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Looking for some nice close-up pictures of NCRS correctly painted front grills on an early '69 (Oct. '68 build). I have the 68-69 Tech Manual & Judging Guide and know that there are portions of the center sections of the grill, the leading edges, that are silver while the back half portions of the fins are black. Restoring mine and want it to be NCRS correct. Did an advanced search but did not find the pictures and details that I was looking for.
I could also jump over to the NCRS message board and post there as well. Thought I would try CF first. Thank you in advance for the help.
[QUOTE=PJO;1606511098]Hope this helps. Also scroll to the bottom of this page as there is also other threads about what you need.
Hi PJO,
As usual, you have once again come to my rescue. Links and photos are a big help. Looks like silver front half only edges on all 5 of the horizonal slats or fins that connect and intersect to the parking lamp beveled surround, along with the front half only of the parking lamp beveled surround itself. Not sure about the correct terminology but hope that this description makes sense. Looks like the outside grill edges all the way around the grill are semi-gloss black along with all of the vertical supports. Easy enough to mask the front half of the horizonal slats or fins at the molded part lines. I assume that this same paint scheme would apply to the center grill behind the license plate too...silver on just the front half of the horizontal sections and everything else semi-gloss black.
I will post some after pics in the event that I can help someone else down the road with their E69 front grill paint.
Very grateful for all of the continued help and support you have given me during this restoration. Thank you friend
Finally finding some time to work on restoring the front grills of this early '69 (Oct. 1968 build). Thought I would post some progress pics. Tedious process to mask only the front half of the bars to say the least. And, only the lower 5 horizontal bars on the grills for this car based on what I found when I stripped off some of the old original paint. I decided to paint the grills all silver first, then mask the silver areas that I need to cover and finish painting semi-gloss black once all the masking is done.
Center grill bottom view. Thought it was interesting that the center grill has the 1968 style horizontal bars while the LH and RH outer grills are the 1969 style horizontal bars where the bars are flush with the edges of the frame. There was OEM evidence of silver paint on just the front half of the lowest five horizontal bars so that is what I am replicating. Not sure what is most restoration correct but the edges of the OEM horizontal bars did not have silver paint on them when I stripped off some of the old paint so I'm restoring them like they were Same thought process for the LH front grill and only masking the lowest five horizontal bars. Finally, these outer front grills are a pain to mask off.
I have a few sets of original 68 grilles. Don't be too neat if going NCRS. The originals were not. Some overspray here and there. I will post up a picture later if you want.
I have a few sets of original 68 grilles. Don't be too neat if going NCRS. The originals were not. Some overspray here and there. I will post up a picture later if you want.
I could easily fall into the trap of "over restored" for NCRS judging. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and it's challenging for me to do "just good enough" but I completely understand what you are saying. In 1968-1969, they would of had to have some kind of a template that they could just drop over top the parts and then spray away. Finance and Accounting functions would have stepped in doing these like I am doing. Way too much labor involved masking by hand. My NCRS book said they made a change to all black in January 1969, which makes good financial sense.
I would certainly take more photos. PJO was kind enough to provide some pics so I had a starting place. I will shoot you a PM with my email address. Makes no difference to me whether you post some more photos here or to my email addrress, whatever you prefer. Your call.
Hey avalonjohn,
Your pictures are a big help. Couple of enlightenment "aha" moments for sure on my end. I was going to spray with Corvette Central medium gloss black but now thinking the Corvette Central low gloss black would be more accurate based on your pictures. Of course, after 55-years it could be just some fading and aging with time that causes the black in your photos to look more like low gloss, almost flat black. I'll check my NCRS book again in the morning to see if there is something spelled out in terms of the black finish: gloss, semi-gloss, flat. I see what you mean by kinda sloppy. I can replicate that pretty close I think since I sprayed the silver first.
I'll post some final pics when I finish to see what you guys think.
I personally think the 68 grilles were used throughout the whole production year and into 69 until some point. My guess is the dealers complained about having to replace them at some point and they eventually redesigned them in 69, which then became production and standard service replacement. But that takes a bit of time which is why my theory is the 68 style made into 69. Just a hunch.
Also as you know these were molded in black plastic, not painted black so having looked at NOS replacements my eyes see a more semi-gloss black.
Post some pics of your finished job and have a pleasant weekend! AJ.
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E69 Front Grill - Paint
