Good luck with both Greg. I'd love to see pics of the vista!
chris

 

I did in fact use primer, Duplicolour self etching primer. The brush was out of a cheap pack of artists brushes. You want big enough to go up most of the recessed sides but small enough to get in the areas without getting on the silver. It will take several coats to complete the job. The worst area is doing around the four curved corners. As I think I wrote earlier let the silver set a few days before attempting the black so when you give a quick swipe to wipe off any mistakes, you have less chance of wiping the silver with it.
I used Krylon semi flat black which is duller than satin. I can only find it in their Rust Tough line. 49203. Good luck.

 

Just went to Hershey and Fusick was there. I found that the Cutlass Supreme emblems for the grill is not available repop. I have 2 decent used ones but I was going to get a new one to put on my newly restored grills (I hope...)

 

I found out that as well. Having said that, The Parts Place lists one for 71. Part # EM2417T. As Fusick traditionally has made all these emblems for everyone, I am suspect about the Parts Place claim. Fusick makes the same looking emblems for the mid-70s Cutlasses which look the same but probably mount differently.
It would be great if it is correct.

 

Brian,what paint did you end up using for the silver?

 

Wow having problems posting,anyway I can't find krylon dull aluminum. Thanks so much, Greg.

 

Greg, look for Krylon Metallics label with a silver cap. It indicates dull aluminum 41403 on the back bottom of the can on the UPC label. Good luck.

 

I did not use primer; I just sanded the grilles and sprayed Krylon Dull Aluminum.
As for the black paint, it was probably Krylon semi gloss black as that is what I used on a lot of the other black parts under the hood.
The brush was one out of a Testors multi pack. No idea about its dimensions as I did the grilles in 1998.

 

Ok, thanks guys. The krylon I got is 41403 so I should be ready to start. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

Oops, the krylon I bought was rust tough enamel #9213 aluminum, but I did see the 41403. I will return this and get the other. Thanks again,Greg.

 

I know this guy. He's usually firm on price. If he won't ship, I'll pick it up and ship it to you. You pay for part and shipping. https://stlouis.craigslist.org/pts/d...360671481.html

 

Sending you a PM Gary. Thanks, Greg.

 

I got the NOS emblem- thanks for the lead, Gary. I also found and bought the krylon dull aluminum paint from O rielleys. It's not in stock but could be ordered. Cost 5.99 a can. Good deal. I still haven't started on the grills except for taking them out of the car. I put the 70 Vista on hold, I'm a little worried about getting in over my head.

 

I started on the grills before Christmas. I have a old can of "aircraft" stripper that I brushed on after cleaning the grills. It didn't work very well. Took off the black paint well but left a lot of the silver. I think it's just lost it's potency because it's old. I'm going to buy some new stripper and try it again.

 

Now you may never want to restore another pair of grills in your entire life. But I bet you have a deep feeling of accomplishment after finishing up with this pair. Awesome Job!

I cheated with the plastic grills on my 69. I bought a new set from Fusik, LOL

 

I got poor results from spray stripper. I bought a gallon of the stuff and filled a shallow plastic tote and submerged the grilles for several hours. Even then it was a pile of effort with wire brushes. Not for the faint of heart. I don't envy you at this stage. 😥

 

btw-love the look of the stock non-oai hood on your car- and your grilles look fantastic

 

I have been working on my 56 f100 in the garage and planned to do the Cutlass grilles at the same time, But man is it cold out there! I ended up making a temporary table in my utility room as I did a few years ago to redo my taillights. Wife hasn't even complained too much! I bought some HD stripper that is supposed to remove epoxy. It does take off the paint better but it's not water soluble so I guess I will have to remove it with mineral spirits. Yeah it is a pain, good thing I'm retired!

 

Well, Got back on the grill project. I had some stripper that was in my garage for a long time and it didn't work well. I bought some heavy duty stripper at Home Depot that was supposed to be really good and it would remove epoxy, so I figured it would be good , but you had to remove it with mineral spirits. which is a royal stinky PIA. So I got some rustoleum brand aircraft stripper on line. It works really good and can be washed off with water. This is some baadd sh*t though... I used latex gloves but when brushing off the stripper/ paint some splattered on my face and stung pretty good, Might be best to use a face shield. The 1st grille is pretty much ready for paint, The other 3 need another coat. Now I know what you mean, Brian!

 

Oh yeah, bad memories. You'll be so glad when that part is behind you. Good luck.

 

I hand sanded mine. That was a bit time consuming.

 

I painted the 4 grilles with the dull aluminum paint and that came out really well. That Krylon paint is really nice. After they dried for about a week I got everything together and started the black on the dining room table. ( I have a very understanding wife) I looked thru my old model car paints and found a small bottle of satin black. I used that starting with what looked like the easiest part, the wider center bar. I was ready with some lacquer thinner and also some mineral spirits, (I know lacquer thinner is bad stuff and was afraid of it taking off the silver). When I first started I was very careful and tried not to get paint on the raised portion, when I did I rubbed it off quickly with the mineral spirits- It did work. But then I found I could wipe off my mistakes with just the dry rag. After that ,I was still careful but I just wiped the raised part. If I missed something or got some paint on the flat outer parts (dropped the brush once) I used the mineral spirits very gently. Yep as you said the corners were the hardest. I got one done and the second about 1/2 done before I had to quit. I should be able to finish them up this week. Nice to see progress.

 

Lookin good. A great feeling when you get one down. Rest that steady hand before the second one. ��

 

Got the 2 sets painted and they look nice. I had a new Cutlass Supreme emblem put on by the body shop back in 1997 after I hit a deer and they broke it! I can see how it broke because when you screw on the new sheet metal nut on the stud you cut new threads. The one at the far right tends to twist and breaks off the "e". You can see it in the first pic. I super glued it and it was Ok. But now I got another new one (Thanks Gary) and sure didn't want to break it. So I used the sheet metal nuts on 3 of the studs and just slipped a piece of vacuum hose on the stud by the "e". I think this will work well. Now I just have to put the grills and front bumper back on.

 

Looks great....I'd LOVE do redo mine but I'm very dubious about my ability and patience to do this.

Kudos to you guys!

Cheers,

Troy

 

Looking great, bet you are glad that is done. Installing them is no picnic either, as the grilles are so heavy and you are fitting them into 47 year old plastic pieces. Good luck.

 

 

Chris - you can likely use the VHT engine paint and it will have the same durability as any other paint. It also has a nice flow nozzle. Just a word of caution on spraying clear over the VHT though. I found that doing that changes the color to a slightly darker shade. You won't need more than one can, it has lots of coverage since you're only really spraying the front and sides of the grills.

 

 

Very nice work!

 

I used Krylon 1403 Dull Aluminum with no primer on the grilles and tail light lenses. Sprayed them in 1998 and they still look great.

 

Chris, I don't think primer is going to make any difference other than cost you some $$. I wouldn't spray clear over top, just leave it as is. Reason I say this is it would make it a lot easier in the future to do touch up and respray without having to remove the clear. Are you planning to hand paint the lines in between the grill openings?

 

 

I ordered the krylon flat aluminum from O'Reilleys , came in next day, that's what I would recommend- good stuff! My grilles are back in and look great, they are wearing well.