Holes for lower horn grilles?

[PurpleGoat]

Hello! Car: 356B T5.

Question - my car has had bodywork plus paint done, so some of the holes for the lower horn grill metal strips that hold the fins are sort of partially filled in with "stuff". I think it's excess body filler or excess paint. I am going to install new lower horn grilles but I need to sort of "clean out" the holes.

Are they round like a drill bit? Are they more like slots? If they are round, I plan to just use a small bit and open them back up, working up to slightly larger bits until the metal strips will pass. I will put touch up paint on the raw edges. Should I use tape on the paint to prevent cracks/chips, or will that actually make it worse when I remove the tape? I have painter's type tape and masking tape.

My understanding is that I have to put the metal strips through the fins, folding in half, then pierce the little rubber pads by spearing the strips THROUGH the rubber, then through the holes in the body, then through the half-moon shaped backing plate, then fold to hold. Is that right? I am using the kit that Stoddard sells.

On another note, my UPPER horn grill bolts are all broken off in the nuts. I see no easy fix for this. I have tried drilling, but the angles are terrible to get a drill in there and I already broke off a bit. THe bolts are very hard. I tried a dremel, but it walks around a lot and the bits seem ineffective vs. the bolt. Should I just give up?

Thank you,
Brian

[PurpleGoat]

Answering my own question for future people that stumble across this.

The holes are round. This is based off of looking at my own car and also looking at pictures of old cars on ebay, sheet metal for sale at the major vendor's sites, etc.

For the broken off upper grille bolts, I am going to try a 90 degree angle air drill. Air tools tend to be smaller than the electric versions, so I'm going to give that a try since I already have an air compressor. Maybe I can get it in there to fix it up.

[Starbucket]

Buy a carbide tip masonry drill bit.