just painted my '71 grill black and looks great. question...lower lip of grill, the part that slips under the bumper should be the same as the car color, correct? where do i mask that at? just under the bottom rib? at the inside edge? thanks.

Yes, that bottom stripe is painted the body color. Tape it under that bottom rib. I am just painting my 71 Grille which has silver where the chrome pieces go on and black on the fin areas.

thanks, got it done this weekend. looks great! cleaned the stainless trim with 00 steelwool, painted the black with semi-flat black. the lime green came out looking like a million bucks. had some broken vanes and glue in a new piece with epoxy, held it together with pony clamps with wax paper, cant even tell it was ever bad.

Glad to hear it turned out good. I had to repair mine as well. The lower lip was broken. It came out looking pretty good. Better than having to purchase a new one.

I'm interested in how you guys repaired your grilles. Anything special (what kind of glue/epoxy, etc.) that you used? What did you use for replacement pieces? I have a hole in mine that I've been playing with, but I don't like the results yet...

I am not an expert. The lower lip of my grille was split with about a piece the size of a quarter missing. I glued it togather with some waterproof epoxy glue from NAPA. I filled the hole with horse hair body filler from NAPA and applied alot to the undernealth. I then applied regular body filler to the top in order to obtain a smooth finish. It came out pretty decent.The hardest part was taping off the fin areas for painting the black and silver. Hope this helps. I figured the least I could do was screw it up but it was already screwed up. Take care.

I bought a new grille for my 72 and have not painted the lower part yet. Still curious as to where you taped it off at... at or below the bottom rib? Also, I'm having tons of trouble getting those chrome trim pieces to stick to that plastic. I've tried about 5 or 6 different glues and epoxy and even zip tied them on for a week to be sure the glue was dry and sat in the sun and caught the air as I drove it in town and it still came loose on some of the ends. I painted each of the fins silver with some model paint and then went over it with a clear coat and it's held up really well, even when washing it. Just don't know about painting that lower part when I repaint the car this summer and also wondering if you guys have any suggestions on those chrome trim pieces...? Thanks.

I had taped mine off underneath the lower rib just before where the lower lip piece starts. I am sorry to hear about those chrome pieces as I have not put mine back on yet. I may run into the same problem. It appeared as they were originally pinched on and I know they were pretty tight. I will let you know what I run into as I should be ready for them soon.

Thanks for the info on painting that piece. As far as the chrome, that's exactly what I'm wondering as well... they seem to have been pinched on there originally so I don't know how to get them to stay on there. I could order new chrome but they would probably be they same way wouldn't they?

I would think they would be the same. I am at Dover for the NASCAR race this weekend so I will not get a chance to work on my grille till next week. I will let you know what I run into. Do your pieces look like they are opened up pretty well? Could to squeeze them tighter a liitle bit before putting them on?

I'll try that. In the mean time, I'm curious what the best epoxy is for metal to plastic...? NASCAR huh? Nice! Make sure to post any pics! :D