How to fix a black painted grille?

-

1967formulaS

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 14, 2013
Messages
561
Reaction score
43
Location
Adelaide, South Australia
Hi guys,
When I bought my barracuda, it already had the "blackout" treatment on all the chrome and stainless and also the grille.
It's painted in 2k and was wondering the best method to remove this.
I would like to start with the grille. Should I soda blast it? How will the plastic hold up during the process. The grille is in excellent condition structurally and so us the stainless.
In regards to the stainless trim along the roof, would this just buff off or would I use some paint stripper and then clean and buff from there.
Any advice is appreciated. :)
I need this black paint gone!
 
Some paint stripper should work for the stainless, then apply a polish afterwards.
 
I would not blast the plastic. There are some sanding wheels for removing paint that are plastic themselves. I think 3m makes them. Metal is easy, just use a stripper, the kind that doesn't require a dollar.
 
I bought an air polisher kit from my paint vendor. It comes with a variety of pads and it took all the color off my grille when I polished it. It is stellar for polishing stainless steel as well. I use three grades of polish compound and a separate pad for each. Use lots of water and wash with soap and water when you think you have it. Good luck.
 
Can you add pics?

It would be easier to suggest methods if I could get a better idea of the paint used and the thickness but without physically seeing it, pics may help. Also, I'm not sureexactly how much has actually been painted. With that being said, the stainless will be the easiest of all to take are of. They will buff out easily. The other areas are a little more sensitive. I would test out a small section of the painted over chrome vacuum plated area just to see if their is chrome underneath or if it was stripped and painted.

Re: stripping. I would highly suggest finding someone who can strip with a dry ice system. They would need the ability to "dust" with it vs the more common larger pellet blasting. These are common n the tech/biotech industries so that may give you a route to locate them. The results are quite impressive and usually saves a lot of prep time and work after the fact.
 
I don't understand why you guys kill yourselves redoing your Cuda Grilles & Headlight Bezels. :realcrazy:
Send them to me and let me take care of it. AND you get new studs, which is the BIGGEST relief of all.
2 week turn around time, once received.

Devote that time into other aspects of your car, like redoing the front/rear suspension, interior or paint.
It is tuff to straighten these Grilles and will take you years of experience to do them correct.

I've spoken personally with prospective Customers (at Swap Meets) who have decided to DIY on their grilles and the end result unanimous consensus is: "I wish I had just sent them to you, whatta nightmare". :BangHead:

There are MANY tricks to redoing these Grilles that you will never learn, trust me.
Removing the anodizing alone is enough to exhaust you into oblivion.
And you will NEVER in a million years get my results.

- partsmonsta :usflag:

cuda bez1.PNG


cuda bez2.JPG
 
"There are MANY tricks to redoing these Grilles that you will never learn, trust me.
Removing the anodizing alone is enough to exhaust you into oblivion.
And you will NEVER in a million years get my results."

It's a little thing called Pride and the ability to do it yourself. We might not achieve what some professional can do but then we don't have to pay out the butt to do it ourselves. With your smug 'tude, I don't think I could afford ya.
 
Hi guys,
Thanks for all your replies.
I will load up some pics tonight.
Partsmonsta, I like your enthusiasm, however Im in Australia. I'm sure you get awesome results, but I like a challenge and the satisfaction of doing things like this myself.
 
I thought the 67 barracuda grills were all metal?
I have 68s so they are the plastic finned inserts.
They can be pretty fragile from age. The urethane may make the plastic more resistant to breaking. Possibly glass bead them lightly and repaint since most weren't chromed anyway.
As for the chrome plated diecast & aluminum parts aircraft stripper would take care of the blackout paintjob. Brush on and cover with saran wrap so it has time to work before drying.
It may take a few attempts depending on how stubborn the paint is to soften up enough to wash off.
Some OOOO fine steel wool should get the diecast chrome parts final cleaned.
You will need to do a thorough job with the stripper for the next step to work on the anodized aluminum
100% lye liquid drain cleaner makes short work of stripping the anodizing from the aluminum parts. This is a soak and rinse process. Not really much scrubbing needed to get them stripped off. I watched them very close not to leave them submerged too long as it can eat aluminum. Any paint left on will protect the anodizing from the lye.
I then used very fine wet or dry sandpaper in a sink of dish water as a last step before polishing. I believe it was 1000 to 1200 grit. This also removes any of the last traces of anodizing which must come off before moving forward to the next step.
To polish I used Mothers mag wheel paste and their red foam ball. It has a light touch so not to dent or damage the thin aluminum. They end up looking like a mirror when done. This shine will dull and have to be repolished every so often. They slowly oxidize without the protective anodizing over time.
 
Excellent, thank you for all your suggestions. I will check them all out and see what works best for me.
Here are a few pics.
Pretty much anything that was chrome or stainless or silver is now black. :(

DSC_1873.JPG


DSC_1866.JPG


DSC_1870.JPG
 
The actual grille section looks original?
They also painted the rear lenses with a tint. :(
I've had the car like this for 3 years and didn't worry about it because I was concentrating on the mechanical resto. Now that that's pretty much done, I want yo get rid of the billboards and the black paint.
 
I dont have much advice to offer other than take your time and ask questions.
There will always be someone who thinks they are bigger better than anyone else. That person also tried some underhanded tactics on some trim I was buying. Seller of trim put him on ignore lol. Makes me question their integrity and motives.
If youre removing grills to fully redo them and need part #'s for studs lemme know they are available local and new.
Lye also removes anodizing, but be careful and good luck! Post progress pics.
 
The stainless has already been covered, paint stripper should work well for that followed by a polish.

For the plastic inserts, I wouldn't want to blast them. The plastic will be degraded pretty easily. There are citrus based paint strippers though, which actually work well. I used them to remove paint from my traditional leather firefighting helmet, worked great without destroying the leather. Standard chemical strippers would probably melt the plastic. Before I used any kind of paint stripper though I would test it on a small section that isn't visible, or even on a broken piece from another grille to make sure it doesn't damage the plastic. And I would make sure to clean the parts thoroughly with soap and water afterward to completely remove any residue. Stuff that doesn't damage the plastic in the short term might still screw it up if left on there too long.

This is the stuff I used, not sure what it would be called in Australia, might have a different brand over there

751664738012.jpg

Shop CitriStrip 32 fl oz Paste Multi-Surface Paint Remover at Lowes.com
 
You can do the grille work yourself. Attached is a photo of my 67 grille after I decided to change the look of the stock one. Took some time but I am happy with how mine came out. All hand work and no chemicals for me. Lots of time and the right paint are important though--------------------

Modgrille1.jpg


Modtail1.jpg
 
-
Back
Top