68 grille painting advice: who's done it?

[Dennis K]

I just stripped my grill down to the bare plastic by soaking it in Castrol Super Clean, now I need to repaint it. I would like to do it myself with products I can buy locally in spray cans. Has anyone else done their own this way? What did you use for a primer, if any? What shade of silver matches the factory color? I know Totally Auto sells the authentic stuff, but I would like to avoid the mail order stuff if I can. Thanks.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I know most people want the exact factory look...     but I painted the outer shell the general color found at any auto store...     "flat aluminum"...     I then used semi-gloss black for the black parts...     

[69 OUR/TEA]

Hey Dennis K,I have replied on this subject before,I am one of those who wanted that exact factory look so I did not stop with the mixes and test spray outs until I matched it exactly to my NOS grill center.To prep the grill,clean it with an alcohol based cleaner,DO NOT USE A PREP SOL SOLVENT AS IT WILL STAY IN THE PLASTIC AND CAUSE WRINKLING AND LIFTING OF THE FRESH PAINT.If you are familiar with PPG products use DX 103 or something similar,ligthly scotch pad anywhere you can possibly get into,clean again for painting.I used SEM trim black ,as it dries to resemble new or "raw black plastic",and for the gray areas ,like I said I came up with my own formula that was a dead match to my NOS grill color.It is more of a gray color,not silver.When this formula was made and the computer went to name the color,it called it ash gray poly.So try to use a light to medium gray metallic color if you can find it.If you have access to a PPG paint store,I will be glad to give you the formula to have it made,depending how precise you are trying to get with your grill.Here are some pics of my finished grill.......

[bill440rt]

If you don't have access to a spray gun, there are plenty of GOOD quality paints available in rattle cans at your local auto body supply store. SEM & even DuPont have great primers in a spray can. I used SEM's flexible parts primer (also designed for plastic) on my '69 grille. I also used Ford's Argent Silver in a can, available at your local Ferd dealer. OK, it's Ferd paint, but the argent was an exact match for me (my grille was a little brigher than 69 OUR/TEA's).
I did my '70 similarly.
The grille in my '68 was done years ago, I think we used Rust-o-Leum silver in a spray can. A good tip is to spray the silver FIRST, then use different widths of fine line masking tape to tape off all the silver areas. You can't beat Plasti-Kote's semi-flat black, great stuff. SEM's Trim-Black is also very good semi-flat black paint.

[bill440rt]

Another...

[Shakey]

I used SEM's Trim Black and Eastwood's Argent Wheel paint.

Some good reading in this thread.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,49.0.html

[Shakey]

And in this one I explained I how I did mine. 

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,4620.0.html

[Silver R/T]

those grilles looking great, hopefully Ill paint mine this winter

[Chatt69chgr]

Hey 69 OUR/TEA------I read with interest you note on 69 grill restoration.  The "gray" color you ended up with is virtually the exact color my grill is painted and it's original.  I do have a PPG paint store here in Chattanooga and would appreciate if you could share with all of us the formula you ended up with for the gray.  Thanks.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Hey Chatt69chgr,dropped you a P.M.

[Dennis K]

Thanks for all the info and pics. One more question: does anyone know if it's safe to soda blast plastic parts? I've tried everything on my headlight doors, castrol super clean, oven cleaner, and nothing works on the factory black paint. Castrol got rid of all the thick flat black paint someone put on my grill, and the factory silver, along with a bunch of orange overspray that was under the flat black, now I just have the factory black paint on the headlight doors. It' a little too chipped up to paint over,so I want to strip it off and put new paint on. Thanks.

[bill440rt]

Dennis,
There shouldn't be ANY factory black paint on that grille, because there wasn't. The grilles were just molded in black plastic. The silver was applied over that black plastic & left that way.
The reason why restorers paint the black is to freshen up the faded, dingy black plastic.
I would not use anything too abrasive on your grille, they are very fragile & a pain to repair.

[BigBlockSam]

if it's safe to soda blast plastic parts? 

you don't have to do that. just power wash it, sand it alittle and spray. thats what i did. i used fusion black paint for plastic and aregent sliver for the surround. came out good. Rene

[motorhead]

I taped mine with pinstriping tape after shooting argent silver (eastwood). Then used SEM trim black.

[charge-it]

If you don't have access to a spray gun, there are plenty of GOOD quality paints available in rattle cans at your local auto body supply store. SEM & even DuPont have great primers in a spray can. I used SEM's flexible parts primer (also designed for plastic) on my '69 grille. I also used Ford's Argent Silver in a can, available at your local Ferd dealer. OK, it's Ferd paint, but the argent was an exact match for me (my grille was a little brigher than 69 OUR/TEA's).
I did my '70 similarly.
The grille in my '68 was done years ago, I think we used Rust-o-Leum silver in a spray can. A good tip is to spray the silver FIRST, then use different widths of fine line masking tape to tape off all the silver areas. You can't beat Plasti-Kote's semi-flat black, great stuff. SEM's Trim-Black is also very good semi-flat black paint.

Beautiful job on your grills! Do you remember the Ford part number for the argent silver?

[69bronzeT5]

I'm doing my '69 grille as we speak. I used Tremclad Grey Primer (red primer makes the silver go a weird shade) and I'm painting the black and silver parts right now. For black, I am using Krylon Semi-Flat black. Since I am in the US, I do not have access to the paint the guys in the US go. I plan on going to the hardware store and finding something close to the shade of silver I need.

[Kazza68]

Great thread, thank you everyone. I wasn't confident this morning about doing mine. But after seeing how things worked for everyone here, I am now.
Cheers!

[E5 Charger]

Take a look at the post second from the top of this Paint, Body & Trim section. The one called "Charger grille restoration database". There is tons of great information on painting the grille.