How to Best Restore a Grille for 69 Dart

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1969VADart

1969VADart

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I was wondering if you guys could share some of the different ways you have restored the grille for 69 (or other model year) Darts, whether for the original stock look or something different like for a resto mod. I am considering sending my grille off to CudaChick to have it powder coated. Does anyone have any pictures of their grille after Leanne got done with it? Or did anyone just polish theirs? Just interested in seeing some of the different looks before I decide what to do with mine. Thanks.
 
Subscribed, need to do something with mine as well.
Strip anodizing with 100% lye and polish is likely what I will do. Just hard to find the time.
If I remember correctly their is two different paint scheme's on these 69 dart grills.
 
I originally used aircraft stripper to clean mine up and left it unfinished for a while (see pic 1).

But then finally found time to paint it. I preferred to go with a more blacked out version (2nd pic) as opposed to original that is on my buddies car on right.

I used satin black and argent silver. Heres my restoration link (#73) with some addtl info:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=82832&page=3

Hope this gives you couple ideas. Doug
 

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I will be taking notes on this thread as well, someday i will need to do something with mine.
 
i'm in also, Lawrence

btw Doug the black looks great on your ride.
 
I used gel paint remover on the black that I painted on mine years ago and then I used regular paint thinner to remove the silver paint. Then I used thinner to clean the whole thing. Then I spent a LOT of time taping using fine line tape and masking tape. I painted the black first using Rustoleum semi-gloss black. Then the silver I used was Mopar Performance Argent Silver wheel paint. You can also use dull aluminum. You can also use semi-gloss black engine enamel. I used that on my hood louvers and Dodge emblems. I used my fingernails to scrape off overspray and anything that went under the tape because the tape didn't stick good in some spots.

2nj9jeb.jpg
 
This is before I wanted to put the grill back to original and had the car painted. It is an original stripe delete car. I've always liked the white stripe so I had one put on with the new paint. Anyway I used a brush to paint the grill like this back in the 70's and it stayed nice all these years until I put it back to the original look.

2jahx6q.jpg
 
Thanks for the mention but I'm still totally swamped despite the lateness of the season and am not really taking on any new trim restoration projects right now. I need to get my backlog cleared out first.
 
Leanna,

When do you think you might be able to take on some more work? Any chance you might be ready for some more by mid to late summer? I am leaning towards sending you my grille and headlight bezels as well as my valve covers and air cleaner cover.

CudaChick1968 said:
Thanks for the mention but I'm still totally swamped despite the lateness of the season and am not really taking on any new trim restoration projects right now. I need to get my backlog cleared out first.
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1969VADart said:
Leanna,

When do you think you might be able to take on some more work? Any chance you might be ready for some more by mid to late summer? I am leaning towards sending you my grille and headlight bezels as well as my valve covers and air cleaner cover.
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I constantly take on more powder coating work because it's the lifeline of my shop so your valve covers and air cleaner assembly won't be that long. But straight up, I only take on trim restoration because I love the work and find it very rewarding on a personal level ... and I got pretty overloaded not long after the first couple of jobs were shown off by the customers and I haven't caught up yet from that initial onslaught. It's time consuming and delicate work and there's only one of me.

So I've put the brakes on accepting new trim restoration jobs though (like your grille and bezels) until I can get through the backlog -- some of my guys with trim parts have been waiting wayyyyy too long, and have been extraordinarily patient with me -- and it's just not fair to them, you or me if the waiting line is so long that I'm merely nothing but a holding facility until the powder work slows down enough to tackle some of the trim work.

It's the middle of April and I've got 25 jobs here. Usually it's slowing down a bit by now, but every year gets busier. I need clones. :burnout:
 
For those of you guys who refinished your grille, did any of you just paint over the edges of the grille where it was originally polished from the factory? I used a small buffing wheel to polish the bright parts of my grille, but it still looks weather worn (although shinier and not hazy). Would appreciate some pictures too.
 
