71 Cuda Grille

[SageCuda]

Well, I was poking around through the pile of parts I received along with my 71 Cuda a couple months ago, when I got to looking at my grille.  It seems someone painted the front, and somehow or another introduced some "texturing" in the process.  Any ideas on how to go about repairing this?  The back side is the smooth gray plastic you would expect to find.  Here's a pic of what I've got, thanks in advance.

Sage

[mustardketchup]

SageCuda:

     I wanted to remove the argent textured paint off of my 1971 'cuda grille, so I used a sandblaster.  It took some time to removed all of the paint, but did not wear away any of the plastic detail of the grille.

[74challenger]

I took an aluminum intake mainifold into a shop to be bead blasted.  That may work for you.  Consult someone that does this and ask what they think.

Good Luck

[Chryco Psycho]

Unless you know exactly what you are doing I dont recommend blasting it , sand will pit steel !! you may be able to blst it with a soft media at low pressure or chemicaly strip it , I would check with a pro  

[mustardketchup]

Chrycho:

     Are you saying that sandblasting would possibly pit the plastic of the grille?  When I sandblasted mine with a "backpack" portable Campbell-Hausfield pressure blaster set at 90 p.s.i., there was no pitting or deterioriation to the plastic.  I used regular "play sand" bought at a hardware store, nothing special.

     Just letting you guys and girls in on what worked for me.  Let me hear any other methods that worked for you.

Larry

[SageCuda]

mustardketchup,

  So your grille had the textured argent paint as well?  I had thought this wasn't a factory paint job, apparently I best find out before I remove it.  I've never seen a 71 grille that looked like this on the cars I've seen.

  Any chance you can post a picture of how yours turned out?

Sage

[MEK-Dangerfield]

  Hey SageCuda,
   This looks to me like someone spray painted over the argent silver. Can you tell if it's been repainted?

  Mike

[mustardketchup]

SageCuda:

     I want to clarify your question with my response; your grille definitely does not look like the factory argent textured paint.  It looks like your grille has been repainted some wacky shade of textured gray.  It certainly looks like a different color and texture than my grille or the others I've seen at shows.
     As for posting pictures, I'm going to see if my co-worker can help me post a picture of my grille - but don't hold your breath.  I've never attempted to post pictures before.  I have a computer here at work, not at home, but we have a digital camera here at work.  So I'll see if I can borrow the camera from work and get some pictures posted.
     When I mentioned that I sandblasted my grille, I actually only stripped about half of the grille.  Currently, half of the grille is the original argent silver and the other half is stripped down to plastic (oddly enough, the plastic was red underneath the argent paint).  I then got sidetracked onto other sheetmetal-related stuff and never finished the grille.

Larry