fredski

Not sure if possible to refurbish my self with paint .looks like it would be difficult .Any one out there ever done this . If so do have any tips?
Fredski

Frankie the Fink

Many just shoot the grills all black then take lacquer thinner and soak a t-shirt in it and use it wrapped around a Popsicle stick or the like to rub the paint off the raised ribs on the grill, leaving the rectangular depressions black...

mblake101

I went by an auto parts store and found the exact width pinstripe tape to mask off the stainless and paint the recesses. Worked great! Good Luck!

fredski

I was afraid of an such a response. Now that sounds like a lot of work.
I may have to do the same,was thinking of cutting tape in strips but will
look into getting pinstrip as you did. One problem I have I can't remove
the grillsf from the hood, some bubba applied a sticky glue under them
I did remove nuts but did not want to distort them ,they are kind of stuck.
Fred g

65 Pro Vette

I strip all the paint off, polish the aluminum pans, wipe down with lacquer thinner, pin stripe tape and spray with 1613 krylon semi flat black.

Mike Terry

100 percent

Frankie the Fink

Its not some Bubba - original grills had a figure-8 or an "X" of black adhesive applied to the back before they were screwed onto the hood....

See posts #4 and #6 in this thread for the two different methods of restoring the grills and the correct number for the Trim Black paint:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...od-panels.html

Frankie the Fink

Also if one of the grill studs is missing it's supposed to be to clear the radiator when closing the hood.

GTOguy

This is what I've always done on my old Pontiacs, where there are tons of tiny chrome ribs with black in between them. Other guys on the forum like to spend 8 hours masking with striping tape, etc. I just use thinner on a rag with stiff backing, like a stick or a rubber artist's eraser, sanding block, etc, and get the job done in minutes instead of hours with the same or better results. YMMV.......

65 vette dude

This is the method I used when I painted my cluster.....except I wrapped a thin men's handkerchief, soaked with acetone, tightly around my finger. May I suggest that you repaint using SEM 39143 Trim Black paint. It is specially formulated for bare metal trim, and you don't need an etching primer.

GTOguy

The SEM Trim Black is THE paint to use on bare metal or chrome....looks 100% original and holds up. As a side note, I'm betting the factory did not pinstripe mask each of these grilles originally.....they were most likely shot and wiped.

fredski

Good replys thank you all for advise .will try again to remove tha grills.
Last time I used a bit of heat to try and remove factory adhesive but seemed too stuck on.
FRed g

JohnZ

Correct - the SEM Trim Black is FAR more durable than Krylon.

The faux hood grilles were masked with metal spray shields by the outside supplier - St. Louis just took them out of the box, applied some adhesive, and installed them on the hood in the Trim Shop (after body paint).

GTOguy

Excellent info as always, John. Did not know that! Thanks!

fredski

What is sem trim paint , where would I purchases this. If only. Available in the U S No problem I am across the river And look over the to the good old USA daily.

Fred

Chuck Gongloff

DansYellow66

A lot of auto parts stores or Dupont and PPG paint supply stores stock SEM paints.

j_66chevelle

SEM 39143 Trim Black paint is the only way to go I just had my cluster done again due to the first time with Krylon which chipped away on the new chrome. Also you could purchase 1/8 inch wide blue tape on Amazon. However if I were to do it again I would etch it with acetone

Chuck Gongloff

IMHO, it's an exercise in frustration... trying to paint the entire grill, then taking a lacquer soaked rag on your finger.... or on a popsicle stick, or on anything...............

and trying to rub the lacquer off the high spots.

Again, IMHO, impossible to do and do a neat job. You'll make a mess. You'll wipe off black paint where you don't WANT to wipe off black paint.

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt.

Buy fine line masking tape in several appropriate sizes.. and spend the time to mask things off. Then spray...

Frankie the Fink

I dunno Chuck - I'm not spending my time searching for the thread but a forum member did the procedure as I described and the results rocked IMO. Pictures were posted.

Talk about frustration - that tedious taping would have me a drooling idiot in 10 minutes...