You can polish forever and not make a significant improvement unless the anodizing is stripped off first. The most straight forward way I know of is to use oven cleaner (Easy-Off). A lot of work later with a polishing wheel and jewelers rouge, you'll have a shiny piece. Once shiny, the piece needs to be re-anodized quickly. Otherwise, oxidation will begin to dull the finish.

After almost 400 hours on the tail panel piece between the lights below, I took it to a professional shop for a re-anodization (~ $40.00). The process clouded the panel a little bit. The clouding would only be noticeable to someone who had seen the panel before it went into the shop. Since I did this, I found that it is possible to do this kind of work at home.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6825455_diy-anodizing-aluminum.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_6399414_anodize-aluminium.html

Check out these two links above for more info.
 

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I figured I would give the Easy Off a try. I also saw that someone suggested polishing it to a shine and then spraying clear over it. Would that be an alternative that would work as well?
 
1969VADart said:
I figured I would give the Easy Off a try. I also saw that someone suggested polishing it to a shine and then spraying clear over it. Would that be an alternative that would work as well?
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Maybe. Pretty sure it would not be as durable. Think there may be a few places in/around Alexandria that might take in work like your grille. I have no idea what someone might charge to do it these days. You'll need to Google and call.
 
I forgot to ask, will the Easy Off or Lye take the silver paint off of the inner portions of the grille and headlight bezels? I am thinking about trying to polish all of the grille that is not going to be painted black.
 
2 Darts said:
Maybe. Pretty sure it would not be as durable. Think there may be a few places in/around Alexandria that might take in work like your grille. I have no idea what someone might charge to do it these days. You'll need to Google and call.
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Seeing as how this is meant to just be a good looking driver, not a top flight show car, I think I will give the trim/grille refinish a shot. I have about two months to work on it (how long it will be before the body work is done on my car). Thanks for the suggestion about Northern VA though.
 
The Easy-Off will remove a lot of the paint, but not all of it. What it does not remove, it will soften making it easier to remove.

Suggest using a self-etching primer for painting on the grille for better paint adhesion and reduced chipping. My experience with rattle cans is that if it does not say self-etching on the can, it isn't.
 
2 Darts said:
The Easy-Off will remove a lot of the paint, but not all of it. What it does not remove, it will soften making it easier to remove.

Suggest using a self-etching primer for painting on the grille for better paint adhesion and reduced chipping. My experience with rattle cans is that if it does not say self-etching on the can, it isn't.
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Thanks for the advice on the primer. I just happen to have a nearly new can of self-etching primary on the shelf in the garage. I think I am going to try to just polish the outer ring of grill and paint the inner portion. I am going for a mostly blacked out look anyway. Thanks.
 
I redid mine over the winter. I stripped the anodizing with Easy Off and removed all the paint. Then I polished all of the areas that were going to be brite. From there I masked and etch primered all of the painted areas. More masking and painted the black. More masking and painted the silver across the bottom, around the headlight buckets and the section across the middle of the grille. Then masked all of that off and clear coat all the polished aluminum.
I used Eastwood's supplies because they had a few things I couldn't find anywhere else. I used their etching primer, SEM trim black paint, Alumablast silver, and Diamond Clear for bare metal. It wasn't hard but it's very time consuming and takes about 2 rolls of thin masking tape.
Two notes on the clear sections-I couldn't find anyone east of the Missisppi that does Brite Dip anodizing anymore. The Diamond Clear from Eastwood is more of a coating than a paint. It will peel off randomly if you don't remove the masking tape from the surrounding areas at the right time.
 

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PA Dodger said:
The Diamond Clear from Eastwood is more of a coating than a paint. It will peel off randomly if you don't remove the masking tape from the surrounding areas at the right time.
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So based on your comment here, when is the right time to remove the masking tape after I have sprayed the clear over the polished metal? And does it matter if the clear is sprayed over the painted parts of the grille?
 
I would suggest removing the tape while the Diamond Clear is still tacky. I was going for as close to original as possible so the black is a matte finish and the silver has a slight texture to it, Clear coating all of it wouldn't look right to me.

This is what I based my resto on. I took a pic of a restored one at the Mopar Nats last year. The guy wanted $800 for the grille.
 

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More close ups of original versions would be appreciated.
 
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