Grille Restoration

[rebby]

Well, with the loss of d-c.com I'm currently stuck on my grille project. The point that I'm at now is that I need to get things cleaned up (easy off, right?) and order paint. There were a couple of really good threads running with pics showing what paint where.

Does anybody have that information? I could really use it. Right now all I have is a bunch of dead bookmarks (that'll teach me).

[Shakey]

Paint # 1 & # 3 = SEM Trim Black
Paint # 2 & # 4 = Eastwood's Argent Wheel Paint

Charger4404spd (that was his handle on D-C.com) was a great resource with regards to the process and the paints chosen.   Hopefully (if he is not here already) he will show up and offer up some of his photos and thoughts ( I have them [photo's, not his thoughts] but I will let him post them).   His grille was one of the nicest I've seen, at least from photos - 1200 km's away.

My grille has been disassemled, washed, wet sanded first with 400, then 800 and finally 1500 black ice sandpaper.

Charger4404spd used Eastwood's Self Etching Primer but I was told there are acids in there that might not be so great for plastic.   SEM makes a couple of products, one of them being "sand free plastic prep".   I plan on using that prior to painting the whole grille gray, then taping off what needs to be taped off and then painting the black.

Hope this helps.   I will post some photos of my progress as I move along.

[4402tuff4u]

I've been working on my grill too. On the 1968 Charger's the fins are black, however the surface facing the front of the car is painted argent silver. It's tedious work, but it looks awesome when completed. Recommend for those 68's restoring their grill to get yourself a roll of "Fine Line" 3M masking tape 3/32" wide. It makes the masking of the fins a breeze.

[69hemi]

Totally Auto has a great grill paint for the silver that is dead nuts on.  Check them out at http://www.totallyautoinc.com/

[dabs73]

Does anyone have this information for a 73 SE with photos?

Thanks,
dabs73

[rebby]

Totally Auto has a great grill paint for the silver that is dead nuts on.  Check them out at http://www.totallyautoinc.com/

What shoudl I ask for or will they know what to sell me when I say grille restoration project? Do they have the match for the black as well?

[Recharger]

They have a color called "Non-Textured Grille Silver."   I'm guessing that's the one 69Hemi is talking about.     


While we're on this topic, does anyone know for sure if the silver trim is supposed to be the same color as the surround? (areas 4 & 2 in Shakey's picture above)   Most pictures I see make it look like the surround area is more of a gray color and not as silver as the trim and fins.   If so, what color/code is that shade of gray?   Thanks for the help.   Great to have the board back up for my dumb questions        

[Ghoste]

Thats not a dumb question.  I have always thought it was a different color too but I don't know the answer.  It doesn't mention it in the (sometimes wrong) Paul Herd Charger restoration book.

[4402tuff4u]

Recharger, on the 68's it's the same color. You can't possibly know every little detail about these cars, so no questions will be considered dumb. I believe on the 69's it's the same too.

[rebby]

Alright, so once the paint is on, is anybody going over it w/a clear for additional protection? If so, which one?

[4402tuff4u]

I'm not. I think the clear might change the finish (satin) of both the argent and the black. I dont think there's a need to if you use a good quality paint.

[Ghoste]

Yeah, I think the clear would definitely add more gloss to those areas.  Unless you had a gloss that had been flattened to match each area.

[Iceyone]

I painted the grill for my 68 with plain ole Rustoleum semi-gloss black and regular silver. Used a Testors argent paint pen on the fins. It looks as good as any others I've seen.

[Our 68 Obsession]

What kind of primer, if any, would work the best? I've been told by some not to use primer and some to prime first. This is a job I only want to do once so I want to do it right and not have the paint flake off 3 months down the road. Thanks!

[69hemi]

I used a good high-build and put on a light coat then sanded with 800 then 1000.

[Charger4404spd]

Paint # 1 & # 3 = SEM Trim Black
Paint # 2 & # 4 = Eastwood's Argent Wheel Paint

Charger4404spd (that was his handle on D-C.com) was a great resource with regards to the process and the paints chosen.   Hopefully (if he is not here already) he will show up and offer up some of his photos and thoughts ( I have them [photo's, not his thoughts] but I will let him post them).   His grille was one of the nicest I've seen, at least from photos - 1200 km's away.

