2000 grand am, trying to change the headlight bulb, driver side. Can't figure out how to get the "speed clips" off. (They hold the plastic cover down which goes over the radiator and wraps around to the headlights.) They look like they have a clip that needs to be depressed in some sort of fashion, but I can't figure it out. I dont want to just yank up on them due to cold weather (making the plastic brittle) and the fact that the car is not mine. Any help would be much appreciated. I havent done much (read, any) work on GM cars, but have plenty of experience with acuras/hondas.
Are you talking about the black splash guard? The best way to remove those black plastic "speed clips" is to take a flat screwdriver, OR a pair of pliers with very good grip, and either pry or pull the inner pegs that hold the clips down. You should see a small raised circle at the center of each clip; this is the part you're going to pry/pull up. And yes, you will have to yank on some/all of the pretty hard.
When you pry, you should see the center peg of these clips lift up about an inch and stop. You can then very easily pull the whole clip off with your fingers. If you pull too hard and the peg separates from the clip, don't worry, they can be very easily pushed back into the clip where they belong.
To put the clips back, you replace the splash guard and push the clips back in place with the pegs still up, and THEN push the pegs down to secure.
Once you've had fun with "speed clips" :), the harder part is dealing with the metal clips holding the headlight assembly in place.
On my '02 Grand Am (same body design as the '00), the clips holding the headlight assembly are metal. They're basically flat metal tabs with the end bent forward to create a small pull handle. Most of them will very easily pull up about half an inch and "snap" into position, releasing the headlight, but you'll find one or two where you WILL have to yank hard to release. On mine, the driver's side headlight had a clip so well secured that it took 30 minutes of head-scratching and yanking, broke a pair of pliers, and required enough upward pulling force to make the car rock up and down on its struts before that clip finally let go... yes, they're that strong. Despite the brute force, there was no damage to the vehicle, clip or headlight assembly.
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