Starting to reassemble the front end. My grilles were painted black. I have seen some pictures that look like there was a bright finish on the edges. Also the black mine are looks kind of shiny. I'm betting its just a rattle can spray job.

What is the correct color for the grilles (73) and were the edges a bright finish or no?

Thanks
Mark Potter

 

Semi-flat black bars with bright front edges.

 

The front edges were chrome plated. Use wet, fine grit sand paper (400) to sand the black paint off the edges to revel the chrome. If you are not too picky, you can use chrome paint to touch up bad spots after the grilles are painted black.
Fran

 

Picture is worth a thousand words. Tomorrow I'll seek chrome under black.

Thanks

 

You might want to PM Forum member LYLE.

He is an expert on all things "73 ! At one time he restored original grills and had quite a collection of them and even some NOS. He's a great individual to talk to and extremely knowledgeable on the unique aspects and nuances of the '73 Corvette. I'm sure he can point you in the correct direction.



Good luck... GUSTO

 

Here's a pic of an 1973 OEM grille set

 

On closer inspection it seems that on each grille (ends) one of the screws must have seized and someone drilled new holes beside the old screws and totally messed both grills up. Also it seems my center grille is gone and there is a plate holder there instead. I just ordered two of the plastic reproduction grilled and since I kind of like having a front plate I'm going with that.

Thanks for the information though.
Mark

 

Mark,

That was the decision I made many years ago when I purchased my '73 with the sole purpose of flipping it! It seemed like the prudent thing to do considering the cost of original grills even then. It was actually quite some time before I realized that a center grill was available for them. Just about every car I saw had some sort of plate on the front center back then. I suspect that it was an item that you needed to order through the dealer as I've never seen them on a list of options.

Years later after doing a frame off, I decided to look into a new set of original grills. Boy was I in for a shock. Being a one year only item the price had jumped significantly and no one was reproducing them, except for the less then optimal plastic ones. Within a few years, the plastic ones deteriorate and they become readily apparent they are not the metal ones. At that point I discovered or realized there was also a center grill available. I believe a nice set (all 3 grills) will set you back about $1000 right now. Because no one is reproducing them and many of the old cores were tossed (duh!), restored ones are hit or miss. Most I've found have been repaired before restoring and if you look closely it is often readily apparent.

My recommendation would be, if you plan to keep the car and even restore it one day, start looking now for some grills. You may just stumble upon a deal. Either NOS (that themselves were no so spectacular) or some very nicely restored ones. Because they are a one year only item, there just aren't many out there and the price of nice ones reflect that reality.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

Well as luck would have it I sort of like these cars with a plate on the front, so I beadbalsted the holder painted it and reinstalled. As for the side grilles. I don't have a problem with the plastic ones provided they look ok when I get them installed.

My car is yellow so I figure for the front plate I am going with the 3D gold bowtie logo and a black plate. I think that will look pretty good with the dark grilles and yellow paint, we shall see.