65 grill restoration thread

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Now that disassembly is done its time for me to help you be able to ID a real grill vs. a repro. First I'd like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to who ever started reproing the 65 grills as I got sick and tired of seeing 65's (who in my opinion have the best looking midyear grill) with 66-67 grils in them.
Back to the point at hand...

First will be 2 pictures of the outer horizontal bars, originals have a grind mark just knocking the leading corners off while the repros dont.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread


Next will be 2 pictures of the drivers top corner. The assembled grill is a repro and the loose corner piece is original.

The first picture is a top down view. Look at the thickness of the original compared to the repro, there are a few reasons why the original is so much thinner than the repro

1. The original surrounds measure .045-.047" thick while the repro surrounds measure .053-.055"
2. The original surrounds were stamped while the repros are cut. The stamping procedure produces a thinner edge while the cutting leaves the original thinkness untouched and also leaves saw teeth marks.

The second picture is a side view. Look at the right of the 2 parts where they end. The original has a distinct bend on the last 3/8" where the repro,s bend is barely visable.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Next we have 2 shots of the bottom mounting flange for the outer most bar supports (the one that has the 2 holes for the screws to mount to the fender skirt brackets).

The repro bracket has a very noticable round cut out right by the hole for the rivet while the original is straight with no cut out.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

The next 2 pictures are of the vertical brackets that the horizontal bars rivet to. Notice where the original bracket has a very distinct notch where each horzontal bars rear ridge sits in, the flange the horizontal bars rivet to actually are bent in a way so they make a little raised pad. The repro brackets have the same flange bent so that you can not see the notch and the horizontal bar looks like it is sitting flush. This is a hard one for me to describe so let me know if you need a better description.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

There are several more differences but that should be enough for you to get started.
Now for the last and best way to tell if you have an original grill is by the D&L manufactures logo stamped on the surround. You can see several examples of the logo in the disassembly photos.

Rich

[John H.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

best way to tell if you have an original grill is by the D&L manufactures logo stamped on the surround.

Rich -

And they're one of the few original 60's Corvette suppliers that are still in business (Douglas & Lomason).

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

John,

Thanks for the name I remember seeing you post it before but could not find it.

Todays posts will have to do with making a sutable tool for setting or peening the solid aluminum rives as well as choosing the correct rivets.

First will be the making of the setting tool. I have had the one that I use for 1/8" rivets for over 25 years. It started life as a craftsman drift pin. And thats the important part to rember you want to start with a drift pin and not a punch or a chisel heres why. A punch or chisel is hardend and will be VERY DIFFICULT to cut, shape or dress also it is more likely to fracture or splinter when being used. A drift pin is not hardend and is more pliable and can be dressed with a tool.
The tool is marked on the side for line up use only one one side and not for impact use on the other.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

What you need to do to drift pin is to cut the end off so it gives you a 3/8" flat end, then useing a 1/8" drill bit drill into the tool about 3/32". Don't worry if you drill to far you can just grind the end of the tool to get the right depth. Next I take a die grinder with a cobalt bit to open the face of the 1/8" hole to give the rivet enough room to squish and look like the factory rivets.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Now were on to rivet selection and identification. What the factory used was an 1/8" solid aluminum Universal Head rivet. I don;t know for sure but I would think they had a few different lengths because the 3 different applications used on the 65 grill would call for diffrent lengths.

1 where the surround is riveted to the surround.
2 where the surround is riveted to the vertical brackets
3 where the horizontal cross bars are riveted to the vertical brackets.

The universial head rivet has a very low profile compared to a round head rivet. As you can see in the picture.

I got several different lengths to experiment with. All were manufactured by the Hanson rivet & supply company and were purchased through my local gaingers. Each bag of 250 pieces cost between 6-8 dollars. for a total expense of $20.00 so far. I will have enought rivets to do several grills for the 20 bucks.
All the rivets are 1100F which indicates how hard/soft they are and from past experiance 1100F will squish just right and hold everything together just like the factory rivets.

[James R.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Thanks for sharing this process with us. Count me in.

Jim

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Before I move onto the restoration of the 3 center sections I wanted to show a few pictures of practice rivets to get the correct squished look. Now that we have seleced the correct style rivet you have to make sure that you use the correct length for each application. If you don't you wind up with a rivet that looks like the first picture. That rivet was too long and totaly incorrect. If you pick a rivet that is too short you will damage the grill pieces as you peen the rivet over, and the rivet won't hold the pieces together.

Looking at the second picture that is the correct look that we are trying to get but my first attempt, which is the rivet on the left, my setting tool had too small of an opening. I then used a die grinder with a cobalt bit to open the setting tool. The rivet on the right was my second attempt and more closely resembles the factory procedure.

[William D.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Hi Rick,

I've been following your thread, great job. Please keep me in the loop. My 65 grill has to be done this winter.

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Hey guys,

thanks for the kind words both on and off line.
I got good news from my polisher today, the first set of grill surrounds are done and ready to be anodized. I should have them back here from the polisher next week and then they go righ off to the plater. So I should be able to assemble the first of the 3 grills in about 2 weeks.

As I said before I will log hours and expenses. So far I have 2 hours of disassembly time and 20 dollars in rivets. As soon as I have the recipts from the polishers I will post those numbers also. (I don't have the break down yet as I also had 5 sets of 65 rocker moulings, 2 set of C-2 A/C defroster vent balls and a few sets of front and back window trim restored).
I will be at Carlisle the next few days and will try to post this weekend on the center section restorations.

Rich

[Wayne M.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Rich --- am I beyond help ? . Actually, it's only missing the outer support Gr 1.267 # 3860569. Just a lot of straightening to do. In much better shape on the passenger side.

It's a gift from member Grant Wong. -- winter project, thanks to your help.

Wayne

[Rich P.]

Re: 65 grill restoration thread

Rich --- am I beyond help ? . Actually, it's only missing the outer support Gr 1.267 # 3860569. Just a lot of straightening to do. In much better shape on the passenger side.

It's a gift from member Grant Wong. -- winter project, thanks to your help.

Wayne

Wayne,

WOW!!! Actually it looks like you have some salvageable pieces. you may even be able to save some of the surround pieces. Just remember they have to be "Metal Finished" which means and aluminum streaches when bent.

Rich