Here's a pair of '72 Cutlass Supreme Grilles.

These are GM grilles pulled by a buddy recently (he installed 442 repro grilles on the car). These are CLEAN and VERY NICE. They appear to be a pair of NOS grilles that were installed on the car. They show NO EVIDENCE of the typical wear and tear that you see on older or original grilles in terms of the paint condition, the condition of the anodized aluminum trim and the bare plastic on the backside. There are a couple defects which I'll outline below.

>Grille Plastic---original GM paint, not repainted,etc. No breaks or cracks in the plastic. The bare plastic on the backside looks brand new...no fading or deterioration you see on older grilles.

>Grille Trim---Appearance is great. Nice brilliant, shiny anodized trim with NO FADING/CLOUDINESS in the anodized finish.

Defect-- On the P side outer alum trim piece--5 of the 7 small tabs that are bent over to mount the outer alum trim piece were snapped off whenever someone went to install this piece (see pic). The other two are fine so some good glue to hold the thing in place would work as the trim piece itself is TOO NICE to replace in terms of appearance.

Defect--There are 3 SMALL scratches in the anodized alum pieces....and they are small and not very noticeable (see pic of one of them and that's the largest one...about 1/2 long). These are not deep scratches that gouged out the aluminum, etc.

>Grille Mounting Tabs---All intact, no breaks, cracks, etc.

>"Eggcrate" Pattern portion of the grille plastic---On a lot of older used grilles you will see a lot of little chips and gouges on the leading edges of the grille face portions. Typically stone chips, etc. There aren't any on these. As I said, these are nice.

>"Oldsmobile" Grille Emblem and Black Plastic Backer Plate---The chrome die cast emblem is pretty nice. Not an NOS replacement piece like the grilles apparently are. No bubbles/pits on the faces of the lettering but I can see some evidence of deterioration at the base/back edge of a couple places on various letters. 1 of the 3 mouting studs is broken off on the emblem but it remains solidly attached...not loose, sliding around, etc.

The black plastic backer plate is fine..no cracks, breaks or chips...I'd probably pull it off and polish it up or shoot some black paint on it to make it look new.

Again, this pair of grilles is very, very nice. Original GM finish and nice brilliant alum trim.

I can take close up pics, etc if needed.

$200 + shipping---I'll build a box to get them there without damage.

 

bump--thanks

 

nice grills..

 

dang, I need a set, but my car is a cutlass "s". It already have supreme grills in it, for whatever reason. Bummer...

 

these still for sale

 

Yes--Thanks

 

do you have any grills for a "70 convertible supreme?

 

Yes--I have a pair that I am in the process of restoring...typically, I sell parts that have at least been cleaned up, primed, etc, if not restored.

I'm not giving you a BS sales pitch here but these are the cleanest used grilles I have ever had (outside of the "nearly NOS" '72 grilles here in my ad)....why???

>All the plastic is still the nice medium gray color. Most used grilles have some of the plastic faded out from sun exposure and loss of the paint. This pair has none of that.

>Missing pieces...none. Typically, the used grilles ('70 type that I primarily deal with) have pieces missing out of the middle where the hood tooth has tagged the little vertical filler tabs or along the bottom where the bumper top got pushed in and broke off piece(s).

>Cracked and/or Broken off Mounting Tabs....none on these. Again, at least some cracks are typical.

>Cracks....again, none...very non-typical for grilles.

>Surface condition of plastic....very smooth. None of the typical surface deterioration you get on the plastic when the paint goes away.

Damage....there were a couple of "rub areas" along the leading edge of the large horizontal parts where the two grille halves meet...probably the hood tooth rubbing on them. Also....there was a slight rub area at the top of the vertical filler tabs (these curve in behind the hood tooth).

Damage is already repaired.

Grilles are currently stripped to bare plastic....completely....even between each of the 29 vertical grille "teeth" on each grille.

I don't know if I will sell them "as is" or if I will finish them up. Regardless....as clean as these are I don't intend to sell them "cheap". I have 6 or 7 sets of '70 grilles I am restoring right now and these are by far the nicest condition.

So, there you have it...if you want a set that is cracked up that you can repair, these are not them.

The grilles are also available repro.

 

How much are you charging to ship to Tyler,Tx?

 

Zip code?? I ship Fedex Ground...they are a lot better priced than UPS and the package won't weigh much so it should be very reasonable.

Send zip code and I can get you an exact shipping cost.

Thanks

 

75762

 

pm'd you Pacman.

 

thanks,but I just restored my original cutlass s grills, they don't re-produce these yet.

 

Pacman--check your pm box

 

Bump---Price reduced to $175. Thanks

 

Could paint them correct for a 72 H/O,if I paid you for time & materials,plus the grilles?

 

Brian--That is probably "do-able" but a couple thoughts/questions.

>Each grille has 2 aluminum mouldings---an inner moulding that has thin flat metal tabs to hold it on AND the outer moulding which is held pn with small "squarish spikes" protruding out the back of the moulding.

1)On the LH grille piece the flat/wider alum outer moulding comes off on its own as 3 of the 7 spikes were apparently broken off when this thing was assembled at the factory. Now we probably know how this ended up in the "NOS parts" bin. Easy enough to paint under since this piece is now easily removed but re-attaching it may take some doing (maybe some urethane or epoxy on the backside of the molding).

2) The inner alum thin moulding pieces...each one is held on with 13 tabs that the factory bent over the back of the grille. These are WELL ATTACHED and not going anywhere. Aluminum, being aluminum (ie weak went tabs are bent, etc)...I don't know what would happen with those tabs if they were bent to allow removal and THEN REBENT AGAIN to re-install them. The trim could be left in place and carefully masked off....I've done a lot harder/more detailed masking than those inner pieces.

What sheen level is used for the H/O grilles??? Flat, Semi-flat, Satin?

I was wondering if the SEM Trim Black paint would be correct...not sure but I think it has a very slight sheen to it. I have adhesion promoters, etc for use on plastic parts so the paint work would be "done right".

These grilles are not mine....I'm selling them for a buddy that is overseas for work. While I'm getting paid a small commission for selling them for him it doesn't justify any other work on them above advertising, taking pics, sending emails, etc...so your offer is appreciated.

Let me know your thoughts on masking vs. removing trim, the right black paint, etc.

 

I don't have a real set of grilles up here to look at for sheen.I was hoping you would know.Let me see what I can find out.

 

I suspect it's probably a satin or eggshell sheen---at the most. That, or it's whatever sheen of black was used on the black accent areas of the '71 or '72 442 grilles which is proabably a semi-flat.

Anything glossier than a satin probably wouldn't look too good IMO.