hey guys, benn looking threw custom grill ideas and on a few that ive come acrost that i realy like have the stock grill opening trim molded in and painted body color. example: the trim on the hood of a 49 ford that follows the leading edge with the hump in it if its not like brand new trim could you just wire brush the shit out of it and weld it right on? or how do you go about this? also, what prep would you need to make the paint stay on the trim ? id hate to spend all that money and time painting a car and then have it flake off the molded on trim thanx tim
sandblast all the chrome off, if no sandblaster then have fun with regular old sanding. DId this on my shoebox, never got it finished htough. Clamp and bolt everything where it needs to be, tack it in. Check everything, finished weld and grind. Put filler where needed and prime.
yeah thats what i figured-on the sading stuff part, just thought id double check i think its stainless??
if your talkign about th eupper grille bars to a 49 ford, I think they were stainless. Not %100 on that though. THe grille on mine was rusted to shit but the upper bars weren't that's why i think they were stainless.
My ol man used to sand the devil out of the chrome if he was gonna paint it. I've bead blasted it before, or you can etch it with acid just like pickling a bare metal body before painting. Muratic acid diluted a bunch works well. Another thing to do prior to paint is to prime it with zinc oxide primer befor anything else. That also works to get the paint to stick to aluminum. If its stainless trim it can be welded to the body. Be careful its thin and warps easy. Some cars use/used aluminum trim. Best bet is to glass it on. Epoxy it to the body, then resin, some cloth, then resin again. Smash the cloth down as tight as possible to the crack between the trim and the body. So it doesn't get too bulky. Than its bondo time. Get everything smooth and blow on the paint. Someone else probably knows a better way. Back in the late '60s I saw a '56 Ford that was black satin (not flat). It was nosed, decked, and the handles were shaved. He painted the rest of the trim (not molded) gloss black. It looked really slick. I just wanted to say that.
I had no problems welding that stuff. I clamped it and plug welded the holes where the bolts would have gone. Welded up where it met the fenders, ground it and filled it.
If you decide to keep it shiny, you can do what I did to complete the surround. I took the top bar of the grille to a local sheet metal shop and had them bend a piece of stainless to the profile of the bar, that sits inside the top bar and is a certain length with a stud on the back. It cost like $50 to have both sides made, but it's much better than anything I could've done at home.
Non-oxidizing grades of stainless steel are non-magnetic. Put a magnet on the trim. If it sticks it's chromed steel. If it falls off it's stainless and while isn't impossible, it will be difficult to work with and would be better if you just copied it insheet mild steel on a rod or tube framework.
What about the upper grill bars on a 50 Chevy? Anyone done one? Like the top bar where it says Chevrolet. I am almost positive it is stainless. I see a lot of em molded in though. Grill
Couldn't you just solder stainless trim onto regular steel? I'm pretty sure the part he's talking about is just chromed steel or cast iron anyway. But I mean like, braze studs onto the back of the stainless, attach it to the body, then use filler or something to fill in the seams.
Tim, I've had wonderful luch painting both stainless and chrome plated steel by roughing it up with either blasting or sanding and applying a fat coat of acid etch primer. I use "Vari-prime" and it works very well. I primered and painted the stainless mirrors and louvered aluminum marker light covers on my 68 chevy pickup...lasted the 6 years I owned it and was still on there the last time I saw it...no chips or peeling. I love that stuff.
cool rocky so what do you think on the grill i photo shoped? the car would be like the black/cheery that coles 54 chevy was with www black steelies and white tuck and roll. no frenched headlights,keep it shiney or mold it in???? kinda like how they both look tia tim
49 Ford upper grill bars are chrome also 50 Chevies. Body mouldings were stainless. Hood mlds stainless. After a few years of looking you can tell at first glance. But a magnet does help.
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