Okay, any drum rolls? I wish I did have an original grille for comparison purposes, but since I don't, I won't be able to say if the repro has some areas that are worse, the same, or better than a Mopar grille. The parts I test fit onto the grille are originals & not repros.
Someone on another site noted shrinkage as a possible problem, but since the parts I put on are small, there wasn't any great distance that would affect them. The biggest chance for error will be the upper & lower, horizontal, stainless steel pieces. Unfortunately, I don't have these 2 yet & can't check. I would imagine if anything will have a fit problem, it could be these.
All I had time for today was the 6 grille inserts & the 4 headlight rings. These parts are mint originals without any damage. The 6 inserts have all the studs on the back, & line up perfectly with the holes molded into the grille. They all fit nicely into each cavity with NO rocking, tilted, or odd looking fit.
The 4 headlight rings are also in perfect shape, & the two, small, 1/8" alignment studs on the back of each ring are also there. These studs line up with the openings in the grille, but since they are small, they only grab the grille very slightly, but enough to keep them aligned. (I believe that was the intention for these studs.)
The outer rings fit nicer than the inner rings, & that may be due to the fact the inner rings sit against a small lip on the front surface of the grille, & not a flat surface like the outer rings. The screw holes on the rings line up with the screw holes molded into the grille, but not 100% perfectly.
I'm almost positive that once I spend some time prepping, sanding & finishing the areas on the grille that need attention, there won't be any problem mounting them. The alignment of the holes appear close enough to work well, but the grille is still in a slightly rough stage. (Some excess plastic at holes to be removed or trimmed.) It was never advertised as a ready to bolt in piece, so I knew there was some work involved.
I will be calling or emailing Steve Sexton at Premiere Plastics to get his updated contact info on the grille & other products that are supposed to be out in the near future. I'll post back with what I get. I have a link with the rest of the pics, because I don't want to have this page take 20 minutes to download.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/oldmoparz/album?.dir=/81aa&.src=ph&.tok=ph5bbaCB78H3HjlQHere is an overall view of the grille, & a couple of close ups with the parts resting in place & not fastened.
