Reinstalling front fascia Trick with shrinkage?

[Jpalatinus]

I Had my original front fascia repainted and it looks gorgeous, but I am concerned it may have shrunk. When I took it to the body shop I had left the retaining strip and reinforcement piece on. The shop had removed these and given them back to me with a baggie with all the rusty nuts. I went to reattach the fascia to the reinforcement piece and the retaining strip, but the holes on the fascia do not seem to completely line top with the retaining strip anymore. I can get the first few nuts and washers on one side, but if I try to stretch the fascia on the opposite side to get the retaining strip into the fascia slots, the retaining strip pops out of the otherside. Has any else suffered this issue? perhaps my fascia has shrunk, but the retaining strip was fully attached prior to having it painted so I am a bit confused how it happened. I suppose my options are to try and Dremel out the slots on the fascia to get the retaining strip to fit or try heat to stretch it out a bit more, I just do not want to ruin the new paint. Maybe it would be easier to stretch it on the car, but the workshop manual recommends attaching the reinforcement piece first. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Joe P,
6808
17167
0883

[painterdave72]

When i redid my front fascia it has also shrunk but i heated and stretched the ends of it a bit before i repainted it.. i also cut the metal reinforcement in half so its now two separate pieces and much easier to work with now that the ends will not pop out when put on ....Dave..

[David T]

Leaving it out in the hot sun (depends on where you are, here in the North East it isn't so hot anymore!) will make it more flexible so you can stretch it and get it back on. They all shrank but once you take it off it can be a real b-tch to get it back on. Patience, persistence and heat will get it done. Either clean up the old hardware or get some new fasteners to make it easier. This is why I recommend painting it while it is on the car.