73 (not hideaway-plastic) grille resto, could use advice, please help

[73Charged]

Here's the situation. It's in good shape, not cracked, but the finish is flaking off.
The grommets (2 holed piece around the headlights) appear to be urethane or vinyl, and are complete, but has the niced baked brown edges, the backers are perfect.
It even has the original center trim fill piece with the red stripe.

I've read through the big long grille resto thread, sorry to say it's all about pre 1970 and hideaways, which is metal stuff.
I have trouble finding info & parts for my '73, as usual, so i'm hoping that another 3rd generationer might shed some light.

Here's my ideas. The grommets, since they are whole, just faded, I'm assuming can be painted with trim or flexible paint.
The center trim fill (red edges) seems to be chrome plated, is metal, can probably be wired wheeled and painted (blue edged & silver).
I'm not sure about the plastic grille itself, how can it be gently stripped, without creating unrepairable scrathes & gouging? I think a dremel would be too much, even with a very fine brush. High grit sandpaper, scotch brite?
Thanks for taking interest & reading. I'd appreciate any insight, advice, suggestions, ideas, or even insults. Feel free to click my profile & email direct.

[lisiecki1]

i used fine brillo to scuff mine and painted them with standard auto primer and paint....fixed some cracks with standard fiberglass impregnated bondo.....turned out real real nice.

[73Charged]

Yeah, mine has one crack on the side, may need filled.
Did you paint the chromed outer edge too?
I might try to keep it chrome, it's still looks pretty good.
it's the middle baffles that are all peeling.
Thanks for your input.

[lisiecki1]

mine wasn't chrome....car was painted once before i got it and they did away with the chrome apparently.....

[73Charged]

Sorry, I didn't mean the entire grille, just the outer lip of it has a chrome finish.
The insides and baffles are original grey color plastic.
Was all the body trim on your car painted also?

[quapman]

Just the S.E.'s had the chrome surround on the grilles and taillight housings. There are places that will strip and rechrome for you, but I don't have any personal experience with any, sorry. Maybe do a search for "rechroming plastic" or pick up an MCG and check the ads.

[73Charged]

Fortunately, I think the chrome edging is still good enough to use it like it is.
The prices for the few replacement parts that are available for this car are just plain over the barrell. I'm just about ready to give up on it.

[lisiecki1]

Sorry, I didn't mean the entire grille, just the outer lip of it has a chrome finish.
The insides and baffles are original grey color plastic.
Was all the body trim on your car painted also?

sorry, just saw your response from the 8th....yes all of my body trim was painted black.

[quapman]

It's true....Charger part prices are anywhere between 2 and 20 times the price of Camaro parts!

[73Charged]

Yup, shoulda bought a Camaro.
This Charger is a big F'ing mistake.

[Bob]

I restored mine to a real fine driver quality like this.

Disassembled and cleaned the grills.SE trim and buckets.
Sanded with 600 grit and steel wool as much as I could with out hitting/scratching the chrome. This took the longest. Preperation is the key prior to painting. Lots of nooks and crannies to get into. Just be patient.
The SE trim I painted with hemi orange model paint with a brush.
The buckets I sanded, spray painted and clear coated from a can.
Once I had the grills cleaned, sanded and all the chrome taped up I took them to the local body shop who painted them a real close color of the original and clear coated.
They came out fantastic. I have about 3 bucks in parts and 60 bucks to have painted.

[73Charged]

Nice!! It looks good, and thanks a lot for the advice. I already painted the SE middle trim piece, that was easy, and I did mine in Chrysler blue, I like the orange on yours.

If you could possibly answer another question, there is a hairline crack on one of the inner edges of the grille, what would be a good way to fill & patch without excessive buildup or damage to the surface?

[Nacho-RT74]

middle trim is in that color from factory. More redish than orange, like MAGNUM letters but still that color

hair line and cracks... I did epoxy glue and sand paper, then paint over

and chrome on these are not just on outer edge around like also on headlights edges and horizontal fins outer edge