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So I just finished stripping the front grills and I'll just say these make the side grills seem like a walk in the park. I will paint the large areas gray but I'm wondering if anyone has a picture of how they look on the car with the ribs unpainted? I think they look pretty good in chrome and I'm really not looking forward to masking them or trying to paint them while pushing the ribs into foam like some have suggested. It's also pretty hard to get good paint adhesion as the chrome doesn't rough up very easily and I don't think self-etching primer really bites into it very much. From what I have read it is made more for bare steel applications. Edit- what paint did they use at the factory because it bonds very well to chrome?
Last edited by See Three; Mar 20, 2017 at 08:44 PM.
You are right about the paint removal on the fronts. It takes a lot of effort. Masking is easy in comparison. I cut narrow strips and used Eastwood zinc phosphate in a spray can for a very nice, close to original look.
I wish I had taken a picture of mine before but the gray on the ribs was only masked on three sides of each square. If you looked down at them when they are on the car the gray went right to the front of the horizontal ribs and the chrome was exposed on the other three sides. It looked like factory paint, was that normal or just careless masking?
Last edited by See Three; Mar 21, 2017 at 10:37 AM.
In production work, they cannot give the attention to detail you or I can. I believe to intent was to paint them as shown in my pictures; all ribs showing the chrome.
Originally Posted by See Three
I wish I had taken a picture of mine before but the gray on the ribs was only masked on three sides of each square. If you looked down at them when they are on the car the gray went right to the front of the horizontal ribs and the chrome was exposed on the other three sides. It looked like factory paint, was that normal or just careless masking?
Hi,
I believe that typically the bottom row of 'up-rights' wasn't masked so it was painted along with the rest of the grill.
Also, I believe that typically the recessed 'race track' that runs around the parking light lens was painted semi-gloss black, not the grey color of the rest of the painted areas of the grill.
Regards,
Alan
I can't say that I know exactly how the factory did the painting on the front grills. But, the leading edge of the egg-crates (front face and any 'stepped' area immediately behind that front face) were painted a matte medium gray color...close to a [solid...not metallic] cast-iron or gunmetal color. And I believe that the area just inside of the parking lamp is also painted that color.
I am not aware of any 'trim black' that was used on the front grills 1970-72.
Also, I believe that typically the recessed 'race track' that runs around the parking light lens was painted semi-gloss black, not the grey color of the rest of the painted areas of the grill.
Regards,
Alan
I have a feeling that there was a lot of variation in how they were done. Mine had the chrome on the ribs exposed back to the step where it got thicker, and I think they had the black inlay like Alan mentioned.
Here's how they are all chrome on the car, we purchased pour car already like this and the whole grill(s) has been rechromed. personally I prefer it this way but its little more work to keep them shiney.
Here's how they are all chrome on the car, we purchased pour car already like this and the whole grill(s) has been rechromed. personally I prefer it this way but its little more work to keep them shiney.
I'm going the opposite route. I'm going to leave the leading edge chrome and black-out the egg crates. It's all part of my custom look though as my side vents are black and when I do the front I'm also going to paint the rear vent grills black as well.
Also, I noticed your car doesn't have the headlamp protectors.
Last edited by theandies; Mar 22, 2017 at 04:05 AM.
Hi 72,
Often people find that leaving the grill unpainted isn't an option for them because unless the grill has been re-chrome plated the appearance of the chrome plated areas that were intended to be painted isn't very good because originally they received very little preparation for the plating they received.
Because of the configuration of the grills preparing ALL the surfaces for plating is quite a job.
Regards,
Alan
Hi 72,
Often people find that leaving the grill unpainted isn't an option for them because unless the grill has been re-chrome plated the appearance of the chrome plated areas that were intended to be painted isn't very good because originally they received very little preparation for the plating they received.
Because of the configuration of the grills preparing ALL the surfaces for plating is quite a job.
Regards,
Alan
I think that I'm going to repaint them as per the factory look. There is too much pitting and flaking in the chrome to leave them without a coating. So I'm looking forward to prepping about 50 squares per part each with 4 sides...so every step will be repeated 400 times!
Hi ST,
Because Chevrolet realized the surfaces to be painted weren't very good they chose a dark grey paint that has a bit of 'texture' to it.
This texture helps to hide the imperfections in the surfaces to be painted.
Fortunately, when the grills are installed it's a bit difficult to see into each individual section because of the angle the grill is tipped.
The much larger painted area along the bottom of the grill is what's more visible and also much easier to prepare and paint.
Don't forget the same paint on the bumper guards!
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
Thanks Alan, yes bumper guards are next. While the car is being worked on mechanically I keep asking for parts that I can refresh so I have the center caps and trim rings to polish, then I think there is tint on the rear window that I want to remove. It's hard for us Canucks to get the Eastwood products up here as there is only a couple of places that import them and none are close to me. I found a cast iron paint that looks close and will test it tonight.
I am also planning to refresh my grilles as well. However, on many pictures (even NCRS cars) I see the bumper guards unpainted quite often. Can anybody really confirm how the production status looked like? At least I would agree to paint them in semi-gloss gun metal silver.
René
P. S.: Beyond that... is any specific primer required to paint a chromed surface (at least I would think so!?!)
As I stated before, I believe that the factory only used one paint color on the (left & right) front grills...a medium gray satin or semi-gloss paint. Close color equivalents are 'cast iron' or 'gunmetal' colors. My feeling is that any paint labeled as 'silver' will be too light colored for the job.
The center grill was painted a matte black color (all over) which tended to fade to a dull dark gray color after several years.
Last edited by 7T1vette; Mar 22, 2017 at 04:33 PM.
For masking you can get rolls in a large number of widths from nearly hairlike up to 1 cm or so. Good modeling/hobby shops sell it and, of course, you can get it online. Such is significantly easier than cutting masking yourself. I've used that sort of masking when airbrushing metalizing lacquers and it works perfectly.
While on that subject good quality metalizing lacquers are very durable--perhaps better than what was and still is used on automotive plastic pieces. One very unusual finish is called "black chrome". I keep toying with coating the black trim on my '79 with it. I really like Alclad II. You can get it and masking from Mega Hobby.
Hi Rene,
From St.Louis the areas of the grills and the raised area of the bumper guard were painted with a dark gray textured paint. The race track around the parking light lens was painted semi-gloss black
The color and texture, and the detail, is well known from observing many cars known to be original over a 25 year period.
The center grill was NOT painted black. It is a very dark metallic gray.
The Zinc Phosphate paint that Eastwood sells is really the right color. Other" trim/cast grays" tend to be too light.
Regards,
Alan
Here's a photo of an original grill showing a pretty realistic representation of the color and texture.
Front Grills
