72 egg crate grill
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 971
Likes: 7
From: roanoke va
72 egg crate grill
I stripped one of my side grills today and have some questons.
Does anybody have a good pic. showing the chrome edges of the grill?
And has anyone had any luck having the grill rechromed and if so where and what did it cost?
My grills look like a sand casting on all outer surfaces just like the grills behind the rear window. I can see where the back side of the grill was chromed but the outside looks like the chrome must have came off.
They don't make these any longer but you can find some nos every now and then. I was hopeing someone has had some chrome work done so I can get an idea of what kind of money I an looking at.
Has any one had much luck painting the edges silver and mde it look good?
Does anybody have a good pic. showing the chrome edges of the grill?
And has anyone had any luck having the grill rechromed and if so where and what did it cost?
My grills look like a sand casting on all outer surfaces just like the grills behind the rear window. I can see where the back side of the grill was chromed but the outside looks like the chrome must have came off.
They don't make these any longer but you can find some nos every now and then. I was hopeing someone has had some chrome work done so I can get an idea of what kind of money I an looking at.
Has any one had much luck painting the edges silver and mde it look good?
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,327
Likes: 16
From: Fl
If you are not going for NCRS you can justy paint the grills.
The entire grill was flash chromed for GM. Then they etch primed and E-Coated them. Now after that - no idea how they masked the grills for painting.
1970 - mid 71 had all the horrizontal edges chrome and vertical painted, after that period vertical and horrizontal were chrome.
When I restored my grills, I painted the entire thing, then went back and very SLOWLY removed the paint off the edges with a razor blade.
It is very time consuming, but the only way I could figure to do this.
I went through about a dozen razor blades.
Bill
The entire grill was flash chromed for GM. Then they etch primed and E-Coated them. Now after that - no idea how they masked the grills for painting.
1970 - mid 71 had all the horrizontal edges chrome and vertical painted, after that period vertical and horrizontal were chrome.
When I restored my grills, I painted the entire thing, then went back and very SLOWLY removed the paint off the edges with a razor blade.
It is very time consuming, but the only way I could figure to do this.
I went through about a dozen razor blades.
Bill
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
From: Mount Kisco NY
Since no one else is chiming in, I wonder if you might provide a little more detail of your scraping technique. Perhaps I could do it with a lot of time, care and patience,
Thanks,
Jeff
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,114
From: Crossville TN
Use a razor knife to scratch some of the paint off a small portion of the protruding edge of the eggcrate. If you get down to pot-metal without hitting any chrome, someone has sand blasted the chrome off your panels. It would be a real 'trick' to get the edges smooth enough for re-chrome so that they look like originals...plus the prep and chrome would cost you more than buying some used, good-condition panels from eBay. If you want correct-looking panels, you can buy used ones and repaint them your color; or you could strip yours and have them powder coated chrome [so the leading edge looks right] then paint them properly.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,545
Likes: 3
From: 406ci SB, AFR 180 Heads - 490 HP @5,600 RPM 529 lb-ft @ 4,100 RPM
Not the best picture, but on our 72 the chrome was not in the best shape anymore, so I just had them painted and left them. Maybe someday I'll find some in great shape.
While I can't say anything about re-chrome, I thought I post a picture so you can see what they look like painted.
Good Luck
While I can't say anything about re-chrome, I thought I post a picture so you can see what they look like painted.
Good Luck
Racer
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 382
Likes: 24
From: Uxbridge Ontario
This may not help as it is from my 71 but here is a pic of my side grill. I stripped the paint of and the entire grill was chrome underneath. Then the painter masked each of the vert and horz lines then painted the rest to match the car. It was part of the paint job but it took them a long time. Patience is the key to doing this. I have seen many that are just totally painted.
Last edited by DIPPOLD; Apr 23, 2012 at 08:59 AM.
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Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Mount Kisco NY
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2000
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From: cincinnati ohio
St. Jude Donor '09
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 971
Likes: 7
From: roanoke va
Thanks for the feed back. I thought about it over the evening and have came to the conclusion that someone sandblasted the grills and then painted them. Now that I have seen some with the chrome edges I can see that mine should have a smooth side on the edges of the fins.
Maybe someone will chime in and give me an idea of how much it would cost to have them rechromed.
The biggest reason I am asking is I have found one nos one and was tring to figure out what it is worth.
Thanks everyone.
Maybe someone will chime in and give me an idea of how much it would cost to have them rechromed.
The biggest reason I am asking is I have found one nos one and was tring to figure out what it is worth.
Thanks everyone.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,114
From: Crossville TN
The eggcrates are pot-metal....a low melting point mixture of metals (lead, zinc, aluminum, etc.) that is easy to die-cast into final form {no machining required} and cheap. Pot metal is not difficult to plate (copper plate, then chrome plate), but the blasted surface you now have will keep the chrome from being smooth and shiny. It would be a real headache...and costly for a good plater to correct...as it is now. See if you have any platers in your area, then call and tell them what you have; they should be able to give you a quote or tell you "No way". Either way, I would bet that you could find some used eggcrates that you could strip and re-paint for less money that re-doing what you have. Powdercoating is problematic for you too, as the "bake" cycle may be at a temperature that is higher than the melting point of the pot-metal....you could end up with a "puddle" of C3 eggcrates. Sorry for the dreary assessment, but it is what it is. Good luck.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 211
Likes: 0
Just a thought
Hey;
As a former 72 owner I am very familiar with this topic.
