Technical Tips > Pre 84
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wabco40:
--- Quote from: wabco40 link=topic=7952.msg1045938482#msg1045938482 ---
--- Quote from: 72vet link=topic=7952.msg1045938403#msg1045938403 ---Hi guys, I’m thinking about purchasing new grills for my 72. http://www.ecklers.com/corvette-front-grille-left-1970-1972.html
Has anyone out there purchased aftermarket front grills for their 70 – 72?
Question - What was the quality and fit of the repro?
I’ve looked into having my old ones re-chromed. The place that I took them to suggested that it would be a better option to purchase repro’s as they couldn’t guarantee the finish that I was after due to the egg crate design
Thanks in advance
--- End quote ---
I purchased new left and right front grills. The right grill was NOS and fits good (except for the usual rough casting edges in the squares). The left grill was repro and has a narrower outer edge then the factory grill.
The problem I have is before painting my car I blended the front of the fenders to the original grills and had the grills sitting flush and with and even gap with the fender.
This new left grill will not sit flush with the fender and looks like crap.
I will try get some pictures in the next few days.
I have cleaned up all the rough casting edges on my old grills and hope to get them re-chromed. I have already sent them to a shop in Perth but all they managed to do was strip the old chrome off. Nobody seems interested in touching them as they are so time consuming to do. I will be in Asia for a month during Feburary so I am going to try get them done there.
Brad.
--- End quote ---
Below are pictures of an original left front grill and a repro grill.
The top grill is the repro.
The problem I have with the repro is the outer edge (circled in red) is to narrow compared to an original. The repro is 16mm wide at this point where the original is 21mm wide.
I might be getting a bit picky about this but when I fitted a NOS on the right and the repro on the left it looked like crap with the left having a 5mm gap.
The repro has all the same casting numbers and info on the back same as an original and the rest of the grill is ok.
Brad.
[IMG=700x525]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff391/wabco40/IMG_3814.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG=700x525]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff391/wabco40/IMG_3813.jpg[/IMG]
72vet:
Thanks Brad,
Bit picky you say? Not after you’ve spent the time blending the front of the fender to the original grill and now have a gap with the repo. :grr:
What was used to strip the chrome of the original grills?
Nick
wabco40:
--- Quote from: 72vet link=topic=7952.msg1045938485#msg1045938485 ---Thanks Brad,
Bit picky you say? Not after you’ve spent the time blending the front of the fender to the original grill and now have a gap with the repo. :grr:
What was used to strip the chrome of the original grills?
Nick
--- End quote ---
Hello Nick,
I sent the original grills to a chrome shop in Perth. After 3 months of saying they could do the job they turned around and said it was to much of a headache.
What they did was remove the old chrome (however I am unsure how they do this) and then polished the outer edge and the outer edges of the squares. The rest can be painted similar to the original.
I de-burred all the rough casting edges off the original and they look great now. In fact the more I look at the after market grill the more faults I see with it (the rough top edges of the squares).
My first option is to try have the originals rechromed. I have some contacts in Bangkok so hopefully will be able to get them done while there.
The second is to do what the chrome shop did and polish and paint. Also maybe shoot with a coat of suitable clear coat.
There is also spray on chrome that may be an option (search "spray on chrome" on youtube). However I know very little about this and how durable it would be.
Brad
mick:
I was told by a chromer that diecast is hard to chrome because the steel or in this case aluminium used in die cast is usually of a substandard quality.
When the chromer tries to chrome them because there are different types/qualities of metal the chrome does not go evenly over the surface of the the cast product.
That was the story I got from my chromer anyway.
wabco40:
--- Quote from: mick link=topic=7952.msg1045938490#msg1045938490 ---I was told by a chromer that diecast is hard to chrome because the steel or in this case aluminium used in die cast is usually of a substandard quality.
When the chromer tries to chrome them because there are different types/qualities of metal the chrome does not go evenly over the surface of the the cast product.
That was the story I got from my chromer anyway.
--- End quote ---
Hello Mick,
I have phoned around and no shop here seems interested in doing them.
If the factory can mass produce them then there must be someone that can do it.
I will let you know how I go.
Brad
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