70 Cuda Grille red inserts

[Winston]

Hey there,
I took my red trim pieces off my 70 Cuda grille to restore them to their original condition.  The car is limelight, and someone thought it would be cool to paint the red strip green to match the car.  Well, I was wondering what color red was used for this, and I also wanted to know what color the trim piece is supposed to be other than the center part being red.  Does anyone know?  My argent grille has been painted black, and I want to paint it back to argent.  Does anyone have any advice to give me about restoring these grilles?  I bought the argent from Totally Auto.  Hope it's the right color...I think it is dark argent.

Thanks for any help!
Winston

[PlumCrazy]

Textured medium/dark argent, Testores Ferarri Red.

[70Cuda]

I'll give you a trick on the red stripe, you can use narrow pin stripping tape and try the green and end up with the red.  rather than masking mine off and painting the black, I did the pin stripe and really don't regret it since I could keep it straight with the tape.

I have had good luck with the Penstar productions argent (I used the light) and there are several topics on grill restoration already out here that apply to this topic including ones on 71 challenger grilles which are plastic too and the same techniques can be used.

Drill holes when repairing cracks and use the right repair material.

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=28537.0
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=31187.0
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=17878.0

It's very doable, just take your time and do it right.

Don't texture the black section in the middle of the grill which you can use SEM Trim black on.

[Winston]

Thanks for the tips.  That grille in the pic looks really nice!

After posting this last night, I continued to clean my trim pieces with the red stripe.  I was using a high grade sandpaper, and when the area got some heat on it, the red stripe peeled off like it was a sticker.  Does anyone know how the stripe was applied at the factory?

I do not know much about this stuff....where do I drill holes to fix cracks? (because I do have a couple of hairline cracks in mine).  That sounds pretty scary to me.  What is the right repair material?  I have heard people using JB Weld to repair and then sanding...is this a good avenue to take to restore the cracks?

[70Cuda]

Winston, follow the links in my other post which tells you the material to use too - 3M Automix 5883. 

Drill a hole at the end of the crack and also drill holes along the side of the crack so when you patch from the front and back the repair material flows through and helps it stop from cracking again.  Make sure you V-grind the cracks out first so you can get enough repair material in there to make a difference and then drill the holes.

Here are some before and after pictures of mine.  I used SEM repair material on this grill but after doing my challenger grill would have gone with the 3M material above.  I was missing pieces and had a chunk of another grill and cut a piece out to fit in the missing hole.  I also took galvanized roofing flashing and molded it into the back to help brace things up better - and put holes in that too.

I do have a couple of pieces left too but not too much.

Don't be scared to cut, grind and drill as needed since in the end, you can fix it.  I took my grill to a body shop and they tried hot gluing stuff and ended up giving me back my grill calling it junk but after I fixed it and stopped back, they changed their minds - but it probably would have been cheaper to have bought a different one vs. having them fix it anyway but in the end, I fixed it myself.  Be very careful if you tackle buffing the stainless since those long thin strips can get caught and ruined pretty easy but man it looks nice if done right.

Good luck!

[Winston]

Wow, your grill looks awesome!  I will look into the 3M product.  I definitely have some issues with my grill, but it is all there.  I hope it turns out half as nice as yours.  I'm still afraid I might mess something up, but I guess you're right - you can always repair what you mess up.  My trim definitely could use some work as well...I just can't help but think that someone will be reproducing this trim (along with the 70-71 tail panel) for a fraction of the cost of buying these pieces on ebay.  We can always hope, right?

Thanks for the information!