1969 Cuda Grill Resto...any tips/tricks??

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Ok, a little progress. Here are some before and during pics. My orig grills arent bad, but there are cracks in the plastic ovals, also some pitting on the outer chrome. I picked up another set and am hoping to combine the best of what I got and maybe sell some of my extra stuff to recoup some $$. Also got lucky and the "spares" are formula S as well so less sanding(I hope)
So some pics will be bouncing from my orig to my "spares".
I went and bought a cheap "dremel" set for $9 and a pair of diamond wheels from Princess Auto.
Tedious as all hell but Im hoping this will all be worth it.
10 "rivets" on the outer chrome piece that I had to grind down carefully in order to remove the plastic oval.
Dunno what Im going to do yet to "replace" the rivets that were ground off, but I wanted to be able to do a good job on the plastics so I had no choice??
Next is grinding off the rivets that hold the inner trim piece to the inside of the ovals...this is taking waaayyyy too long! Im picking up a small drill bit tomorrow...the "dremel" tools take way too long. Im not at home so my tool selection is limited and my budget even more so...LOL
 

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One of the reasons why these grills crack is that over time the plastic shrinks and the outer bezel does not. I enlarge the holes a little bit where the studs go thru which helps in putting the bezel back on. You also didn't need to remove the inner bezel since it helps to make the grill less flexible and prone to further cracking while you're working on it.
 
mcodecuda said:
One of the reasons why these grills crack is that over time the plastic shrinks and the outer bezel does not. I enlarge the holes a little bit where the studs go thru which helps in putting the bezel back on. You also didn't need to remove the inner bezel since it helps to make the grill less flexible and prone to further cracking while you're working on it.
Click to expand...

Thanks mcodecuda. I haven't taken the inner bezel completely off yet. There is still.a.few rivets holding it. I will remove the last of them later to keep it sturdy for now while.working on the plastic. The.rivets will have to be replaced as.they are pretty rusty.
Good point on enlarging the mounting holes!
Thanks!
 
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