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1967 Deville grill

Started by lou-q, December 12, 2014, 03:20:48 PM

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lou-q

I'm working on our 67 grill and would like to know if the black backround on the side grills is satin black or flat black.
What a pain it's going to be to sand and clean up the black backround without hurting the anodizing on the slats.
If anyone has any suggestions that would make this project any easier please chime in.
Thanks,
Lou Quirch
Lou Quirch    CLC#26694
39-6127 coupe
67 DeVille convertible Venetian Blue
67 DeVille convertible Doeskin SOLD
67 Corvette Marina Blue Roadster
2015 Mustang GT 50th anniversary Black Convert
2020 Shelby GT500 Magnetic Metallic
67 DeVille convertible Donor car for parts
3 F250 Ford P/Us

Scot Minesinger

The only way I can think of is find a perfect NOS piece.  Those aluminum grilles are a pain thu that era to keep nice.  My 1970 is no fun.  The CLC Class 22P 1967-70 Authenticity Manual does not indicate if black was flat or satin between slats of grille, guessing flat black is correct.  Can you remove the background, finish it and re-install?
Fairfax Station, VA  22039 (Washington DC Sub)
1970 Cadillac DeVille Convertible
1970 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1970 four door Convertible w/Cadillac Warranty

"Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364

Lou,
I have never done this myself, but coincidentally I took some parts in to a new (for me) platter, and in his "dog and pony show" to show me what type of quality work he does, showed me a 1966 grill (very similar to yours) they had done.  What he had to do in order to clean up and re polish the grill was completely dis assemble it (very carefully I will add), re polish, re anodize and re-paint the components and then re assemble it.  Having had a 66 I know what you are trying to accomplish, my attempts to "clean up" the grill ended up with a lot of wasted effort.
Greg Surfas
Cadillac Kid-Greg Surfas
Director Modified Chapter CLC
CLC #15364
66 Coupe deVille (now gone to the UK)
72 Eldo Cpe  (now cruising the sands in Quatar)
73 Coupe deVille
75 Coupe deElegance
76 Coupe deVille
79 Coupe de ville with "Paris" (pick up) option and 472 motor
514 inch motor now in '73-

savemy67

Hello Lou,

I have a 1967 Sedan DeVille.  I saw your post Friday night but I was not able to get to my car to look at my grill extensions until today.  I think you have four options.  One is to do nothing.  One is to find an NOS piece.  One is to do as you indicated - laboriously masking/painting the assembled grill extensions.  One is to disassemble the grill extensions.  The last two options are very painstaking.  If you choose to mask/paint the assembled grill extension, you do not risk breaking anything, but you may not be completely satisfied with the result.  You could use something that can be painted on the aluminum to act as a masking agent (like a thin rubber cement) that can be pulled off the aluminum after you paint the background steel black.  You could also skip masking the aluminum and just use a small brush, some thinned black paint, and lots of patience.

The aluminum is fastened to the steel in about 42 places.  Tabs on the aluminum protrude through the steel and the tabs are staked, expanding the aluminum, keeping the aluminum in place.  You could try to squeeze one of the tabs to see if it can be reformed to its pre-staked shape.  If this works at room temperature, you are in business.  If the aluminum is too brittle, you might try warming it up with a mini torch.  Aluminum melts at about 1200 degrees F, and some mini torches can get hotter than this.  Experimenting on one or two of the tabs should not risk destroying your grill extension if you are careful.  Regardless, trying to restore these pieces will be a time consuming chore.

Christopher Winter
Christopher Winter
1967 Sedan DeVille hardtop

lou-q

Thanks for the replies!
I was able to get the paint off with stripper.
The tabs on the back of the grill brake off if you try to squeeze them.
Today I will try to paint them with a small brush.
Yes, there is nothing about the type of paint in the authenticity manual.
The old paint looked closer to a satin rather than flat.
I will post the results.
Lou
Lou Quirch    CLC#26694
39-6127 coupe
67 DeVille convertible Venetian Blue
67 DeVille convertible Doeskin SOLD
67 Corvette Marina Blue Roadster
2015 Mustang GT 50th anniversary Black Convert
2020 Shelby GT500 Magnetic Metallic
67 DeVille convertible Donor car for parts
3 F250 Ford P/Us