1973 front grilles, rh and lh

[Linda D.]

Does anyone know of a source that I can send my 2 front grilles to, to have them repainted and the leading edges rechromed? NOS ones, when they can be found, are kind of spendy. And I don't want to use plastic repro ones. The ones on my car look to be original but someone resprayed them black. The old paint needs to be removed. Just wondering if anyone has ever had their grilles sent out for refinishing so they meet the 1973 standards? Thanks....

[Joe L.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Does anyone know of a source that I can send my 2 front grilles to, to have them repainted and the leading edges rechromed? NOS ones, when they can be found, are kind of spendy. And I don't want to use plastic repro ones. The ones on my car look to be original but someone resprayed them black. The old paint needs to be removed. Just wondering if anyone has ever had their grilles sent out for refinishing so they meet the 1973 standards? Thanks....

Linda------


There are now reproductions available for these grilles which are manufactured of zinc-diecast material, as-original.

However, if your grilles are in otherwise good shape, you can probably restore them. First, are you sure that the chrome needs to be re-done? If not, I think restoration of these grilles would be quite easy. Simply strip off the existing paint with a liquid-based paint stripper and repaint with a VERY low gloss black, preferably a self-etching type. You can either mask off the leading edge or carefully wipe off the paint on the leading edge before it is completely dry.

If the chrome needs to be redone, then you'll have to first remove the paint as described above and send them off to a plater that's experienced in chroming zinc diecast. I don't know of one, but there are some out there. They can actually chrome more than just the leading edge and I think you'll find when you strip the paint off that the original chrome plating extends beyond the leading edge.

If there is pitting or damage to the grilles, especially any on the leading edge, then I think you'll find that having these restored is going to be quite expensive. In that case, you might be better off just buying the reproductions.

[Linda D.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Thanks Joe. I haven't been able to locate a source for the good repro die cast ones....I did find some at Paragon that say they are cast aluminum with the chrome leading edge, for $250 each. And I see some NOS ones on eBay but only for the LH side, those are $225 and up each. Perhaps this is what I need to just accept as the going price. The ones I have look to have the chrome underneath the black repaint as I can scrape some of the black off, but the chrome underneath does not look so good...no doubt why they got painted black by the would-be restorer who had it before I bought it. Are there any other sources out there besides Paragon who stock the die cast metal repros? I have looked through all my parts catalogs (Doc Rebuild, Corvette America, Keen, Year One, Mid America, you name it....they all have the plastic versions )

[Russ S.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Linda------


There are now reproductions available for these grilles which are manufactured of zinc-diecast material, as-original.

However, if your grilles are in otherwise good shape, you can probably restore them. First, are you sure that the chrome needs to be re-done? If not, I think restoration of these grilles would be quite easy. Simply strip off the existing paint with a liquid-based paint stripper and repaint with a VERY low gloss black, preferably a self-etching type. You can either mask off the leading edge or carefully wipe off the paint on the leading edge before it is completely dry.

If the chrome needs to be redone, then you'll have to first remove the paint as described above and send them off to a plater that's experienced in chroming zinc diecast. I don't know of one, but there are some out there. They can actually chrome more than just the leading edge and I think you'll find when you strip the paint off that the original chrome plating extends beyond the leading edge.

If there is pitting or damage to the grilles, especially any on the leading edge, then I think you'll find that having these restored is going to be quite expensive. In that case, you might be better off just buying the reproductions.

If there are reproductions available I am not aware of them. The center grille is repoed but I have never seen the two outside ones available-not saying they aren't, I just haven't seen them. Lyle Chamberlain used to have a place that re-chromed them. I don't know if he is still having them done or not. I would send him an email.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

I think that $250 a piece would be the going rate for the correct die cast repros- no matter who ends up retailing them. That's typical with a low volume one year only part. Ar least they're now available!

As Russ mentioned, send Lyle a note asking if he stills restores them.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Thanks Joe. I haven't been able to locate a source for the good repro die cast ones....I did find some at Paragon that say they are cast aluminum with the chrome leading edge, for $250 each. And I see some NOS ones on eBay but only for the LH side, those are $225 and up each. Perhaps this is what I need to just accept as the going price. The ones I have look to have the chrome underneath the black repaint as I can scrape some of the black off, but the chrome underneath does not look so good...no doubt why they got painted black by the would-be restorer who had it before I bought it. Are there any other sources out there besides Paragon who stock the die cast metal repros? I have looked through all my parts catalogs (Doc Rebuild, Corvette America, Keen, Year One, Mid America, you name it....they all have the plastic versions )

Linda-----


I checked a bit further and it does appear that Russ is correct and only the center grilles are available in reproduction in original material. This seems really strange to me since the center grille would be the least likely to need replacement. However, I would suggest that you call the reproduction source for the center grilles and inquire about the side grilles. Maybe they have plans to come out with them soon. It would seem logical, anyway. Their name is Vette Visions and they're located in Loysburg, PA. The phone number is (814) 766-3623. If you call, let us know what you find out.

[Peter G.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Linda..thanks for starting up this posting...

I have been watching this posting closely as I too am wanting to restore my original front grills on my '73 as a Winter Project.

I sent Lyle a email about two months ago inquiring who he reccommends or if he still does them.Unfortunately he did not respond so I figured he does not do them any longer?

Still looking for another source. The chrome marker pen was a excellent idea for a grill that just needs some TLC on the chrome leading edge like mine.

Russ as you know Carol wants her grills restored on her '73 too as they are in much worst condition than mine.

Still looking though.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Linda-----


I checked a bit further and it does appear that Russ is correct and only the center grilles are available in reproduction in original material. This seems really strange to me since the center grille would be the least likely to need replacement. However, I would suggest that you call the reproduction source for the center grilles and inquire about the side grilles. Maybe they have plans to come out with them soon. It would seem logical, anyway. Their name is Vette Visions and they're located in Loysburg, PA. The phone number is (814) 766-3623. If you call, let us know what you find out.

