'69-'70 Grille Experts Check In,...

[lolife99]

I recently picked up a super nice OEM grill for my '69 swb from Doug (tcb-1).
It was perfect for the driver I'm building.
This week I decided to paint all the black areas,... but after looking at it,.... I'm not sure it's correct.
My pet peeve about the '69-'70 grills is the black paint missing or stainless headlight trim instead of the original black.
(just my opinion,... but I don't think it looks as good as original)

Can anyone tell me if this is correct in the way that I taped it off?
I guess I should have asked first. Ha.

[ChevLoRay]

Looks good to me. I know there is some controversy about the ends of the center, next to the headlight doors. On some, it is black; on others, it's like yours and mine. I have seen posts that say the later grilles (aftermarket or NOS replacement) had those ends painted. On some, the distance between the outer ends of the parking lights seems to be less. It may be that the black painted portion is what makes it seem so. At any rate, there are some subtle differences that show up.

As for my grille, it's the original one and it's like the one you painted.

[tcb-1]

Keith, you KNOW I would say it's perfect!!

here a pic of my OEM surround for a reference.



..... and ChevloRay is right. the area between the headlight bucket and the turn signal is sometimes just striped or solid like mine. I remember we had this conversation when you picked the grille up. I think that's the main difference between the factory original to the OEM replacement. does Nate have a factory original? might check his out.

[lolife99]

Doug,... I think Nate's grille looks just like yours. I realize they were never paint perfectly from the factory,... so mine should be close enough.
Thanks again for the picture. I will save it in my files.

[67_C-30]

Actually Doug, your's is not OEM. It may be GM, but sometime in the 80's, GM changed suppliers and the style changed. The earlier grills had the lines that came all the way out to the headlight bezel. The later style stops short like the one on my red '69. Its not just difference in paint, the stamping of the grill is different. My grill was replaced in 1990 with a GM and its not correct, so this has been going on a long time. All of my original paint '69's and 70's have the grill with lines that extend further. All of the aftermarket and new GM grills use the newer design. A correct '69 ' 70 grill hasn't been offered by anyone for many years. Here's the difference in them. The last 2 pics of the newer style.

Lolife's grill is original, and painted correctly.

[70k52wd]

I know it's wrong, but I sure like the chrome bezel, at least on black trucks.

Please don't use rivets to mount your grill.

[lolife99]

67 C-30,... thanks also for the pics. I will be saving them. I didn't realize there were so many versions.

[72BlckButy]

Unfortunately..... my grille is not OE, but GM replacement. When my truck was repainted the original grille had a ding or two so they decided to replace it with a GM replacement (this was done in the 80's I believe). The PO had the original grille but over the years apparently let it go to someone... argh!

If only I had known a '69 would have been in my future.... I would have beat Keith out!

Your's turned out great Keith, and I definitely would run that on your '69. Awesome work, especially on the taping job.

[tcb-1]

James,
your right, I meant to say a GM replacement instead of OEM. yep, I'm saving your pics as well! thanks for setting the story straight!

[bigguy69]

this cool i didn't know there was that much of a difference. thanks for the info guys.

[pat123]

Mines just like yours lolife99
i didnt know there were different ones??
does 70k52wd's type have an indentation after the turn signal where it is black or are the 70's different than the 69's?

[lolife99]

69-70's outer grilles are the same from my understanding. 70k52wd's looks to be a NICE GM replacement. The inner grills are different,... even though they are interchangeable.

[special-K]

Not to split hairs,but both grilles are OEM or N.O.S.GM replacement is OEM.GM either depleted thier stock while in production or didn`t have the required surplus for replacement parts,so they made another run.I`m not talking about GM Restoration Parts that are the same parts they approved for the aftermarket to produce under license.I bought a second design OEM from Chevy in the`80s before repro was available and the GMRP program had begun.
The accent paint looks good and is correct.So,there`s two grilles each with thier own correct ways to paint.

[70k52wd]

So the 69-70 shells are different in design and paint. The grill inserts are also very different. I never understood suppliers selling one insert for two different years. I like the 69 insert, but not on a 70. I know what I'm looking for at Carlisle this year...

[lolife99]

Charlie,... I think "originally" the 69-70 outer grilles were the same from the factory. It's the replacement outer grilles that started mixing things up.
I think that the replacement 70 inner grilles are actually 69 grilles, which wouldn't be correct for a 70. (silver lines omitted)

[70k52wd]

I went out to take close up pics of the insert on my truck, then realized you can see what I'm referring to on 67c30's pics. I think there is a subtle difference between them. The painted part extends out, then dips in to the none painted area, then back out and so on. I had thought at first that the 69 grill was perfect squares, 70 being rectangular. But I see they are the same in that regard. Not to hijack your thread about outer grill paint. But I wanted to point out the difference in case anybody else may need to know. I don't have a 69 grill in front of me, but it looks that way to me.

And you don't have a 70, so you don't care.

[ed70]

woot! this thread makes me want to go clean my grill and whip out the paint....lol

[bigblazerboy]

cool learned something new today. i checked the 69 or 70 lwb stepper a street over and it looks like the one pictured in the first pic. i never knew there was a difference between repos and originals but im more of a 71/72 guy so i never looked

[tcb-1]

so now you all have a good trivia question for parties. "what's the difference between the 69 and 70 inner grille and grille surround".

Keith, what's that I spy on your new avatar? rims? nice!

[72BlckButy]

Doug... here's a post by Keith with the new shoes!

LINK

Lookin' good Keith!

[pat123]

whats the GMRP program?

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Charlie,... I think "originally" the 69-70 outer grilles were the same from the factory. It's the replacement outer grilles that started mixing things up.
I think that the replacement 70 inner grilles are actually 69 grilles, which wouldn't be correct for a 70. (silver lines omitted)

Actually its the other way around. All of the new replacement grilles are molded like '70 grilles. They all have the raised ribs, but on the 69's they paint the grille grey and don't paint the raised ribs silver, and on the 70's they paint them black and paint the raised ribs silver. On original '69 grilles, there are no ribs. They are flat on the face. Here are pics from above again. The top grill is an original paint '69 grille, and the bottom is an original paint '70. I have (3) 69's and (4) 70's here, and I have confirmed this with all of them none. None of the original '69 grills have the ribs. In today's aftermarket or so called new OEM parts, there is no correct '69 or '70 outer grille shell (they were absolutely the same) or a '69 inner grill available. Its a shame GM is licensing this stuff as OEM, but they are not correct restoration parts.

[lolife99]

GM Restoration Parts.
These are offically licensed parts from GM that are being reproduced now.

[67_C-30]

This is a GM replacement '69 - '70 grille (I cringe just typing that!) It has the ribs. There should be no such thing as '69 - '70 grille!!!

[70k52wd]

Good stuff 67c30.