My grille has been disassemled, washed, wet sanded first with 400, then 800 and finally 1500 black ice sandpaper.

Charger4404spd used Eastwood's Self Etching Primer but I was told there are acids in there that might not be so great for plastic.   SEM makes a couple of products, one of them being "sand free plastic prep".   I plan on using that prior to painting the whole grille gray, then taping off what needs to be taped off and then painting the black.

Hope this helps.   I will post some photos of my progress as I move along.

I did not use Eastwoods primer, I used SEM's Self-etching primer. I used Eastwoods Argent Wheel Silver.

[Charger4404spd]

pic

[Charger4404spd]

pic

[Charger4404spd]

Heres the paint I used. Not shown is the SEM's Self-etching Primer.
I used the Eastwoods Underhood Black for the grill frame, the SEM Black I used for the plastic grill pieces.

[Charger_Fan]

Charger4404spd, one question I've got is...how did you paint the thin silver edge around the teeth like on the headlight doors for example?
Did you shoot the silver on first, then mask the silver area & shoot the black?
I'm always afraid that I'll pull off fresh paint when I stick tape on it to mask it off.

[69hemi]

I did all the black first then shot the silver.  That seemed to be the way the factory paint was put on.  I can see some bleed of the silver onto the black plastic so if you get a little overspray that would be correct still.

[Charger4404spd]

C_F, I painted the black first on part of it. I then figured it would be easier to spray the Silver first, and it was. I let the Silver dry for a day or so, then taped the silver off and sprayed the black. Either way, it is very time consuming. I still have to go back and do a small amount od touch-up where a little overspray made its way under tape here and there.

[Charger_Fan]

I did all the black first then shot the silver.   That seemed to be the way the factory paint was put on.   I can see some bleed of the silver onto the black plastic so if you get a little overspray that would be correct still.

To me, that seems like the harder way, but for the concours look I guess that's the only way to go.
Did you use an air brush or a rattle can?

C_F, I painted the black first on part of it. I then figured it would be easier to spray the Silver first, and it was. I let the Silver dry for a day or so, then taped the silver off and sprayed the black. Either way, it is very time consuming. I still have to go back and do a small amount od touch-up where a little overspray made its way under tape here and there.

Thanks Man, that's how I assumed you did it. That's probably how I'll end up doing mine...what a pain in the butt!

[69 OUR/TEA]

HELLO,I WROTE A PARAGRAPGH IN (HEADLIGHT DOORS 68-69 CHARGER-CLEANING BUGS)FOR SOME ADDITIONAL INFO ON GRILL CLEANING AND PAINT.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Here are some pics of my finished grill.As I wrote in bug-cleaning topic,I wanted this grill to look as close to original as possible.Having 2 N.O.S. center sections was a great help as I did not need any repair,and the original color was a perfect example to go by as they were never on a car.But the one I chose had a couple of scuff marks so therefore had to be painted as well as the headlight buckets and doors.Using the perfect N.O.S. one was my guide to get the color right on.As I wrote before the grill silver paint was way off as it looked way to light.The original color was more like an ash grey metallic.I had a friend who works for PPG paint industries take a  proffit(picture scan)of the original grill color to come up with a formula to start with.After 5 or 6 mixes and test spray outs I got it right on when butted up to the N.O.S. part.Like stated by others who posted,I painted the black first(SEM trim black was absolutly perfect as it resembled natural black plastic),and then painted the grey areas.Many of you may not care to take this process this far,but I feel the grill on 69 Chargers are a focal point of the car.All of my trim was reanodized and put back on as well as new emblems. On another note,someone posted to use Eastwoods wheel argent paint,so on a whim,I had a can kicking around so I tried a spray out of that ,and suprizingly was alot closer then the actual grill silver was.This site is for asking questions or  giving info to other fellow hobbyist ,so in reading many different posts you should do wat is going to make you happy.This write up is  just my opinion and  how I did my own grill.Thanks for reading!!!