Q about diff between 68 and 69 Charger grills

[triple_green]

68 had silver on tips of vertical grill fins, and 69 does not?

[JimShine]

Correct. In 1968 they masked off and painted the fins while painting the other argent silver accents. It is somewhat unusual to see an unmolested grille with the accents fully in tact. The wind wore the paint off pretty quick. Usually all that is left is some around the edges and under the emblems. Usually the painted to match headlight filler trim pieces are intact as the closed door kept the wind off them.

[will]

i have more than 40 hours in my grille to get that done. 1 full week of vacation...

[Mytur Binsdirti]

I'd love to know the manufacturer's technique for masking the grille for paint in mass production. The same goes with other chrome trim parts also.

[stripedelete]

I'd love to know the manufacturer's technique for masking the grille for paint in mass production. The same goes with other chrome trim parts also.

It would not suprise me that in 1967-68 the grilles came out of the suppliers mold and painted black or silver. Then shipped to non descript cinder block buildings in the surrounding area where the masking and or painting was performed by housewives during school hours..Then shipped back again.  Then shipped to Chrysler. Aka cottage industry.

I grew up in a county with 2 Ford plants and a GM plant.  That stuff went on back in the day.  It's no doubt different today. 

[tan top]

I'd love to know the manufacturer's technique for masking the grille for paint in mass production. The same goes with other chrome trim parts also.

It would not suprise me that in 1967-68 the grilles came out of the suppliers mold and painted black or silver. Then shipped to non descript cinder block buildings in the surrounding area where the masking and or painting was performed by housewives during school hours..Then shipped back again.  Then shipped to Chrysler. Aka cottage industry.

I grew up in a county with 2 Ford plants and a GM plant.  That stuff went on back in the day.  It's no doubt different today. 

  that makes sense ! you might be right ....  forget how  many hours i had in my  grill  masking with fineline  used the 68 head lamp bezels too , but painted then the 69 style , think how ever it was done originally  the silver was painted first ! then masked up , thats how i dine mine

[bakerhillpins]

I don't have a 68 and I've never actually scrutinized that detail on a 68 grille, so I don't know exactly where the paint is applied, but I imagine it's only the leading edge of the fin.  In this case I'd bet that they simply used a hard roller and rolled the paint onto the leading edge of the fins with light or no pressure to transfer the paint and avoid drips on the sides. If they offset the travel of the rolling you'd easily be able to roll the length of the fin without overlapping on the roller. (Vertical roll with transverse component across the front of the grille)

[HeavyFuel]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,95015.msg1126854.html#msg1126854

For '68 molded black (or brown) plastic parts were painted black, then masked and spray painted with silver accents. 

Roller technique application of silver would have produced poor results due to the angled edges in various places.  The roller transition from one area to another would have produced puddling of paint and other undesirable looks.  I inspected my grill components very closely and do not think a roller or paint pen was used at the factory.  That doesn't mean that good results cannot be achieved though these methods by a careful restorer...I'm just saying that the factory masked and sprayed.  At least that is how my car was done.

[JimShine]

I agree. and I suspect they had some sort of paint masking made by their sticker vendor for the fins, and used plain tape for the outer area. When you see them, the outer area masking is usually really crude as it falls to the sides, but the fins are pretty good. And the headlight filler bezels have very clean and consistent masking of the fake fins, and those are only slightly raised (too shallow to create the thin silver lines with a roller or brush). They used whatever masking system to paint those as well.

Now that I am thinking about it, there are many areas that had some sort of manufactured masking used to paint accents. The 1969 taillights have precision masked silver and black accents. As do the turn signal plastic lenses, the hood mounted turn signals, etc. I am sure we could compile a lengthy list if we looked close and hard.

[Kern Dog]

Here we are pondering fine points like this. I'm certain that NO assembly worker ever thought that people would be discussing this 50 some years later. I do find that great though. Mere mortals designed and built these great cars thinking that they were just cars, not rolling works of mechanical art.

[JimShine]

Yeah, they were never intended to last this long. They were an appliance. Meant to last 5 -10 years and discarded.

[Nacho-RT74]

Is the grill black on backside? I think is easier ( at home and also factory having stencils made for that ) paint silver firts all around in front, mask the silver accents which are just on front side, and spray on black from back side.

[VegasCharger]

I hate seeing '68 Chargers with grilles having the fins blacked out.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

I hate seeing '68 Chargers with grilles having the fins blacked out.

Agreed. Even worse is when the silver surrounds are painted black.

[triple_green]

When I got my 68 the silver tips on the fins in the center of the grill had worn off, but were still there on each side. I just used a silver testors model paint stick to touch them up and it looks good and has lasted 22 years.

[HeavyFuel]

I hate seeing '68 Chargers with grilles having the fins blacked out.

Agreed.