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Hey everyone,
Been looking around but cant seem to find a driver side grille for a reasonable prive. I was driving through a construction zone and im sure with all the bumps the grille popped out of the already broken fiberglass screw holes as you can see in the picture. No need to be in great condition, just not complete trash is what in looking for. I plastidipped them and they actually looked decent. Please pm me if you know of anyone thag might have one of these laying around. Thanks a million guys.
Boy that's a crying shame because those grills are VERY expensive. I bought some reproduction grills for my '71 about 5 years ago and they were $1350 for the pair.
I have a 70 and my grills don't look so good. They've been pitted from corrosion. They've been de-chromed for restoration, but I haven't proceeded since the chrome plate shop said they are an aluminum alloy and needed special chroming process that they couldn't perform. If re-chromed, they'll probably be OK, since under the bumper, they're not that noticeable.
Alternate solution for the 70,71,72 grills...use the much easier to obtain and much less expensive 68 and 69 grills. I now have all the pieces necessary to convert my 70 to 68/69 grills, including the internal brackets that hold on the black plastic grill parts. My 70 has 68 back-up lights and will probably have an L-88 style hood, so it's not all that accurate anyhow. I would prefer to keep the 70 grill look however. $1350 for repro grills is definitely expensive!!
Hey everyone,
Been looking around but cant seem to find a driver side grille for a reasonable prive. I was driving through a construction zone and im sure with all the bumps the grille popped out of the already broken fiberglass screw holes as you can see in the picture. No need to be in great condition, just not complete trash is what in looking for. I plastidipped them and they actually looked decent. Please pm me if you know of anyone thag might have one of these laying around. Thanks a million guys.
Best,
Dave
Not sure which coast you live on but if it's east you may want to try a trip to Carlisle. This weekend is nothing but Corvettes and based on conversations I had with a few vendors at Spring Carlisle there are restored grills to be had for around $700 for a pair. Zip, Paragon and others sell them for about $700 a piece.
the chrome plate shop said they are an aluminum alloy and needed special chroming process that they couldn't perform.
When I bought the front clip for our 71, it came with front grills that had been powder coated in a shiney silver. Like you say, hardly noticeable down under the bumper....
"Funny" thing is that my '72 just got a new left side grille. I have the original but it is damaged. Not worth much. Here is the deal with mine, I searched and searched and searched. I searched here, Craigslist, word of mouth, local Corvette shops, etc. I found nothing. Not a single lead to even a worn set. I too was hoping to find a pair in fair shape for a fair price. Then I lowered my standards and just had nothing. The irritating part is that everywhere I looked I could find '68-'69,'73-'82 grilles. However, IF I found a '70-'72 grille; it was always for the right side. So I was looking around online and from the get-go I had watched Corvette Central's price. It was scary. I watched all of the parts suppliers, and just was blown away about how expensive they were when compared to the other years of C3's. Then like last month, I think, I randomly checked up on it and found that they had a sale on them. I think I still spent like $300-$400 on it shipped. I decided to buy it, because it was on sale and also I was out of options. Hope things go easier for you than they were for me.
Thanks for the replies guys. I think for now im going to keep it as is... might take the other one off for uniformity and rig up some sort of wire mesh covers for the meantime... if i come accross one somewhere then ill jump on it.
Unfortunately Carlisle isnt an option for me since im in the west coast.
"Funny" thing is that my '72 just got a new left side grille. I have the original but it is damaged. Not worth much. Here is the deal with mine, I searched and searched and searched. I searched here, Craigslist, word of mouth, local Corvette shops, etc. I found nothing. Not a single lead to even a worn set. I too was hoping to find a pair in fair shape for a fair price. Then I lowered my standards and just had nothing. The irritating part is that everywhere I looked I could find '68-'69,'73-'82 grilles. However, IF I found a '70-'72 grille; it was always for the right side. So I was looking around online and from the get-go I had watched Corvette Central's price. It was scary. I watched all of the parts suppliers, and just was blown away about how expensive they were when compared to the other years of C3's. Then like last month, I think, I randomly checked up on it and found that they had a sale on them. I think I still spent like $300-$400 on it shipped. I decided to buy it, because it was on sale and also I was out of options. Hope things go easier for you than they were for me.
When was this sale?
I have been looking for 4 months......
I am just appalled at what these grilles go for and I need a passenger side.
Just cannot understand why they are so much.....
Corvette Central now shows $599 for Left and (gulp) $819 for the Right....
Jebby
Last edited by Jebbysan; Aug 27, 2015 at 10:35 AM.
When was this sale?
I have been looking for 4 months......
I am just appalled at what these grilles go for and I need a passenger side.
Just cannot understand why they are so much.....
Corvette Central now shows $599 for Left and (gulp) $819 for the Right....
Jebby
At least a month ago at the soonest, I am looking for the receipt on it. Haven't found it yet, but I will let you know when I bought it once I find the receipt. I had looked for over a year and just was left empty-handed. I just was pretty bored, so I got to thinking, and thought I hadn't checked up on it lately. I quit looking at CC when I was told that they were out of stock when I was asking to see if they had anything (like in a scratch and dent section). For a while, that was the case. Well, anyways it was not only in stock; but it was also on sale. The price was like $400 something. It seemed to have been on the slow boat from China. But once it got here, it looked nice. I haven't put it on yet, but ended up needing more parts. So I went on a late-night shopping spree and bought a lot of stuff. Everything I bought is on back order I assume as I have been getting parts shipped individually and spread out. The sway bar arrived yesterday. .... But still waiting on the parts to install the grille.
OK, I'll bite. Can I access a vette vendor that has duplicate repro pieces? I know Paragon has repro duplicate side mount exhaust moldings for $2200 last time I looked. I think I paid $380 for mine back in the late 1970's...that was big bucks at the time!! Actually, I bought two sets at that time.
When I bought the front clip for our 71, it came with front grills that had been powder coated in a shiney silver. Like you say, hardly noticeable down under the bumper....
Now that is a "happy" looking C3, I like the chrome front end!
Hey everyone,
Been looking around but cant seem to find a driver side grille for a reasonable prive. I was driving through a construction zone and im sure with all the bumps the grille popped out of the already broken fiberglass screw holes as you can see in the picture. No need to be in great condition, just not complete trash is what in looking for. I plastidipped them and they actually looked decent. Please pm me if you know of anyone thag might have one of these laying around. Thanks a million guys.
I like the idea of trying plastidip...even on other trim parts. My grills were painted with green zinc primer, so I went with satin black paint. Not really noticeable as they sit way down low, and acceptable to me
71 lost a grille...
.... But still waiting on the parts to install the grille.
