Black Inserts for 69-70 grill

[threeonthetree]

Good day.
I am thinking about painting my grill insert on my 69 to give it a meaner more sinister look.
The orignal gray isnt really cutting it for the black truck and it is scrached and showing its age.

My question is,
what prep would be required and what kind of paint should i use?
Any input would be appreciated!

Keep on truckin.

[Sinister]

I hit mine with rattlecan black. I would primer it first, didn't come out black enough for me without it.

[70k52wd]

For a spray can paint job, I like to use plasti coat paint. Most auto parts stores carry it. CLEAN the heck out of the grill. Then I use a scotch brite pad to ruff up the surface. Then re clean the grill after you scotch brite it. Use mild soap and water to clean. Make sure the parts are 100% dry before you apply your first light coat of paint. There may be better ways to do this, but this works well for me. Good luck and post before and after pics please.

[threeonthetree]

Alright guys thanks for the help.
I plan to start tonight when I get home from school. I will let you know how it goes.

[nicke]

I would like to know what this will look like. Can you post a pic of it?

Thanks!

[OARNGESI]

Try krylon fusion about $3 at walmart and it bonds to plastic

[special-K]

Are your headlight bezels black like original?They look alot tougher that way,too.

[threeonthetree]

Yes my headlight bezels are black.
I got the insert off the grill i just havent had time to work on it this week.
I should have some pics up this weekend.
Ill look into that krylon.

[Hottrucks]

is this the look you want..my fav pic of my truck...what also brought it around was tinting the back window and the winshield ( as low as your visor will cover 6" I think) LIMO dark...it carries the black up to the truck and the winshield tint gives the tough look...I want to add a Barb wire decal over the windshiled for bit tougher look too Just havn't found one I like

[threeonthetree]

Hottrucks you have a nice truck. I always have had my eye on it lol. I always liked the look of it.
The black does make that truck look tough.
I wasn't planing on painting the any of the aluminum, just the plastic insert.
But it looks very nice on your truck.
Did you also paint the chrome around the bow tie black?


I started to clean it tonight and man was it dirty.
Cant wait to see how mine is gonna look.

[Hottrucks]

Keep in mind this is a very low buget cheap build.....I pulled the turn signal lens layed apiece of 2 1/2" masking tape across the grill pulled the head light rings and let the paint fly out of a spray can....... the emblem was pretty beat up after I removed it I GENTALY removed the blue bow tie and scuffed it with scotch bright to remove all the loose chrome and let the paint fly somemore....I re painted the back of the bow tie with some fresh silver waited till it was dry and reinstalled everything and peeled the tape...I redid the chevrolet with a model paint marker....I have been slowly polishing out the rest of the grill..flitz is working pretty well...I did hit the bumper with some PB blaster and some 0000 steel wool

the next thing I'm going to try is the half headlight covers...maybe paint them too?? I added some SS trim rings to the wheels for that tiny bit of attitude on the wheels...its a great driver..thanx

another thing that works well to get your chrome into working shape is a can of oven cleaner it removes all the dirt and rust..it will also remove the coating on your grill to make polishing easy

[threeonthetree]

Are you still running 6 bolts?
I had my bow tie off and the clips on the back that hold the blue in seem like they would break easy, but looks like you got er.
I heard about the oven cleaner tip before, never tried it idk if we have any in the house.
What do you polish it up with then? My grill is pounded but i suppose i could clean her up and make her shine.

Looks like a Fun truck what do you got running under the hood?

[Hottrucks]

if you have the grill out you can put a small piece of wood to push some of the bad dents out with a little perswation...... yea the clips are pretty fragile I put a dab of sylicone on the back to help hold it

I use flitz long story short is it works on anything shiny!!

stock power under the hood for now...327ci t350 with a trans pak and 308 gears so it will run...bagged with cupped lca and a c notch..235/75 front 255/70 rear..I want to move the rears to the front and get a set of pro streets for the rear or at least a set of 295/50's

what ever you do keep the same theme though out the truck...mine is old school cheap...lol

Got a pic??

[threeonthetree]

Sweet! tires would be cool. I like that 327.

Cheap is how my truck is coming along.
still running the ol 250 with a threeonthetree.
Here's a pic you can see on the left side its banged up in the letters.

[threeonthetree]

I neeed some STEEELIES i hate my rims and tires.
We have some in the yard but they are rusted (could be cleane up though) and have some of those old skinny mud tires on them. I think Im going to paint them black and get some tires for Christmas haha.
What would be a good tire size to fill the wheel wells in on a pair of 15 inch steelies?

trucks lowered 3/5 wish i would have just saved up for BAGS.
sooner or later this truck is going to get bagged and notched.

[Beatcoaster]

Scotch bright and rattle canned - body color matches the letter/stripes/and inner grill - looks great!

[Hottrucks]

dam Guys your grills look good try pushign out that bump...if you paint ANYTHING satin or flat it hides alot...like I said before go to your auto parts store and get some dark window tint it changes the hole look of the truck....

as far as you wheels you can do what I did sand them dowm hit home cheapo and get a can of black rustoliom, I used the dark grey hammered finish and I love the look black is just to dark and the hammered finish give a depth and hide the pit marks from the rust.....

tires I would go with the 295/60 they look good keep your front tires and save yourself a few $$

beatcoaster check out how much the black headlight rings change the look

threeonthetree you gotta do the letters try that model marker it will break up all that shiney and a old hot rod plate on the bumper..funny if you take the plate off my truck it looks odd...I like to break up Large sections of one color or chrome,,it gives it defintion??

[threeonthetree]

Well i just finished installing the grill.
And it looks great i am very happy with the look.
Also i think i may get a model paint marker to do the CHEVROLET black to tie it in with the other black on the grill.
any other ways people have painted the Chevrolet letters?

BEFORE


AFTER


Tell me what you think?

[VA72C10]

Looks good. The best way to clean, easy letters is to buy them off ebay. Probably cost the same as a model paint pen.
The cheapest option is to tape off the grille, cut out the letters and spray it.

[threeonthetree]

the have stick em on letters.
I didn't know that.

[Racinaround]

At my shop when I paint plastic grills and such I use a Plastic adhesion promoter. Its a single-component, non-sanding and fast-drying I use it on both interior and exterior stuff.
Sem brand is what I use but dupli-color is probley easyer to find
Just makes the paint stick better and longer

[Hottrucks]

Originally Posted by threeonthetree

the have stick em on letters.
I didn't know that.

me either??

[threeonthetree]

I can't find em-

[Hottrucks]

hey if you have a LMC catalog look on page 70 ...I need to see a few more pics of our truck grills to see what stock looks like I think there is more black than you think..beleive it or not closer to mine but with chrome headlight rings??

[VA72C10]

This is the vendor I got it from...none up right now but you could ask...they have the tailgate letters showing now and 64-66 grill letters

http://stores.ebay.com/T-N-T-Signs-and-Graphics