69 grilles always dented

[tan top]

mine was dented when I got it  !!  ,  

second picture !! it was still dented in 85 with the second owner  

third picture , me with the charger !!  , day I got it  

[Ghoste]

Thats not dented, thats crushed. 

[kokxville]

Mine has a small dent in it.I might replace it someday,but other stuff has to be done first 

[tan top]

Thats not dented, thats crushed.  

 yeah it was bad ,  

I repaired  the I piece as best as I could & believe me it was dented &  mangled & split mess ,
this was before all the repop parts & before internet to search for NOS parts or used parts ,  
also the plastic centre section of the grill was cracked & broken &  bits in green were missing  
repaired it all , & made the missing plastic parts from scrap plastic  

 the areas marked in green ! was the damage, missing bits .
it looks ok , the  I piece is cracked in two places , could of done with a bit more shaping ,  was getting really thin   , but I wanted to reuse as much of the original parts to the car as possible at the time  
the I piece looks  better in person , than in a picture  
might get a repop one some day

sorry for the mini hijack  

[Road Dog]

My only grill damage is a couple shallow finger tip size dents on that center piece. Pretty good though considering that is closing in on 500,000 miles.

[tucknroll]

I tapped mine out the best I could and it looks pretty good. whats the best way to make it shine again if any?

[tan top]

 from the factory there is a coating put on , to stop the stainless & I piece tarnishing ,  once you start repairing  it , & blocking it with 180 to 320 wet n dry paper , it removes it , polish it in normal way on a bench grinder with buffing wheel attachment , &  polishing soap !! then use  either chrome cleaner or brasso  ,  because I had to work the I piece soo hard , trying to reshape it etc , it goes dull very quickly , so needs a polish up every  once in a while ( couple of months ) ,   so back to your question , any chrome cleaner or brasso  , metal polish , even 3m polishing compound will do the job  

[daveco]

They are just the right height for a grocery cart to tag 'em. Being thin aluminum doesn't help matters.

[Patronus]

Actually its because back in '69 all garages had to be 17' long. No exceptions. So, since the Charger is 17'-2" long, well.. you get the idea.

[Ghoste]

Ah, park by feel.

[bull]

Get a 68 or 70. The center pieces are never dented on those.