin/not long enough once you add the Proguard to the mix).

My install advice :

Tuck the bumper end of the Proguard @ where it needs to be between the brackets & bumper cover. Align your holes at the fuel seperator & thread on the nuts to the point just BEFORE they get snug(leave em' loose enough so the Proguard will still move some).

Check to see if the holes in the bumper cover - Proguard & brackets are lining up ... a flashlight helps if you are working in LOW light conditions. Move the Proguard a pinch or two as necessary to get them lined up just right, so you can get your bolts or screws started. Not working ? ..... more than likely the brackets are off a pinch. Get yourself a real small awl or phillips/torx head screwdriver to insert thru the holes ... moving it around GENTLY a pinch to the left or right, maybe even front to back ... should get the brackets lined up with the other holes. You should now be able to thread your bolts or screws into the brackets & everything should now snug up w/o any problems.

Something ELSE I did & highly recommend -

Some other form of "support" for the rear bumper cover.

Thanks to Javier(Smokie) for his inspiration ... as he was the FIRST(that I know of) ... that documented doing such a thing on his MM.

You will see when you get up under the rear bumper on our MM's there IS in fact a ready made provision in the center of the inner bumper re-enforcement(small mounting pad with a hole) ... where FoMoCo COULD HAVE easily riveted a 3rd matching hang down bracket to go with the other (2) ..... which I'm sure one could purchase from Ray. In fact you could even go so far as to get the genuine FoMoCo issue rivet with it, rather than using a nut & bolt ... to make it look as tho your MM rolled off the assembly line with (3) brackets instead of (2). I'm pretty confident if you yanked off those (2) existing brackets ... what you would find would be EXACTLY the same provision(s) like the UN-used one in the center.

Now DON'T go chasing down Ray just yet ...

The center of the bumper cover has NO provision built into it like the LH & RH side do so. If in fact that WERE the case ..... I'm sure someone would have thought LONNNNGGGGG ago to do such a mod ... & Ray would have sold THOUSANDS of them by now - lol. About the only thing you can do with the rear bumper cover is ... to drill a small hole on the small angled "lip" that is at the bottom OUT of normal view ... to attach some sort of homemade bracket(as Smokie did). I'm sure for another whopping $1.47787904 cents net inve$tment per car ... they could have come from the factory like this ... but the general intention of this posting is one of advice ... NOT a rant.

While I did my mod slightly different than Javier ... the basic idea is the same -.

Small hole in the aforementioned bumper "lip". A small plastic bushing sits in that hole, to help alleviate any possible stress such as ... further enlargement of the hole, which could lead to tearing or cracking in that spot down the road & the need to re-drill another hole to the left or right of the original one. A small stainless phillips head machine screw w/a plastic washer goes thru that plastic bushing & a small stainless washer & nut secure the bracket at the backside. Is the bushing thing really necessary ?. I spose' not ... but this "lip" I speak of isn't exactly straight up & down, its somewhat angled ... so whatever bolt or screw you put thru any hole you drill ... is going to be a slight angle itself, which in theory puts a lil' extra stress on the hole. With the bushing in there ... the bolt or screw isn't really digging into the plastic.

The bracket is made from a piece of cut to length aluminum & is secured to the aforementioned provision in the center of the inner bumper re-enforcement ... with a stainless bolt - nut & washers.

A small section of the Proguard is "notched" out ... in the area where the bracket is attached, so it clears.

Anywhoo ...

That's what I did with mine.

Standard disclaimers apply - your mileage may vary - contents settle during shipping - void where prohibited - etc etc etc.

[Blackened300a]

This seems like a lot of work for a piece of plastic with pre-drilled holes in it

[the_pack_rat]

This seems like a lot of work for a piece of plastic with pre-drilled holes in it

It's really NOT at all.

A lot of what I wrote & did was merely TIPS & ADVICE on installing & how I chose to compliment/improve things a step further.

If you bought yourself a V3 Proguard & installed it EXACTLY as IS using the supplied hardware .....

You'd have lost no more than 15 minutes of your life.

Do it if your on the fence ... it's a good thing.

Do that PLUS what Smokie or I did(center bumper support) ... & it'll be even better.