Technical Any Tips On Refinish of 32 Grill Shell Insert? Silver or Color? Share Pics Please.

As I'm reworking an old 32 grill shell for my Model A pickup I know that next I'm going to need to refinish the insert for it. Anybody got any tips for that? I suppose I could have it sand blasted, maybe that's the best option. Was thinking maybe a flapper wheel would take down the rough spots and rust spots, then primer it and hit it with some silver paint. But I've seen them also in red (usually on a black car), and I've seen black. I did a search here on the HAMB hoping I'd find a thread with a lot of pictures but though I found a bunch on shells, nothing much on inserts came up. Would love to see what others have done. Thanks!

 

Is this for your PU? Maybe a hammarite Pewter?

 

I normally polish the stainless then do a good tape off of the stainless. I then lightly gl*** bead the remainder and powder coat it satin black. I've done quite a few like this. Used to be a coater in CA I'd send him 10 Dales inserts at time for coating. I think he retired.

 

I've used different colors of paint on several inserts,

Black on the insert on the primered '32 more door.



and Black on the insert on the red sedan.



Apple green on the insert on the 3 window project,



My '32 pickup has a one piece shell & insert, so I taped it out and sprayed it sage green.



Originally the insert in my old beater was painted red.



But when I was having the wheels powder coated cream I had them power coat a extra insert to match the wheels. HRP

 

I did a lot of hand sanding, primed and painted mine hugger orange to match the wheels. I had to straighten some of the bars near the bottom and the stainless trim is far from perfect. It was an old original that was painted gray when I got it.

 

I'm guessing that the stainless part is the outer frame, right? This one has definitedly been painted silver sometime in the past, along with all the bars, but there's a lot of rough spots on the bars where the paint has been chipped away and rust has developed.

 

This is great information, just what I was looking for; the photos really help. Thank you!

 

Nice!

 

I’ve been agonizing over this for a while. Cream to match the firewall, platinum silver, light grey
fuuuuuuuuuu*k I can’t commit

 

Never much of a fan of the original light grey (unless on a stock original style car).
Like my old chitty chitty bang bang.



but I just painted the insert on my Tudor satin black this past summer, and I’m really groovin on it.



You said you wanted pics, so…

 

I like it when the leading edges are chrome or polished and the sides of the individual blades (or whatever they are called) are painted a contrast color. I know this is not a 32, it is my 41 PU that painted the sides of the grille metallic gold for fun. It is a royal PITA to do and not very noticeable (which I like).

 

I think it was Pete Eastwood who had posted that Krylon Dove Gray is a pretty good match to the original gray if you want it original.

 

French Gray.

 

Yes! I'm loving all the pics, really getting the creative juices flowing.

 

Funny, I was thinking of something like this.

 

For your car,
Black to match the body colour.

 

Time to do 3 cardboard cutouts of the insert and paint them the 3 different colours……or…….
perhaps ask on the photoshop thread……..
If you’re keeping the hood on I think the wheel colour would be a good choice, (or gloss black).

 

Although mine was a one-piece '32 commercial grille with modified "34 PU stainless surround, I painted it to match the rest of the coordinating color...maybe blue in your case.

 

full hood makes a difference…….

 

The actual shell needs to be body color. Back years ago you used to see a few chrome shells and they always looked a bit tacky and ovcr done. Now these guys have me thinkin polished band and black bars as the way to go.

 

agreed, but what would be best for this pick up, gloss blue or matt black ?
I would lean towards the gloss blue for the shell, and black for the insert.
( I don’t know if the intention is to someday paint the whole body blue or leave it as it is ? ).

 

I was originally going to go with Ford Red wheels and grill insert for my roadster, but kinda liked the light gray that was on the wheels when I bought them. Now wheels and insert are Light Machine Gray...

 

Yes, I plan on going with the metallic blue for the shell. Originally was thinking silver for the insert, but maybe polished surround with black bars to match the lower half of the body might be the best option.

 

Nice….what a bit*h to do though

 

If I'm spending someone else's money............

 

I've always thought Dove grey with some flattening added would look good.

 

Dove gray is a great contrast or I have a fondness for the flat nickel that Just Gary used for accents on his Orange A. I can't believe no one has mentioned a number being an option. I know your truck is not styled that way, but let's get all the options out there.

 

Here we are on the hamb, 28 posts and no one is clamouring for you to keep the original, it must be a new year… belly ****on hasn’t been mentioned once.

 

Not for everyone, but I liked the orange with the Dark Carmine.