Need help reassembling a '68 grill after resto.

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jbc426

jbc426

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Hi and thanks in advance. I sent my assembled 1968 Barracuda grills out to be restored. It was so expensive to get redone, that I had the shop focus on restoring the surrounds and they also cleaned up my existing parts really nicely.

The parts came back looking great, especially the aluminum surrounds. It's hard to believe they are not NOS with no shelf wear. Anyway, They sent me back all the parts individually wrapped and unassembled.

Having not taken them apart, it is a bit perplexing as to how they all go back together.

Does anyone have close up photos of the back side of the grills showing the orientation and fitment of all the individual parts?
 
jbc426 said:
Hi and thanks in advance. I sent my assembled 1968 Barracuda grills out to be restored. It was so expensive to get redone, that I had the shop focus on restoring the surrounds and they also cleaned up my existing parts really nicely.

The parts came back looking great, especially the aluminum surrounds. It's hard to believe they are not NOS with no shelf wear. Anyway, They sent me back all the parts individually wrapped and unassembled.

Having not taken them apart, it is a bit perplexing as to how they all go back together.

Does anyone have close up photos of the back side of the grills showing the orientation and fitment of all the individual parts?
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I'm curious... how much did it cost to restore each grill?
 
I don't have pics you need but do have a bit of advise, Know for sure what pics you view are left hand and/or right hand. A piece in particular... One of the metal struts sits adjacent to the headlight door/bezel. For some time these were made both curved and straight and every car had one of each ( Eventually these changed to all curved ). So if you do have one of each, know which one goes to which side.
I don't know that the straight piece would interfere with headlight aim when placed on the wrong side or not. This difference might have been as simple as assembly line identification early on. Best to not learn the hard way.
And I think if you'll lay it all out, the hardware attaching the centers will pretty much show you where the intermediate struts belong. Which way they face is dictated by the holes in the body/header.
Good luck
 
I sent my grill and tail panel out to get restored also. He said he was taking all the brackets off to do it. So I will be following!
 
A place here in Minnesota. Iverson automotive in Minnetonka Minnesota.
 
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See if these help. If you need other pics let me know and I will take some more.
 
[QUOTE="toplscuda, post: 1971829689, member: 688] See if these help. If you need other pics let me know and I will take some more.[/QUOTE]

These are exactly what I needed. Thank you so much!!! There are a few smaller parts that I would love to have a picture of in their proper position. I'll attach a picture of them in a bit.
 
intergalactica said:
I'm curious... how much did it cost to restore each grill?
Click to expand...

I had my stuff done at this place. These grills have a lot of parts, and mine were in pretty good shape except for the anodized aluminum outer trim that encircles the entire grill opening. I basically had this shop straighten, polish and replate those. They also disassembled, polished and very nicely cleaned all of the other individual parts and pieces at "no charge".

They quoted me $4000 including shipping to fully disassemble, replate all plated parts, mask, repaint and reassemble both sides. They would have looked better than new. I've seen their stuff. They are one of the best.

I couldn't justify that amount on this often daily driven restoration and paid them $2000 for the work they did on both sides of mine. The aluminum grill surrounds and headlight buckets look like new. I still can't visualize how they can do that to a 50 year old piece of smashed up aluminum, but they do it. They are good to work with and have good communication and customer service.

King of Trim | Quality automotive trim restoration

I'm going to mask and paint the argent myself. I'll post pics when its done.
 
toplscuda said:
I will try and get what you need this evening if you get it posted
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Here are two pictures of the small aluminum parts I need photos of in their assembled position. Thanks again for the help! I appreciate it.

grill parts 1.jpg


grill parts 2.jpg
 
Ok here are the pics. All were taken of the drivers side grill but passengers side is the mirror image.
First two are of the rectangular one with the 45degree cut to the one corner. It is on the lower side of the grill near the headlight.

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Second two are of the longest one. First shot shows mine is a little tweaked and missing the clip the screw catches on the headlight surround would screw to.

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Last two are the location of the smallest one.

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toplscuda said:
View attachment 1715095375 Ouick shot of passengers side long one without the tweak or missing speed nut
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You sir, are a grill saver! :) Thank you so very much. I appreciate it. I made the mistake of assuming the grills would be less expensive to have restored and come back to me in assembled condition. I took no photos of them before shipping, which was not smart in and of itself. Lesson learned and saved by a fellow for A-Bodies Only member. Thanks, Toplscuda!
 
diymirage said:
could i bother you to measure the turn signals in that grille?
i need a set for a 69 valiant grille and thems might work
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I will try and get that for you tonight before I do my bonsai run to Dallas tomorrow.
 
jbc426 said:
You sir, are a grill saver! :) Thank you so very much. I appreciate it. I made the mistake of assuming the grills would be less expensive to have restored and come back to me in assembled condition. I took no photos of them before shipping, which was not smart in and of itself. Lesson learned and saved by a fellow for A-Bodies Only member. Thanks, Toplscuda!
Click to expand...
Not a problem. I am sure I will have many of those questions once reassembly starts on my car. It has only been apart since 87 and when you are 22 you don't always think about how long it may be before it goes back together or actually being organized when you take it apart. Thst is unless you consider throwing everything in one bucket being organized.
 
Here are the 68's. I believe I may also have some 67's around somewhere and they are a bit smaller. Maybe 3 1/2 x 3 1/4


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thank you sir, it looks like what i have to work with is 3.5 by 2.25 so that is a no go
 
toplscuda said:
Not a problem. I am sure I will have many of those questions once reassembly starts on my car. It has only been apart since 87 and when you are 22 you don't always think about how long it may be before it goes back together or actually being organized when you take it apart. Thst is unless you consider throwing everything in one bucket being organized.
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Oh yes, I know how that is. I had my 1970 E-Body apart from about '84 until about 7 or 8 years ago. It took me 5 years to finish it once I started, but it was worth it in the end.
 
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