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1971 Grille


Terbronco7

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I have a very nice original grille, my question is what has any of the members done to restore the paint on theres? Is the slats suppose to be all one color? Or is there suppose to be a thin chrome line in the slats? I have seen so many different configurations I am confused

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Yes Terry, there is chrome on that front edge of the slats. I've refurbished 2 of them and its a bit of work since we're dealing with pot metal. I also hand painted the vertical bars satin black after spraying everything else the stock silver. A simple trick to cover the chrome edge is to use a crayon on the chrome edge, rubbing a good layer of the waxy coating only on the chrome edge. After the paint is dry, you can then rub off the crayon wax. I've used a wooden tongue depressor to rub off the crayon as it won't scratch the chrome. Good Luck!

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Yes Terry, there is chrome on that front edge of the slats. I've refurbished 2 of them and its a bit of work since we're dealing with pot metal. I also hand painted the vertical bars satin black after spraying everything else the stock silver. A simple trick to cover the chrome edge is to use a crayon on the chrome edge, rubbing a good layer of the waxy coating only on the chrome edge. After the paint is dry, you can then rub off the crayon wax. I've used a wooden tongue depressor to rub off the crayon as it won't scratch the chrome. Good Luck!

Thanks I will give that a try.

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Terry,

 

I have no personal experience with a '71 grill, however, I have refurbished three '70 grills so some of the techniques and materials may be useful to you.  What worked well for me (don't know if it will for you) was simply masking off all of the chrome surfaces on the front side of the grill (with masking tape touching only the chrome surfaces) and then spray painting the structural webbing from the backside with silver/chrome paint.  The black accent stripe on the front was obviously sprayed from the front. 

 

Be sure to press the tape firmly onto all the chrome surfaces (only) so paint does not bleed onto them. I used regular old masking tape, but there is a new tape available (I think it is called Frog tape) that is supposed to eliminate all edge bleeding.

 

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If you are interested in the details of this approach, I made a photo journal of one project that you can still access on Photobucket at this link: Grill Refurbishing

 

After the Photobucket album loads, just click on the first photo and read the caption beneath.  Then click on the right hand advance arrow to see the next photo and caption in sequence.  Good luck!

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One thing that is very important is to clean the grill thoroughly before doing anything. I always after cleaning with soap and water wipe everything down with alcohol or a pre cleaner I get at the automotive paint store to make sure any wax or polishes and other contaminates are removed

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Dennis,

That really came out beautiful.  Thanks for sharing.  It is amazing how long the prep takes compared to the final painting.  You did a beautiful job.

rob

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I always thought the inside of the grille was painted gray. Is it supposed to be unpolished chrome or painted gray? and if gray, which gray? ralley wheel gray?  :confused:

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Vinny,

 

A lot of folks prefer argent silver (same as rally wheels) but I wanted my grille to pop in the sunlight so I went with bumper chrome.  Others paint the webbing flat black so it sort of disappears leaving the chrome surfaces to totally define the appearance.  I like that look, also, but it is more custom than stock.

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I base/clear them argent silver now.

 

The paint gun paint will hold up better than spray paint.

 

I used to use silver wheel paint from O'Reilly's and then clear it with the wheel Clear. I did my 70 this way and it still looks good.

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