Trying to determine if 1970 442 and 1972 442 grilles are GM NOS or reproduction. Do the reproduction grilles have the GM part number and LH or RH on them (on the back side)? Thanks in advance.

 

Don't know whether or not the numbers are present on the repros but you can tell '70 442 repro grills by just looking at them straight on.....the edges of the vertical bars are not very consistent on the repros....sort of "wavy" and not real parallel as you look up and down the edges.

Also...the parting line/"step" where the two grill halves mate up at the nose will have an inconsistent/widening gap in them when the two halves are hooked into each other.

These were repro'd MANY years ago and the tooling/molds weren't done as precisely as they are on other repro Olds grills (ie the 71/2 grills, etc)

 

So are the 71 & 72 repo grills decent?

 

I don't know if this will help you or not. I bought these from Fuisk I believe
last year for the 70 and they do have p/n's on them.

 

My '72 repop grilles from Fusicks have the PN & handing stamped into the plastic, but it's not molded like OEM parts. I'm not sure about the grilles, but the plastic used for the repop headlight housings is more of a metallic gray color where the OEM parts are not metallic, just plain gray. Hope this info is helpful.
Rodney

 

Check out this thread for 1970
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-pictures.html

 

Thanks all. I just bought a load of parts and thought the '70 grilles were repop but having the part number on the back made me question them. The '72 grilles I got with the deal seem to be better quality (than the '70's). Does anyone have pictures of an original '72 442 grille next to a repop?

 

I bought 71 442 grilles from fusick and the fit sucked. You have to basicly cut off one tab on the left side grille to get it to fit. The lines on the stainless trim aren't as crisp as the originals. The grilles look very nice but don't fit as good as originals. There's a thread on here somewhere about the quality of them.

 

Hoffman:
I have about 2 hours into my Fusick grilles just getting them to fit into the center stone shield and headlight housings... and that's just the LH side! I think they can be made to look NOS but not without a lot of finesse.