[68ragtop]

Where I am at for now.

[dataway]

It almost looks like they dipped them in silver ... but I've seen the over spray, and the various lines are too clean.

Shame someone that did them at the factory can't clue us in.

[68ragtop]

What about gloss level? I am guessing the silver should be at a fairly low gloss level?
maybe 30% at most? satin or slightly lower?

[68ragtop]

Silver is finished, I adjusted the gloss level to about a satin/egshell I hope thats close. I don't recall ever seeing them much gloss & some looked flat. One would think I would have figured that out earlier...... won't know what it looks like until morning as its pretty glossy right now.

[68ragtop]

Boy I could use some opinions......
I am struggling with the color/gloss of the black areas. I sprayed part of a spare grill I have to show you where I am at. The left is a trim level black. probably about 20% gloss, to the right is about 30-40% gloss. of course as blacks get flatter they get more gray looking. pretty typical. The untouched plastic areas of the grills I am restoring above look closer to the flatter black, but is that just oxidized aged plastic? should it be a touch shinier? A couple rubs on the bare original plastic areas & it looks closer to the color I sprayed on the right.

I always struggle with these decisions & I always second guess myself no matter what way I go.
I could go right in-between too......

Don't pay attention to the flaws in the paint examples, I didn't prep this, just wanted the color samples...

Thoughts? I am going to starting to tape today, so I am hoping to paint some parts tonight.

[Greg Reid]

My OPINION is that the left side looks better. Again, I always think that the designers preferred certain things to kind of 'disappear'. More gloss makes them more noticeable. On the other hand, dead flat would be, as you point out, gray-ish and pick up more grime.

[dataway]

They always looked a tad flat to me ... but I've never seen a brand new one.

Would love to see an NOS example still in the box.

[68ragtop]

Both of you guys have great points & I appreciate your perfect timing of chiming in.

Part of the thing is we (car enthusiasts) have been looking at aged originals, re-pops or restored cars for a very long time now. So, If somebody went in a time machine to 1968 & grabbed a pair of these grills off the assembly line & put them on their car in 2017 many people might think they are incorrect. too shiny, too dark, etc.

For me, I think waaaay too much about this stuff & then I second or third guess what way to go. So I apologize for constantly hitting you guys up for thoughts. But, its much smarter than just doing whatever comes to mind.

I put the old grill behind the bumper & the flatter color does look nice. Well, they both look nice.... Here I go again........

I am about 3/4 through taping the first grill. about halfway through I figured out some tricks to not only speed it up, but align the tape better. Its tedious, but really not that bad. I would rather be doing that than sanding any day.

[Greg Reid]

I'm going to re-finish mine one day. I've been brainstorming some type of manilla folder mask for the vanes. It would be tedious to make but once made, the paint could be sprayed in two minutes. That's what I'm thinking anyhow.

[68ragtop]

I spent about 2.5 - 3 hours taping off one center grill. Not all that bad. I won't do them all in one sitting thats for sure. I have the sealer coat on one grill, going to lean a little towards the lesser gloss with the black Its not flat black by any stretch, but I agree about the higher gloss attracting attention. It's really about the silver & chrome trim anyway & while the black is still visible & should look clean I don't want it to stand out.

I think I have my mind made up

[dataway]

One thing about something like this ... long as it's close, you can swear to all comers that it's absolutely correct ... and say "prove me wrong"

[4zpeed]

Very sorry for the delay in posting pics, my son was in this wkend from Andrews AF base and had trouble due to snow on his return, ended up the plow truck came by so I didn't have to go after him but he did have to call in, turn around and spend another night, darnit.

That being said I read your post so rushed over to the garage with my camera and realized when I got back the USB connector is missing!

So I went back over, getting dark by now and took some with my phone, its a track phone and next to worthless for quality pics.

None the less I did wipe a spot or two off to get an idea of the sheen and agree with you, "A couple rubs on the bare original plastic areas & it looks closer to the color I sprayed on the right."

You may not be able to see much if anything by these but in my opinion, what I could see from the quality pics you posted, and the statement made earlier that they will dull "just a bit", the sample on the right is perfect, don't second guess yourself , lol.

Hope this helps, I'll post more pics with my camera if you want, just need to pic up a USB adapter so I can actually upload.


Frank

[68ragtop]

Thanks for all your efforts Frank, its very much appreciated!

BTW, anybody know what thread size the trim ring screws are? In addition to other problems I had with the chroming company, now I realize the threads are all messed up. I don't seem to have a tap the same as the screw threads. Hmmmm. Spent a lot of money having those re-done & while the chrome looks great, the care of keeping them the same as what I brought in was lost in a big way.

As far as the black goes I went kinda in-between, not quite as glossy as the right though.

[4zpeed]

I rubbed it with water only, and didn't try to buff it up, so taking into consideration 50 years... like I said your sample on the right with a bit of curing time looks to be perfect.

The sample on the left is way to dull and will only continue to head that direction, if you can tell, notice the color in the pic, still Black with no hint of grey due to being flat and aged.

As far as the screws, are they the ones that go into the plastic door, what's messed up?

Can you post a pic?



Frank

[68ragtop]

I don't want to go on a big rant, but I dropped $1K on have some chrome work done including the 4 grill trims. When they stripped them they got warped & they never noticed. Then they piled on the copper on the threaded bosses & they got so enlarged they would't fit into the grills, so I had to not only bend them back into shape, I had to methodically grind down all of the mounting posts so they would fit the grills. Now tonight I realized the threads have **** in them too.

Turns out they are #8-32 if anyone needs to know I am chasing all the threads now.

[4zpeed]

Ah yes I see, the distortion could have probably been prevented, the buildup has me puzzled as I have yet to have anything re-chromed but seems it should not have added anything past the original dimension.

I assume the screw holes would need tapped regardless. Sounds like you have it covered though and seems I'm learning at your expense, sorry bout that but it is very much appreciated by all.


Frank

[68ragtop]

Here's a picture. They are triple plated chrome, so in the process they build up copper to fill imperfections almost like body filler on a metal panel. Well each time it was dipped in copper the posts kept getting larger. My guess is they didn't realize the outer diameter was important, but they had to know the threads were. I have pictures of them bent too somewhere, but it just gets me frustrated looking at them bent like that......

Again, the chrome work is fantastic. they filled in all the casting marks on the edges too. No complaints about that. They just didn't fit anymore afterwords.

[4zpeed]

Believe me I feel your pain, just glad it was something you could manipulate back to its original shape, as far as the bosses they will never be seen.

Not sure they could have prevented the buildup though as the entire part has to be dipped in the process, I take it then they were only dipped once at the factory.


Frank

[68ragtop]

One Finished, Three to go

Just going to to one at a time. then the taping is not overwhelming & I do not want to keep the masking tape on for more than 6-12 hours. Learned a lesson on that years ago.

Just need to touch up some of those round molded areas with some black & an artists brush, but otherwise I'm happy with the results. Overkill from what the factory did, but looks good.

.

[4zpeed]

Sahweet! The sheen looks great and colors very correct. Chrome looks awesome as well.

Hard to truly appreciate the quality unless one was to endeavor in the task.

"I figured out some tricks to not only speed it up, but align the tape better" I'd be interested in this as it does seem to be very time consuming.

I'm starting to understand why some cringe at the thought of driving their car after a recent resto.

My eyes are starting to squint... nooooo!


....
Frank