1941 Grill Restoration Question:

[paulp]

I am cleaning up those vertical bent metal bars prior to re-installing my grill.  Mine appear to have been painted a silver color.  Is that  factory or were they originally galvanized?  Or what?  I cleaned one today and painted it with "chrome color" from a spray can.  It looks pretty good, but what were they coated with originally and how should they look when I arrive at the Grand National meet ?

Thanks:       Paul Price  CLC 23300   

[Joe Manna]

Paul,I am no expert by any means on a 41 grille.But I did have one for sale a while back.I was told by a member of our region,that the grille bars were pot metal,which I'm sure you know.As far as I can tell,I don't think they are painted inside the bars.

You might want to check the "Chapters" link on the home page.I beleive there is a '41 chapter listed.

Hope I was able to help you out.Good Luck in finding an answer.

Joe

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Paul, the metal verticle bars are chromed steel. Because they are almost  impossible to clean, most originals are rusty. McVey sells SS repro's that work well. HTH, Bob

[paulp]

Thanks Joe and Bob:   Bob, I am amazed that these were originally chromed.  In cleaning up one so far I find absolutely no Chrome residue.  Now, I wonder if mine are an old reproduction set.  Polished SS would look good so I 'will' check out McVeys. 
Thanks again,  -   Paul  -    PS;  The further I get into this the more likely it is I will need to join the Modified Bunch.  I just finished turning an aluminum fan pulley which looks good and I will anodize black but it won't fool any judge.

[Doug Houston]

I have four '41's. Long ago, I had the grille verticals replated, and they came out just so nice. But. you can't get at them to polish them adequately, so in time, they deteriorate; you just can/t help it.

Last year, I had my '41 convertible coupe repainted (I had done it in 1959 or so). The verticals were OK, and I had painted the insides of them with Zinc Chromate primer back then, so they look OK. But, I'm going to buy three more sets of the verticals in stainless from Mc Vey. I seem to remember that a set is just under 300 bucks.

I might add that I bought a set of SS brake lines  from Inline Tube (they have a web site) near me in Washington, Michigan. I've had four brake lines rust on me over the years, with pin holes, and a loss of brakes. I'm damned if I'll go for anything like that any more!  I feel that the $177.00 I spent for those lines was some of the best insurance I could buy. And, the guy who installed the lines, told me that every fitting dropped right in place, just as though Cadillac had made them.

Back to McVey.I bought a set of fender moldings from them. Since the car is a 62 series, it uses a set of 12. Again, they are so perfect, new ones from Cadillac could never have been better.  I have two more series 62 cars, and I'll have those moldings on them, as well.

Fortunately, the main grille bodies on all of the cars are passable, toi very good. They cost a couple of fortunes to re-plate. I'd always worry about how good a job a plater might do on such a big and complicated die casting. I'm willing to live with a few small pits for that reason.