Is it hard to break apart the front grille on a 68 Charger?

[sixpack_sid]

My front grille on my 68 Charger is rusted on the top and bottom brackets. How hard is it to remove the metal without breaking the plastic grille? I would like to sandblast it. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[Mike DC]

The plastic can be fragile.  There are no reproductions of those grilles so BE CAREFUL. 

It's pretty much the same story as with any other part of the car - soak the hardware with penetrating oil for a few hours and then go at it. 


(And if you're not already aware, the grille assembly has to be taken off the car before you try to take the plastic out of it.)

 

[Troy]

And be extremely careful if you use a cut off wheel or try to drill out any broken bolts as the heat will melt the plastic you're trying to save! It is very tedious and time consuming but, as Mike said, the plastic isn't available (used metal frames can be found easily enough) so treat it as gently as possible.

Troy

[Belgium R/T -68]

  Took me months of careful work.

Per