Chrome or Polish the Grill - 64 Valiant?

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J

JamesM007

1964 Signet 200 Vert
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
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Location
So Cal
Car is in the paint shop and it will be back by end of December.

There is no way to straighten or polish my grill without taking it apart so today I drilled out the rivets and it is in about 20 pieces.

Currently the bumpers are being done and the chrome shop says $400 to rechrome the whole grill. I am wondering if I should just have the grill straightened and polished before reassembly or have the whole thing chromed.

Has anyone ever done a chrome job on the grill and how did it turn out? My concern is that the grill is pretty soft.

I have never done so i am not sure which way to go.

Thanks for any advice.
 
James, where are you located in So. Cal? I got a tip on chrome vinyl wrap that im going to try on my bezels. Dont know if yours is a driver or show car, but might be an option if the grills are past polishing and dinged/too expensive to rechrome.
 
I have seen a grille that was soda blasted to get the milky original clear coat off, then an automotive clear applied to protect the bare aluminum.
 
Grille is anodized aluminum. You must strip the anodizing off before you can polish. Then you would have to periodically re-polish. The original finish was satin and not a mirror gloss.
 
Wow, you got pictures of you work. That would be interesting to see. Chromed or polished look.......I don't know...........both would look really nice.
 
pishta said:
James, where are you located in So. Cal? I got a tip on chrome vinyl wrap that im going to try on my bezels. Dont know if yours is a driver or show car, but might be an option if the grills are past polishing and dinged/too expensive to rechrome.
Click to expand...

I am in Highland, 92346. I will be driving the car, when done, It will be a very nice driver.

About half of the vanes on the grill have some sort of imperfection. My chrome/polish guy says they are savable and can strip them and then polish them up but they will start to dull and need to be redone periodically, as Chief says.

I have about a week to figure out what I want to do with the grille.

Here is a picture of the grille disassembled.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=7130

When i get it it done I will add a pic of how it turns out.
 
When I renewed the aluminum trim on the '66 Dart GT I fixed a while back, I stripped and polished the trim. Then I had the parts re-anodized. Compared to the parts before the last step, the re-anodized parts looked a little "milkier".

The process held up at least three years. When I sold the car, it looked as good as when originally finished. FWIW: If I had to do it again, I would.
 
First, I lived at Parkwood Knoll Apartments in Highland for 9 years. Small world. :-D I couldn't tell much from your photo you posted, but I'd be willing to bet it could be cleaned up without having to be redone over and over. Take a look at this if you have a minute.
 
i have powdercoated some... (color of the car) or even a black chrome looking type of color.. to each their own. ya know.. personally i would rechrome them. i deal with a place in california. they do all my pot metal rechroming, and alum. chrome plating. its not cheap.. you get what you pay for.. its real real nice
 
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