My thought is this. If you are not going NCRS, and just want the clean original look, you could prep & paint to the same appearance with "Chrome Paint". Then there is no "Heat" issue, and mithotical preping ( to get rid of that "Pitting") & masking become the key. Prep and paint the whole grate to the car color, then "spong" the edges or, just thinking out loud, you might even spread a thin layer of paint on a cookie sheet then dip. Clear the whole thing when you're done.
I'v always enjoyed this type of detailing, Good luck with the project.
Gerry
PS: I redid all the Stock Black 82 Grill-Work (& running boards) to Dark Brown to tie into the Col. Ed. Decals. It is so subtle only true vetters can ID it. But I love it because I feel GM should have done it in the first place.
As a former 72 owner I am very familiar with this topic.
My thought is this. If you are not going NCRS, and just want the clean original look, you could prep & paint to the same appearance with "Chrome Paint". Then there is no "Heat" issue, and mithotical preping ( to get rid of that "Pitting") & masking become the key. Prep and paint the whole grate to the car color, then "spong" the edges or, just thinking out loud, you might even spread a thin layer of paint on a cookie sheet then dip. Clear the whole thing when you're done.
I'v always enjoyed this type of detailing, Good luck with the project.
Gerry
PS: I redid all the Stock Black 82 Grill-Work (& running boards) to Dark Brown to tie into the Col. Ed. Decals. It is so subtle only true vetters can ID it. But I love it because I feel GM should have done it in the first place.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 382
Likes: 24
From: Uxbridge Ontario
I didn't see them do it the first time I dropped by on a site visit. They use a different primer for metal parts then the primer for the fiberglass. They painted both side grills, wiper door and grill, rear grills and headlight doors with that primer. When I dropped by just before the color coat went on I saw the painter mask the grills and the wiper door trim piece. They used the thin tape that is used for masking lines for different colors, which is much different then masking tape. The painter said that they have found with their experience it is easier to do it this way, they actually mask it twice as they remove all the tape after water sanding the primer then re-mask for the base coat/clear. It is a real treat to watch a guy that knows what he is doing with tape, as I think it took him about 30 mins to do both grills and the wiper door trim piece.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,485
Likes: 7
From: Peekskill NY
If you are not going for NCRS you can justy paint the grills.
The entire grill was flash chromed for GM. Then they etch primed and E-Coated them. Now after that - no idea how they masked the grills for painting.
1970 - mid 71 had all the horrizontal edges chrome and vertical painted, after that period vertical and horrizontal were chrome.
When I restored my grills, I painted the entire thing, then went back and very SLOWLY removed the paint off the edges with a razor blade.
It is very time consuming, but the only way I could figure to do this.
I went through about a dozen razor blades.
Bill
The entire grill was flash chromed for GM. Then they etch primed and E-Coated them. Now after that - no idea how they masked the grills for painting.
1970 - mid 71 had all the horrizontal edges chrome and vertical painted, after that period vertical and horrizontal were chrome.
When I restored my grills, I painted the entire thing, then went back and very SLOWLY removed the paint off the edges with a razor blade.
It is very time consuming, but the only way I could figure to do this.
I went through about a dozen razor blades.
Bill
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 82
Likes: 0
From: Mount Kisco NY
Hope it's OK to resurrect this thread, now that it's original direction seems to be played out.
Looking closely at my painted 72 grills, I noticed a chip on one of the outer edges. It has taken the paint off and I see what definitely seems to be shiny chrome underneath.
This gives me hope that I can expose the edges just as some of you have done.
Could someone with "correctly" exposed eggcrates please post or email some closeup pix so that I know just how much scraping to do?
TIA.
Looking closely at my painted 72 grills, I noticed a chip on one of the outer edges. It has taken the paint off and I see what definitely seems to be shiny chrome underneath.
This gives me hope that I can expose the edges just as some of you have done.Could someone with "correctly" exposed eggcrates please post or email some closeup pix so that I know just how much scraping to do?
TIA.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,114
From: Crossville TN
The factory "eggcrates" were flash-chromed all over, then painted except for the most outer surface of the protrusions. All other areas of the pieces are to be painted (at least on '71s and '72s). The easiest way to bring a good [not damaged or defective] set back to original condition is to: use a chemical stripper to take all of the old paint off; [optional step] paint the front surfaces of the panel with appropriate primer for slick metal surface followed by your selected type of paint; use X-acto knife to peal unhardened primer (about 1 hour or so since painting) from the outer edge of the "crates"; apply final color coat(s) to the panel per directions; use X-acto knife to peal unhardened paint from the outer edge of the crates. {Note: Mount the panel in a way that keeps it sturdy enough to do the primer/paint pealing without having to touch the newly painted areas.}
