Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

[Keith B.]

I have a 66 with its factory grille, no dents, no cracks, etc. Tabs are perfect not broken off. However after 45 yrs the chrome is still shiny but showing road wear and small specks like an old windshield looks after time. The grey paint is faded.

I thought about leaving the chrome and repainting it and also just buying a GM Restoration part new Grille . I even took it too my chrome shop today and price wise its out of this world to re=chrome and restore.......

What have others done in these cases. Keep the org and paint it and polish the chrome, score well in orginality and lose condition points or buy a GM restoration new grill. How are these Grille for quality and judging. They list for $ 720 and can be had for $ 492.00 new.

Best advice pls..........

[Timothy B.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Keith,

I plan on restoring my original grill, from your description it sounds like they are in about the same condition. I have decided to live with the imperfections of 45 years. Use a little brass steel wool on the chrome then fix any pits and paint with Argent Silver.

[Peter B.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Keith,

I just restored my 67 grille. It's not too bad masking the chrome grille if you use 3M Scotch Fine Line Tape in 3/32" width for the vertical and 3/16" for the horizonal vanes. Applying the tape using a fresh single edge razor blade works well but takes a bit of practice. The surround can be done with blue painters tape. Also carefully mask the mounting brackets, they'll get painted after the grille is complete. You can get the 3M tapes at art supply stores or online from 3M or Amazon.

Prior to taping, buff the chrome with steel wool as suggested by Tim, and lightly rough up the paint surface with 200 grit sandpaper. Clean thoroughly and let dry for 24 hours.

Use a self-etching primer and spray that, and the silver paint, from the back or the grille. Several light coats of silver give the best results. Try to remove the tape before the paint takes a final set. If you find that paint has built up at the edge of the tape on the vanes, it can be smoothed using XXXX steel wool and a light touch. Patience is required, but the results can be very gratifying. Once the grille is completed and dry, mask the entire grille in plastic sheet, or paper, exposing just the mounting brackets and paint them with Krylon semi-flat black.

Good Luck

Pete

[Timothy B.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Peter,

I had no idea the mounting brackets are supposed to be semi black, thanks for including that...

[Peter B.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Tim,

It's in the '67 TIM & Judging Guide, 4th Edition, Exterior Section, Paragraph 14, "Grille". Right now I'm de-rusting the interior of the bumpers based on paragraph 13, Front Bumper Area. Last sub-paragraph advises the judges to check the interior of the bumpers for rust...they are supposed to be fresh off the assembly line. While there's only a minor coating of surface rust, there won't be any when it's judged. Restoring a Corvette is an education in itself that takes you down into the smallest detail of the car and I've enjoyed every minute of it.

Pete

[Arland D.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Keith,

How about leaving it original until we look at it towards the end of the month. There will be lots of feedback from the members and you can decide what you want to do then. Just my .02 (US)

Arland

[Keith B.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Arland: Good advice my friend. Grant was over at the house today as we were planning the logistics for our Chapter Meet Aug 27th..........all looking good and we even promise Sunshine

[Wayne M.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

I have a 66 with its factory grille, no dents, no cracks, etc. Tabs are perfect not broken off. However after 45 yrs the chrome is still shiny but showing road wear and small specks like an old windshield looks after time. The grey paint is faded. ...

Hi Keith --- another replace/restore factor is whether current '6667 grille repros retain the original casting number on the bottom inside lip, just a bit to the driver side of the middle mount tab [IIRC]. This was discussed here in the first week of August 2009, I believe. Notice the last digit is cast backwards; 387574 (6?).

[Ronald L.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Wayne's got another good one, yes the mold maker did not have the reversed 6 when it was time to put the part number in the die. These type of die cast dies would not have had a long life, interesting to see if there were any other differences found.

[Scott S.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Wayne's got another good one, yes the mold maker did not have the reversed 6 when it was time to put the part number in the die. These type of die cast dies would not have had a long life, interesting to see if there were any other differences found.

The part number on the front grille that came off my car (may or may not be original, has definitely been on the car since at least 1976) has the same markings as the picture Wayne posted, with the reversed "6" in the part number.

My NOS front grille also has the same part number in the same location, but a combination of surface imperfections and a light stamping makes it hard to tell whether the last digit ("6") is forward or backward. I guess it's not really "NOS", unless GM isn't making them anymore. I bought it through "thepartsladi" about 3 years ago.

[Ronald L.]

Re: Judging Opinions of Org Grille or New Part...

Scott, Just as I would expect, the tool was wearing out after the production life and continued to be run for service with minor degradation.