Walnut Shells for Grills
 

I put my complete Endura up on some saw horses in the shop to mess with in my spare time .... even though it will be minimum 18 months before I'm ready to install it .... anywho.

I pulled the grills out tonight, epoxing up any cracks etc. .... like most grills it's been painted black at some point, it's not adhered very well ... I don't want to use a harsh paint remover on it .... anyone ever used walnut shells in their cabinet to strip one of these grills?

Also, how about the shells to clean the emblems? Those nooks and crannies are a pain. I used shells once on an old carb and was amazed how gentle yet effective they were, cleaned it spotless but would leave the old factory iridescent cad plate untouched. Seems like it might work well on plastic.

One grill is perfect, the other has the two pins broken off etc. I'm going to try to find plastic rod of the right type and plastic weld or epoxy in new pins.

I'll see if I can find the thread from when I did mine, But I think I used regular glass beads at a low pressure & it worked very welll. I'll have to look for that. Not sure on the emblems. I was lucky to have bought new GM emblems many years ago.

I do remember sand blasting the endura & I was amazed at how tough the factory primer was. Paint came off like nothing, the primer that was used on the endura was a very tough product.

Found the thread.

2nd page was when I blasted mine. I know I used lower pressure (probably 50-60 PSI) but std medium sized beads.

Funny thing is you were involved in the conversation. :)

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...=grills&page=2

I used easy-off oven cleaner to strip the paint off of mine.

Not worth the effort or the hassle. Just get another used set that is all there and not painted.

Too much clutter in my mind :)

I'll give the bead a try, that's what's in the cabinet now anyway. Thanks for the thread reference I'll need that soon when I start painting.

Came up with an idea for the pins ... going turn up some aluminum studs/pins that clamp onto the mount where the pins were with a small screw through the back side and big wide flanges to spread the load ... should be almost invisible when painted black.

Quick model of "Pin Fix" hardware.

Existing mount that the pin would stick up from would have to be drilled with about a 1/8" hole (larger would be fine as there is often a larger hole where the pins break off).

The flat area of the mount that the pin stuck out of would be sandwiched between the pin section and the washer section, then tightened down with a small button head socket screw.

Would probably be stronger than the original pin I think. Probably an hour on the lathe to turn up a couple of them.

(for scale the OD of the washer is 1/2")

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...0&d=1569270873

That would be slick!

Are you still contemplating taking apart your taiilght sockets? I have no use for the tools I made to do it if you want them. I have picts if you want to se how it worked out.

I'm trying to avoid the socket situation ... it would only apply to one side anyway since the other is NOS. Heck, now that I have walnut shells on the brain I might try them on the old housing.

To be honest that's probably so far down the road I'd lose them before I'd use them :)

I still need a good left side ... since I have two right sides.

Would love to see a picture of the tools ... I love home made tools.

Had a welding job to do in the shop tonight so while things were cooling in between I whipped out a test piece.

1. Mount with broken off pin
2. Other mount with broken off pin after smoothing.
3 The parts involved.
4/5. Installation.

Works beautifully, very strong, no clearance issues ... way, way stronger than the OEM pin ... takes seconds to install.

Pin is about .325 OD, about .650 long, main flange .750 OD. Tapped for 10-24 screw, found a washer in the bin that would work after drilling ... didn't take a lot of time with the machining so it's a bit rough. Screw should probably be lock-tited in.

I could probably have these done in lots 100 or so for a couple bucks apiece.

So now my previously unusable grill will work good as new ... or better. So much nicer than the cobbed up solutions I've seen on used grills.

Very cool! I don't thing the extra thickness will matter either because they are held up the the top of the bumper & there is likely space in there anyway. You'll be a supplier for out host in no time. :D Speaking of these pins, I wish there was a way to get at the mounts to hold them in a specific alignment to calling the grills better. I had to leave my brackets very loose to install the grills without touching bumper paint, and the brackets the are closest to the headlights are a bugger.

Nice Job!!

I thought the thickness might be an issue too, but there was easy 1/4" of space between the OEM pin/mount and the rubber grommet.

Using these replacement pins ... technically a person could enlarge the hole a tad and since the screw that tightens down the pin is smaller than the hole it would allow some adjustment. Would be no help on the other side of the grill though where it bolts on instead of pins.

Priced it out ... I can have the pin made in batches of 100 for 3.70 each ... then plus the screw and the washer. .... Figure about $5 per pin kit (1) my cost. Might be able to sell them for $10/pin.

Total market worldwide .... probably 2000 pieces at most .... ain't nobody gettin rich :)

But as opposed to trying to glue or plastic weld something that would probably break again, or trying to find a good used piece for $50-100, or a new repop $200. Might not be a bad option.

Wonder if any other late 60's cars use a similar pin for the grills.

I just sold a nice pair at a swap meet on Saturday for $75.00. Just saying.

If a guy has a nice grill already, its an easy option imo.
I've spent more than that for simple fasteners a while bunch of times in the last few years. :D

Specially if you have one all done up beautiful and you break a pin installing it ... so keep that in mind :)

Long ago, i used a Steel wire brush on the louvers...that was good. But ruined the flat lower areas with scratches...that was bad. Back then the paint was harder than the grill plastic when applied thick, so grills are essentially ruined by hobo paint jobs.

Luckly my present 68 Grills set was/is nice.

@Dataway; nice Pin-upgrade! I need to assess the pin conditions Presently the Fixed headlamp lowers sway & swing with bumps! Needs attention.

That's a good point. I bead blasted off just the factory paint & the covers had some krylon type cheapo black on them so it came off easily. If the paint was a lot tougher, the bead blasting might not have worked so well for me either.

I'll find out in the next couple of weeks. Right now I see where the added black paint has worn/flaked off to show the factory paint ... so hopefully it won't be too hard to get off.

I did this as well. Worked good