69 Barracuda grille work

What color should I paint behind the grill?

  • Black

    Votes: 74 84.1%

  • Exterior Color of Car

    Votes: 14 15.9%
  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .
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voted Black just remember to paint the rad as well , mine are black egg crates and argent everywhere else but I need to paint the aluminum rad I put in because it ruins the look in my eyes .
 
My dad had 69 cuda with a 6clyn. & even that rad. support was black
 
All cars had the black out behind the grills except dark green and black cars.
'69 Bcuda head light trim rings were a argent silver no matter what the grills were.
 
akrateffil said:
Hey everyone Thanks for the compliments and input. I'm going to black out behind the grille.
I see many people talking about the correct grilles for a S car. My car is originally a /6 car, so I am not to worried about being correct. A long time ago (30 years) I wrecked my first Barracuda, lost the brakes and crunch. I ended up finding a 383-s car in a local yard with a good grille and nose. I bought it for the rebuild of my crunched Barracuda. The grilles were molded in black plastic and not painted, headlight rings too. The debate on whats correct could go on for years. I am not trying to make it something its not.
Thanks,
Andy
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Yep, do what you think looks best!
 
My cuda and parts car are both f8 (dark green), both have the rad support blackout, just info for those who care.
 
yellowdart72 said:
I like the argent grille better, that looks more correct. My dad has an A56 cuda that has the argent silver grilles and that looks more to the late 60s
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The standard 69 Barracuda grilles were argent.
The Formula S grilles were black and so were the 'cuda models (A56, A57, A13) The factory description of the 'cuda models clearly states that fact.
However, if the factory happened to be out of black grilles on that particular day, I wouldn't put it past them to use argent grilles just to keep the line moving. My 69 A56 car had argent grilles on it in 1979 so it could have happened. Every original black grille I've seen were molded in black plastic but who knows, maybe they did paint some argent ones black.

ALL of the plastic ring headlight surrounds were argent on 69 Barracudas.

The deck lid panels were argent on standard Barracudas and the 'cudas. Formula S cars were black with the "S" medallion.

As previously mentioned, the radiator supports were crudely blacked out by the factory except on dark colored cars so the body color didn't show through the grille(s) from the front. They apparently did this from a pit in front of the car and sprayed upwards. Coverage was entirely dependent on who happened to be doing it that day on that particular car. Not only that, but it looks like they were painted with the headlight wire loom in place along the top.

Cars with polished grille surrounds (67-68) and completely polished aluminum deck panels (68-69) are incorrect but owners do whatever they want over the years which only adds to the confusion.

The O/P is converting a /6 car so he's doing what looks best to him, so be it.
 
I say do what makes you happy as thats what I have done with my 69 Cuda Hot Rod.When I painted my car years ago my son was 10 and he painted the front radiator support and so I will not black it out and I have been informed by many that the factory did it and thats the way it should be.
I did my grilles black and two toned the headlight bezel.
 

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If body color is a light color like orange, yellow or b5 blue, then black behind grill. If body color is dark then behind grill can be body color.
 
mtmopars - rklein...
my 68 formula s 340 4sp fastback that i bought in oregon came with the exact grill you have pictured. that grill was never put into any 68 barracuda painted like that. when i restored my car, i replaced the painted grill with an entire argent silver grill. however, i did paint the PLASTIC INSERTS in the middle of the grill flat black. it is true that the ENTIRE grill assembly should be argent silver to be OEM correct for 68. unless you are doing an "OEM example" car, i would paint it the way you like. i do like my grill with the flat black painted plastic inserts even though they ARE NOT OEM.
 
Voted black,the yellow/black contrast works so well together.
 
Mine is factory blacked out with the sunfire yellow. I redid my grills and painted them black because they look better with the yellow. Just my opinion though.
 
jimharvard said:
mtmopars - rklein...
my 68 formula s 340 4sp fastback that i bought in oregon came with the exact grill you have pictured. that grill was never put into any 68 barracuda painted like that. when i restored my car, i replaced the painted grill with an entire argent silver grill. however, i did paint the PLASTIC INSERTS in the middle of the grill flat black. it is true that the ENTIRE grill assembly should be argent silver to be OEM correct for 68. unless you are doing an "OEM example" car, i would paint it the way you like. i do like my grill with the flat black painted plastic inserts even though they ARE NOT OEM.
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There was another grille in 68. The inserts were chromed and then the fins were painted black except the leading edges were left chrome. It was part of a package (Spring Special or something like that?) and I believe it included the red vinyl (reflective?) tape applied to the deck lid between the upper and lower trim pieces. I did my plain argent 68 grilles like that (using chrome and semi-gloss black paint) because I like the way it looks.
 
hey kosmickuda,
i know that the various auto companies did produce some different models for limited distribution in certain sales regions. the best example i can think of was the "California Edition" mustangs that NEVER (as far as i know) made it to the east coast. i would love to see some pics of special edition barracuda that you've mentioned and/or pics of how you did your grills. if you (or someone else) have any original OEM pics, please post them here at FABO. i try to save every little bit of new history i find on barracudas. thanks for the info.
jim c. - a cuda nut in pittsburgh, pa
 
One thing leading to another is a way of life for me. As I started dressing up the grilles, I ended up changing the inner fender that the previous owner had done a little body work at the battery tray area. So I bought a AMD inner fender installed and painted the engine bay. By no means is it perfect, but I want a driver now that will under go a full resto in the future. For a rattle can job it came out okay. Now I need to work at getting the engine from my 56 Savoy transplanted to the Barracuda. The weather is too nice to be working on it, I should be driving it.
Thanks for all the input and guidance.
Andy
 

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Looks pretty good to me. Quick work too!!!

If i had that skill set and a appropriate place to perform the work, I would not still be waiting 730 + days to get my body back!
 
Gerald

730+ days, and no ones dead. I would be livid, especially considering you are paying for the service.

Andy
 
akrateffil said:
Gerald

730+ days, and no ones dead. I would be livid, especially considering you are paying for the service.

Andy
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Yeah its getting pretty hard to accept day to day. The work is getting done right and was fairly extensive but it sits more than it is worked on.

Bout to loose it knowing a lot of re-assembly by me still needs to be done. Guess I won't be driving it this year. I wont be doing a resto like this again most likely.

But glad to see you are making progress on your project. Keep FABO posted ....
 
Black Grilles look better. I just did one of mine today and fixed a couple of cracks.
The argent looks to me, dirty and doesn't accentuate the coolness of the front of these cars.
 
akrateffil said:
Hey guys,

I been working at some smaller projects on my car. I really like the looks of the Formula S black grilles. I had a set about 4 years ago that my wife coerced me to sell, since I did not have a Barracuda at that time. So I figured I would give my grilles the once over. I have done the drivers side and now working at the passenger side.
Now the question is: Should I spray the core support a black or the cars exterior color? What do you all think?
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Dan's grille..jpg


My friend Dan's grill. i'm doing mine this way. Dan did a beautiful job. Showing as an example to think about.
 
I agree 110%.................
FJRdoc said:
That looks great! The core support was painted black by Ma Mopar. I think that the grill area looks much better without the distraction of color behind it.
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