I looked at the Paragon on line catalogue and they do mention a die cast version of the side grills as well as the plastic pieces. If I understand correctly, you're saying that these are not really available? Shame.

[Linda D.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Well, I went ahead and ordered the right hand grille from Paragon. They tell me it is not in stock but good news is they can get it in about 10 days. I am going ahead with ordering it and will let you all know how it compares to the NOS left hand one I am getting from an ebay seller. I hate to spend $500 on these but as we know parts are not getting any less expensive. And I am not one to be satisfied with less than the best parts I can find. If I ever find a place to rechrome the ones on the car now, I will probably go ahead and do those too for spares. Which I hope I never need.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Thanks Joe. I haven't been able to locate a source for the good repro die cast ones....I did find some at Paragon that say they are cast aluminum with the chrome leading edge, for $250 each. And I see some NOS ones on eBay but only for the LH side, those are $225 and up each. Perhaps this is what I need to just accept as the going price. The ones I have look to have the chrome underneath the black repaint as I can scrape some of the black off, but the chrome underneath does not look so good...no doubt why they got painted black by the would-be restorer who had it before I bought it. Are there any other sources out there besides Paragon who stock the die cast metal repros? I have looked through all my parts catalogs (Doc Rebuild, Corvette America, Keen, Year One, Mid America, you name it....they all have the plastic versions )

Linda------


There's a good reason why you only find the left half grilles for sale on eBay. The right side grille was discontinued from SERVICE in July, 1986. The left side grille was around for almost 10 years longer, being discontinued in January, 1996.

Why would this occur? Well, these grilles were a zinc die casting. I suspect that the mold for the right side either broke or wore out sometime prior to 1986. When that occurred and since 1973-74 Corvettes were long out-of-production (and, therefore there was no PRODUCTION requirement for parts) GM decided it was not economically feasible to either repair or replace the mold. So, the part was discontinued. The left side using a serviceable mold continued to be produced until either that mold broke or wore out or the parts sales volume became so low that GMSPO "pulled the plug".

By the way, the last of these parts that were available in SERVICE were of extremely marginal quality. I'm sure that was due to the wear on the molds and other tooling used to produce them in combination with the fact that the manufacturer's interest in these parts likely "waned" when they were only being ordered by GMSPO in "microscopic" quantities.

[Harmon C.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Ted (Vette Visions) did make the center grill because they were in demand and were selling NOS as high as $1000. He is not making the side grills that I know of. I have had lots of grills rechromed but they were all my cores. Not all parts come back from the chromer in great condtion. Cracks show up so I would not do any grills for others using their cores. The rechromer I used wanted ten pairs per order. The NOS LH grill is easy to find but the RH is very rare so the pair sells for $1000. Don't buy a LH thinking you will find a RH someday. Peter sorry I missed your PM but I have grills in stock. Linda if you get a repo RH in metal I would like to know the quality. The repo center grills are very nice but they are better than NOS.

[Linda D.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Thanks Lyle. I think I will forgo the replating ordeal for now. I went ahead and ordered both the LH and RH in cast aluminum from Paragon, as I decided it was better to do that than have 2 front grilles (one NOS one and one repro one that likely would not match). Paragon says they will take at least 10 days to get in house and then another week or so before I get them....but will be sure to let you all know how they look and try to post some photos. The going price is $250 each. I will be comparing them to my repainted originals in terms of quality. Paragon also has the center grille for $150 in cast aluminum for those who don't need a front license plate.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Thanks Lyle. I think I will forgo the replating ordeal for now. I went ahead and ordered both the LH and RH in cast aluminum from Paragon, as I decided it was better to do that than have 2 front grilles (one NOS one and one repro one that likely would not match). Paragon says they will take at least 10 days to get in house and then another week or so before I get them....but will be sure to let you all know how they look and try to post some photos. The going price is $250 each. I will be comparing them to my repainted originals in terms of quality. Paragon also has the center grille for $150 in cast aluminum for those who don't need a front license plate.

Linda-----

It will be interesting to see what the Paragon grilles look like. Actually, I don't see how the difference between the zinc substrate original grilles and the aluminum substrate reproductions could be discerned, except if one had the pieces in their hand. Obviously, the aluminum would be lighter. Considering that none of the substrate material is visible on these grilles, either type should appear the same when finished with the chrome leading edge and otherwise black paint. As a matter of fact, many folks are under the mistaken impression that the original grilles were aluminum.

In my opinion, cast aluminum is a much better material to fabricate these grilles from than zinc diecast. I don't see why GM didn't do this in the first place except, likely, for cost considerations.

[Linda D.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Joe, I agree, aluminum should be a better material. Lyle alluded to the difficulty of replating the originals and doubtless the material they are made of (some sort of zinc alloy potmetal?) probably makes it a crap shoot to get good results when they go through the plating process a second time, especially on old used parts. I am anxious to see the ones I ordered and will post them as soon they arrive.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1973 front grilles, rh and lh

Joe, I agree, aluminum should be a better material. Lyle alluded to the difficulty of replating the originals and doubtless the material they are made of (some sort of zinc alloy potmetal?) probably makes it a crap shoot to get good results when they go through the plating process a second time, especially on old used parts. I am anxious to see the ones I ordered and will post them as soon they arrive.

Linda-----


Yes, zinc diecast is the more technical term for "potmetal". While many parts on a Corvette are made from zinc diecast, I've always hated it. To me, it's a very cheap, "low class" material and very weak. It's difficult to repair and very difficult to plate. Most platers will not touch it. Basically, it's a "throwaway" material.