'71 Small progress grill/bumper...(pic MAR24)

[plum500]

finished up one door today - had the surrounds already done. man. that was a learning experience - there was some minor pitting in the "rectangles", not bad, but *really* hard to get at. safe to say, first go wasn't so hot -- second, lots of spot filling, sanding, filing, fill, sand file, etc... 3 coats of scratch filler, multiple light sprays of black -- whoops, don't like that sheen, then the top coat correction you see here... 

I am expecting the next one to go a little quicker -- will probably redo this one maybe after the car is done...

before...





after...

[plum500]

...work in progress...test fitting some stuff... paint still needed... need to fabricate some small missing brackets...lots of shiny new hardware (keeping all the old, just like using all shiny new stuff)...

[Charger1973]

Thats looking really good.  What did you use to fill the pits and what are you using for paint? 

Is the bumper painted silver?

[plum500]

Thanks man. I used a little bit of spot putty to fill the pits and a small (1/4") file with 180 grit wrapped around the end to sand. Fill. Paint. Sand. Paint. Sand. Paint

I can't remember what the red is. It's only one of those small dupli-color cans - it's Chrysler, but can't remember the name.

The black on the doors and grill pieces is hi-temp/ceramic engine enamel low-gloss dupli-color. Stuff is awesome. Dries quick, goes on smooth, for a nice satin finish that doesn't scuff, yet has a nice low sheen to it.

Grill face I had planned/tried a bumper coating which I thought would give me a flatter finish than it did. So I ended up dusting over that with flat-black tremclad and it came out exactly how I wanted it. Little bit flatter than the low-gloss on the rest of the hardware - but still nice and rich black.

Surrounds are actually done in generic, probably dupli-color as well, chrome paint. The "really reflective, but of course, as soon as you touch it, it's messed up stuff". However, I coated that with a clearcoat for rims. Came out exactly how I wanted it -- nice durable finish. The clear takes away 95% of the reflective finish, and darkens it just right (IMO ) You end up with a nice shiny light gray tough finish with a slight metallic/modeled finish.

Back of the bumper has been sanded up and done with POR-15.

Bumper finish -- jury is still out on that one. I simply can't afford to chrome this year, front, back, or both. I'd rather put any other funds under the hood, or towards some other things. I like the finish (though still not complete) I've got on there, but, not sure in the grand scheme of things it's gonna look good with the rest of the car. And I'm not sold on body color -- I'm OK with it on the front, just not the back, and I don't want to have em' different so I'm trying to come up with some other scheme.

Still haven't ruled out Alsa corp's chrome yet for the bumper.

Anyhow, sorry for rambling -- just pleased with how things are shaping up.

[CHARGERMAN2007_69]

How long did it take you and what were the supplies you had?

[plum500]

I've got hours and hours into that one door -- but mostly a learning curve, I hope to get the other one done in 2 or 3. Grills shouldn't take anytime -- though they are from different sources and one I had to weld on a new mount and file/sand it quite a bit to get rid of some pitting. But for the most part, just need to strip some remaining old paint of em', prep, prime, paint em' and mount.

Think I've picked my bumper finish: http://alsacorp.com/products/ghostchrome/ghost_prodinfo.htm

Also found another interesting use of aluminum powder and resin to create a brushed aluminum effect: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22654


But I'm *really* leaning towards Alsacorp.  Ghost-chrome for the bumpers and Mirra-chrome for the small details that I just am not willing to hand over to the one shop here that does this stuff, will charge me a fortune, and take 8 weeks. Actually, the chrome that I left is quite good, but if I can make it better

Pretty much listed all the paint products -- other than that... lots of Palmolive dish detergent, brush, toothbrush, 180/220 for cleaning up the pits with the glazing putty. SOS for the door hinge/bolt, adjustment bolt, and rod hardware. Just left that stuff natural, cleaned up pretty well - except for some discolouration over the years...no biggie.

Also, given that it's been really cold here -- I've been flashing some stuff between coats with a hair dryer, and warming things up a bit before I shot them outside.

[tan top]

grill looks good    nice job

[Goldfinger71]

Keep up the good work Plum!

[plum500]

...in the back of my head I wasn't diggin trying to put any other gray, silver or metal like finish on the bumper...so...Plum it is! Still need to buff it, but it's coming along...and it is good to see something in Plum! Also took the opportunity in the colour change to work the thing over 4 or 5 times and clean up some picky lines and ripples from someone's previous repairs.

I am still going to be a little different with the brushed bumper bolts.  (stainless, 180..320...Scotchbrite pad)