First gen grile repairs

[HO455]

I pulled the Bravada grille off my Blue Blazer and replaced it with a GMC grille. Unfortunately the GMC grille was missing both mounting tabs on the bottom corners. (Photo #1 in red as I failed to get a photo before the repair )Apparently they are fragile as they were also broken on the Bravada grille when I bought it back in 2002. Those tabs I repaired with fiberglass (Photo #2 upper) which has held up well over the years despite not being very attractive.

This time I will use common plumbing ABS cement (Photo #4) to attach small pieces of ABS plastic to the grille (Which is made of ABS shown by information on the back side of the grille in photo #3 as well as that the grille I got is an aftermarket replacement. More on that later) to replace the missing parts.

Once more I failed to get photos! Basically I cleaned up the broken areas and cut pieces to replace the missing parts. In addition I cut a larger additional piece as a backer. (Photo #5) Once both were glued in place it made a very solid repair.

[HO455]

Now part two. The non-OE grille didn’t come with provisions to attach the marker lights. (Photo #1 & 2)(I'm sure body shops loved that) When I found the grille at the U-pull-it it had already been removed from a truck and the marker lights were gone.

I didn't notice the missing mounts at the time but when once I did I meant another trip to the wrecking yard. Where I found the pieces I needed on a wrecked truck with a broken grille. Which facilitated their removal as I just cut the grille ends off to get what I needed. I don’t make a practice of destroying parts just to get the part I want. Unlike many of the animals that frequent the yards these days who destroy everything in their way.

Okay enough of that. So later back at the ranch I started by repairing the mount that had been broken before I discovered it. (Photo #3) Fortunately it had previously been repaired (?) by someone who duct taped a red trailer marker light where the factory marker light should have been. Good for me as the tape kept the broken piece from getting lost.

Once I glued the missing piece in place I then made a little stiffener to make sure the repair stayed repaired. (Photo #4)

Once I was sure the pieces fit correctly There was some trimming and sanding involved on both the mounts and the grille. Photo #5 the green arrows point to the wedge shaped tabs that were too long to fit between the tabs on the mounts I had. To prepare for gluing the mount the chrome finish on the plastic needs to be removed. As well as the globs of glue that had held the marker lights in previously. (Yellow arrows in #5) That glue reminded me of Shoe Goo. A few minutes with the Dremel removed the chrome and the offending bit of the tab.

[HO455]

Part three. Once prepared and the mounts fitted I cemented them in place. The ABS plumbing cement chemically melts the two pieces of ABS together making the two pieces one. It works well and dries within minutes making for timely repairs. GM used ABS plastics in grilles for decades so this can be used on many other vehicles and components. Most ABS components can be identified by locating "ABS" cast in the back of the part.