Here is a picture of my front grill, as you can see the chrome is flaking off. I'm not sure what to do. Re chrome may not be possible and if it is would be expensive. I was thinking of blacking them out including the two uprights. Or maybe paint them the same color of the car. I'm not worried or wanting to ever make this an NCRS car. Let me know what your ideas might be


Thanks
Paul

 

Re-chroming is possible but expensive. What ever you do don't do anything to damage the structure of the piece. These things are very expensive. A good re-chromer will take the piece down to bare metal, repair any damaged areas, polish it, plate it in copper, nickel and chrome, and get it back to you looking like brand new - except for the pained areas.

 

[QUOTE=dc502;1583441356]Here is a picture of my front grill, as you can see the chrome is flaking off. I'm not sure what to do. Re chrome may not be possible and if it is would be expensive. I was thinking of blacking them out including the two uprights. Or maybe paint them the same color of the car. I'm not worried or wanting to ever make this an NCRS car. Let me know what your ideas might be


Thanks
Paul

Hi Paul,

I had the same problem with my front grills. I ended up getting them re-chromed but finding someone to do them was the hassle.
I'm in Australia and most chrome shops here didn't want anything to do with them when they saw them.
I did find one shop here that said they could do them for $300. But all they manage to do was strip the old chrome off and after 3 months send them back to me saying they couldn't do them.

I ended up taking them to a small shop in Bangkok, Thailand that do a lot of motor bike parts. They did them in one day for $100 each.
They explained that they could only polish the outer edges and not inside the squares, however this is ok as these areas are painted.
I realize this is possibly not an option for you but at least they can be done.
Mine where a few years ago now and still look as good as when first done.

What I did do before getting them re-chromed was cleaned up all the rough casting edges inside the squares. Also as my car is far from original I decided to paint the inside areas satin black.
Brad

 

Hello Brad,
They look great.
Did you have any problems with the paint staying on the chrome?

 

The painted areas where just unpolished raw chrome, however I etch primed them before painting.

So far so good.

Brad

 

In reality, unless you're having the car judged, the only part of that grille that needs to be chromed is the outer/lower lip. The rest of it can be cleaned up, sanded, masked, and painted charcoal grey. The edges of the eggcrate can be painted with silver, and from their position low on the front of the car the defects are still pretty hard to notice.

I know, that's not perfect, it's certainly not show quality or NCRS standard but if you spend a little time cleaning them up you can make a significant difference in the way they look.

The lowest quote that I could get to rechrome mine was $300/ea.- I opted to clean them up, and I was pretty happy with the result.

 

Just to chime in..............for a 1973, does it have chrome on the outside tips or is it suppose to be all black. Mine are so old and it seems to me to be all black. Unless someone painted them before my ownership. Let me know and if someone has a picture of an original 1973 front grill sections, please forward to me. Oh,, I was able to find the center grill for the ' 73. But it is all black too. ????? How cool is that?!

 

The edges of the the grill should be chrome only. I would assume all black and someone has redone them.
I will try to post a pic of the grills on my 73 in a minute.(having big time computer issues)

 

I just looked to see how much they are new....

 

Dick, from Virginia Vettes might be able to help. they do re-chrome stuff. wouldn't hurt to give them a call. Virginia Vettes
1-757-229-0011
I kinda like dealing with people that know corvettes

 

I agree, Dick is a great guy and will not BS you...give him a call.



Stay in tune...

 

Thanks for the comments. one thing I know is I wont damage them. they are structurally in good shape. Ill make that call and see what he has to say. I have been messing around on paint.net. I was trying to see how it would look if I painted the trim to match the car and then painted the egg crate area in a black. I do like the original look but spending that kind of money on them when I have other things I want to get done on the car first, keeps me from re chroming them now. Ill wait and see what Dick says about them.

Paul