I remember installing rock/splash guards on my 2021 Stingray, and not only did the rock guards I purchased (from a different company) come with metal clips already on them, but the OEM clips got bent when I uninstalled the factory parts, so I was not looking forward to reusing the OEM clips, but that's what they said I needed to do. The small, ineffective rock guards that come with the C8 Corvette don't provide much protection for the side of the car because they don't stick out from the wheel well at all, so I wanted to improve on that. Thankfully, I figured out a method for removing the OEM clips without damaging them.
I purchased a set of front rock guards only, and that's because — at least at the time — no company was offering rock guards for the rear of an ERay and Z06 (same body, same parts).
The company where I bought the guards for my Corvette ERay did send me a set of clips later, after I'd contacted them, because I'd learned they were including them in new orders, but those clips — although the same size — had a different finish. They looked more like a clip that would be used to secure interior trim (something I'd seen recently because one of my trim pieces in my ERay was not fully snapped into place at the factory). I was concerned about corrosion over the long-term, so I decided to bite the bullet and see if I could find a way to reuse the OEM clips. In this post, I'll show you how I did that.
The first photo below shows the tools I used — a 7mm socket wrench and a plastic pry tool (to help get the OEM guard off) — along with the 7mm bolts that I removed from the bottom of the OEM guards. Next is an OEM clip next to a clip that was later sent to me, which I referred to as an "interior" clip. The OEM clip is the one with the greenish finish on the left, and although the interior clip is shinier (looks anodized, a golden color), it's hard to see that from this angle. The third photo is what the mounting slots look like once the OEM part is removed.
The problem was that it can be difficult to pull a clip off the plastic rock guard without bending the pointy parts inside that dig in when you try to do so. In fact, that's exactly how they're designed to work. You can see them in the photo above. They form a "V" shape in the middle of each clip.
What I did was use flat-head screwdrivers to keep the points from digging in while I wiggled the clips off the plastic tabs. That's easier said than done because once you get a screwdriver under one side, that causes the other side to dig in even more. You need to push down on the top of it to force in back onto the tab so you can get a screwdriver under the second side too without the points digging in. That can be tough to do all at once with only two hands, and pushing the clip down was hard on my thumb after a while (I had 8 clips to do), so I used a vise grip, and that also allowed me to photograph this for all of you. Sometimes a clip will turn sideways while you're working it off the tab, and that can be helpful (although not the main goal) because it may allow you to pull it off at a more favorable angle, so I've included a photo of that as well.
With a little persistence, the OEM clips can be removed for reuse without damaging them. After that's done, just press them onto the center of each plastic tab on your new rock guards. Here's a photo of the OEM clips that have been moved over to the new part and a couple of photos of what the guards look like fully installed on my Corvette ERay. Installation just requires snapping them into place and screwing the 7mm bolt back in from the bottom. Those last steps are comparatively very easy to do.
Thanks for looking, and hopefully this helps someone!
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