Restore your entire front end for under $100? Yes. It's possible

[Mister-B]

I've had some other threads as I've gone, but I wanted to show the completed shots, and add a bit more, since I've done some other stuff.

First the before shot, complete with smashed grill, dented and crooked bumper, faded inner grille, rusted headlight bezels, and jacked up hood emblem:


After, complete with replacement grille, replacement bumper, and replacement hood emblem. All parts are factory, and were obtained from the salvage yard. They were shined and painted where necessary:


Here's my thread on how to restore a bumper from the junk yard
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=562911

Here's my thread on how to restore an inner and outer grille
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=559305

I also replaced my hood emblem, but haven't done a how to on that yet, so I'll cover it here. I bought an after market emblem from a parts vendor. It was so cheaply made, that I sent it back. The metal was light, the black painted border all along the outside of the emblem was poorly painted with huge areas of paint that got on the wrong area, and there was a chip in one corner of the plastic. Needless to say, I sent it back for a refund. I'm not paying $60 for a garbage emblem.

So, I found an original at the junk yard for about $4. The metal and plastic insert were in good shape, but the black border was faded and needed fresh paint, and and the blue backing was a bit faded. So, I used some Good Off to remove the paint from the back side, and strip it completely down to clear plastic. Then, I sprayed blue paint on the back side plastic. Used several coats until it looked good. Then, as per how the factory does the emblems, I finished with several backing coats of silver metallic paint. I then used a small paint brush and some black paint to paint the black border.

Anyway, it's a big improvement, and I'm happy with the results. You can really do a lot with factory parts from the salvage yard, some elbow grease, and some paint.

Here are a couple more completed shots. Please note I'm still working on getting the grill to line up just right



Posted via Mobile Device

[72restorationvirgin]

Nice work Mister B. Looks great!!

[Bow Commander]

Wow! Very cool. That's a big difference. Thanks for posting this.

[shawno72]

Huge differance and you did a great job!

[weever82]

What a difference! Great job and thanks for sharing!

Weev-
Posted via Mobile Device

[yuccales]

Well done!

[Mister-B]

Thanks guys. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Crazy to think I paid $1,600 for this truck, and that if I had bought new parts and paid someone to install them, I'd be looking at easily spending that much just on the front end. Um, no.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Sicklajoie]

Looks good!

[Lattimer]

Nice. When decent weather gets here I need to restore my grill like that.

[truckdude239]

man the only yard around here want 200 plus for a good inner and outter grill

[truckdude239]

man the only yard around here want 200 plus for a good inner and outter grill

[daves72C10D]

Nice. Looks good.

[70cst]

Very very nice

[ole dollor]

i like what you are doing ,and the way you are doing it, a little elbow grease and time goes a long way....when you are working on your own stuff, labor is real cheep...keep up the good work.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by ole dollor

i like what you are doing ,and the way you are doing it, a little elbow grease and time goes a long way....when you are working on your own stuff, labor is real cheep...keep up the good work.

Thanks Ole Dollar. I'm really glad I have the ability and the interest to do work myself on the truck. My father is the type to just pay people to do almost everything. My brother followed in his footsteps. I guess part of why I'm this way, is because my father would pay me to do the stuff he probably should have been doing for the household growing up lol
Posted via Mobile Device

[slikside]

Hey Mr. B, I read your thread about the black trim line around the headlights....so you didn't use a primer or anything like that for the parts of the grill that you painted black??

Looking to restore that area of my '72 grill as well.

The whole thing looks great. I know it's a lot of work.....and it shows!

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by slikside

Hey Mr. B, I read your thread about the black trim line around the headlights....so you didn't use a primer or anything like that for the parts of the grill that you painted black??

Looking to restore that area of my '72 grill as well.

The whole thing looks great. I know it's a lot of work.....and it shows!

Hey, thanks!

No, I didn't bother with primer around the headlights or the lines above and below the grill. I used some good Rustoleum spray paint. It seems to be holding up well, and we've had a pretty bad winter with lots or salt on the roads. I painted the chevrolet letters with different paint and a paint brush. It isn't holding up so well. I've had to touch it up. Probably just the brand or type of paint I used.
Posted via Mobile Device

[slikside]

Got it. Thank you...

And spring is right around the corner for ya, hang in there!

[special-K]

It looks much better with the refurbished used parts. It wouldn't look as good with new or restored parts,IMO. I like used parts for replacement until the whole truck goes to looking new after a restoration.

[71veronica]

looks so much better . keep up the good work

[STOCKISH]

Man, huge difference, great work.

[PanelDeland]

Looks great!! this is the kind of restore stuff I really look for on this BB.Anyone can Kit a car but it takes elbow grease,desire and a little thought to restore decent stuff and make it work like you did.

[Mayo]

Great job, its looking excellent.
Posted via Mobile Device