daberry Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I am thinking of restoring the grille in my 71 SS. The chrome was restored by a previous owner so it is in good shape. I did a search and see that the uprights and the groove running around the periphery of the grille should be black. I'm guessing satin black similar to the other trim on the car? Does the black in the groove run just in the very bottom of the or up the sides too? What color silver should the slats be? Thanks and Merry Christmas!! Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I'm quite certain that it is the satin trim black, SEM makes it and I've used it many times. Excellent product. The silver paint I'm not completely sure about tho.....if I were to guess, Argent Silver would be correct, similar to the rims. I believe the black should only be at the very bottom of the groove. I didn't repaint the silver areas on mine, just filed the imperfections in the pot metal smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 And the front of the slats (the edges) should remain chrome. I think it is easiest to just fully paint the slats and then remove the silver from the outer edge of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Another hint is too take a Crayola crayon and lightly stroke it on the chrome surfaces before painting. The crayon leaves a waxy film, then paint. After the paint has dried (cured) for several hours or over night, you then can take wooden popsicle stick (don't use metal) and slide it along the chrome surface (some pressure is required) and the paint and crayon wax peels right off! The painted surfaces must be cured (I always waited till the next day) or else the paint might tear away from an area that you don't want it to. I've been using this method on emblems and scripts and it works great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 That's a very clever idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Thanks Larry. Don't mean to hijack this post but has anyone been successful at repairing or replacing the horizontal bars in one of these grills? I've looked at several 71 grills that have some damage to a few of the horizontal bars and if a person could cut the bad bars out & weld or epoxy or braze a replacement bar in then paint, it would certainly be a way to save a lot of these unique grills. I realize this is pot metal we're dealing with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sheean Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I am thinking of restoring the grille in my 71 SS. The chrome was restored by a previous owner so it is in good shape. I did a search and see that the uprights and the groove running around the periphery of the grille should be black. I'm guessing satin black similar to the other trim on the car? Does the black in the groove run just in the very bottom of the or up the sides too? What color silver should the slats be? Thanks and Merry Christmas!! Dale I would talk to Leo Konik at Konik's Klassiks 4615 Yankee Road, St. Clair MI, 48079 Telephone: 810.334.4162 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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