Grill paint question

[Kurt G.]

I'm getting ready to redo the paint on my 72 egg crates and noticed the "shadow" paint found on the inside of each square was also on the inside of the lower bumper guard. Should this paint also be on the grill surround inside of the "seam" or should that area be chrome?

[Kenneth T.]

Re: Grill paint question

Kurt,

I am attaching several photos of my original grills from my '71. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand questions.

Ken

[Kurt G.]

Re: Grill paint question

Thanks for the photos, Ken. Confirmed what I thought. Your thousand words were appreciated.

[Les G.]

Re: Grill paint question

I JUST REDID MINE, I PURCHASED CAST BLAST PAINT FROM EASTWOOD I FOUND THAT AS CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL AS YOU CAN GET. I ALSO STRIPPED MY GRILLS COMPLETELY WITH A WATER BASED STRIPPER THEN NEUTRALIZED THEM. I ALSO PURCHASED FROM AN AUTO BODY SUPPLY HOUSE TAPE TO MASK OFF THE OUTER EDGES. IT TOOK A LONG TIME BUT THEY CAME OUT GREAT.

[Jerome P.]

Re: Grill paint question

I JUST REDID MINE, I PURCHASED CAST BLAST PAINT FROM EASTWOOD I FOUND THAT AS CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL AS YOU CAN GET. I ALSO STRIPPED MY GRILLS COMPLETELY WITH A WATER BASED STRIPPER THEN NEUTRALIZED THEM. I ALSO PURCHASED FROM AN AUTO BODY SUPPLY HOUSE TAPE TO MASK OFF THE OUTER EDGES. IT TOOK A LONG TIME BUT THEY CAME OUT GREAT.

See attached site. Which one did you use? Aluma Blast?

http://www.eastwood.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=cast+b&x=5&y=13

[Greg F.]

Re: Grill paint question

For those that have painted their grills....do you apply anything after the paint has dried? Any kind of clear coat?

Thanks,
Greg

[Les G.]

Re: Grill paint question

If you use a quality paint and prep the grills properly you don't need to coat them.

[Nick M.]

Re: Grill paint question

Les
Is it always necessary to strip the grill first or can it just be lightly sanded then painted? Did you use a primer and what exactly is a neutralizer? Also, what color is the Cast Blast paint you used?

[Les G.]

Re: Grill paint question

The paint I used was from Eastwood it was called Grey cast, if you look in the catalog it states that it restores the cast blast look. My grills someone painted black, I wanted them as close to original as possible so I stripped them, I used a water soluable stripper (Orange) the instructions say to neutralize with water. I also sprayed from the front as well as the back to give them a complete coat.

[Kurt G.]

Re: Grill paint question

Greg and Les,

First, I would not recommend sanding the grills, as they are cast metal and chrome plated. A good cleaning and striping is all that should be needed. No primer, as they were not primed originally.

As for a topcoat, no. Any good quality paint should work. The paint as original, was a flat finish paint, and should stay that way. I went to the trouble of going to my local PPG dealer and having them mix up some Deltron 2000 DBC to match. Color code is 301367 with 10 parts 1687 added to match to 802. This is a flat finish paint, reduced 1 to 1 with DT reducer, sprayed at 25-30 lbs from and HVLP gun. Initial coat is wet, with two lighter coats to bring out the metallic to match the original paint.

Deltron is a urethane enamel that dries hard and resists pits and chips far better than the original lacquer did, but still looks like lacquer.

[Bill S.]

Re: Grill paint question

i just finished experimenting with a new rutoleum pait i found at the hardware store it is lightly texures nikel and looks, from what i recall, like the original finish on my 70 i had in the 70's you can dust is with dull aluminum and it looks pro.