Grille refinish

[TR674]

My TR6 grille is looking a bit weatherbeaten. It has many coats of mat black which are peeling.
My question is what is the best finish, repaint with a spray can or get it sand blasted and powdercoated?
Regards
Craig

 

[Tinster]

Hey Craig,

Mine also was looking shabby. I took it
down to bare metal to remove all the layers
of black paint. The frame had a lot of rust.

To strip the grill itself, you will need to use
a very small metal file to get into the hundreds
of corners.

I hope this photo opens:

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[Guest]

Hello Craig.
My grill is aftermarket, hence it might not be constructed the same as OE. So this might not apply. (Haven't seen an OE grill in years.) I removed the grill and disassembled it completely by drilling out all the pop-rivits. This left me with the egg-crate portion (which is not steel - some kind of alloy, pot-metal looking material), the aluminum center strip and the stainless outer frame. The egg-crate portion I literally soaked in really strong paint stripper till all the paint fell off. A bit of filing and sanding followed, but not much. I am afraid that sand-blasting will eat it up. I sprayed the egg-crate with Krylon Semi-Flat black. The outer frame, which is quite fragile by itself, I simply cleaned up. The H-channel center strip I hand-cleaned and removed the silly cloth insert and after masking this portion, I sprayed with a rubberized black rattle-can finish to mimic the cloth look. Pop-riveted the whole thing back together. Took an afternoon to accomplish this all. It is a good idea to use new nuts when re-installing. I keep all the little retaining nuts lubricated with a spray lube to keep rust at bay. All the aftermarket grills are made just north of you and are flimsy at best. Keep your OE if you can.

 

[swift6]

I had my Original grill stripped and powder coated about 11 years ago (when there was only one powder coater in town). Light pressure soda blasting stipped it nicely. Then we powdercoated it black. I deleted the chrome strip in the center though. Preferred the all black. So far it has held up well against small stones and big bugs. It even survived the front end hit the car took in 2001.

 

[Brosky]

Nice pics.

Say Shawn, y'all got snakes up in that there grassy rocky hillside? The kind with fangs and poison?

 

[TR674]

Thanks Bill.
The grille is in generally good condition, just many coats of paint. I don't need to replace it just make it look respectable. The mounting bolts look badly rusted so I may have to destroy them to get the grille off.
I like the 'colour coded' centre H cannel Tinster......
Regards
Craig

 

[Brosky]

Now you've got me thinking. Do I go all black or add color like Dale?

 

[Tinster]

Thanks Craig! I like it also.

If you look at the smoke grey color again,
I powder coated the headlight chrome mounting
bands the same smoke grey color. They make the
grill really stand out.

I gave up trying to use paint remover
off all the paint and finally files it all off.
I think DPO Pedro used K-mart blue light
special interior latex paint on the grill.

d

 

[Tinster]

Craig/Paul:

Here is a better view of the restored and
modified paint scheme grill and powder coated
headlight attachment bands.

I like the overall effect. What do you think? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif

 

[Harry_Ward]

Paul,

Put the bumper back on first and lets see how it looks. Based on the photo shown I'd say leave it alone.

 

[Tinster]

Dang, that's a sweet looking front end,
if I do say so myself. Took the entire
front end apart down to individual pieces.
Refurbished everything, repainted and put
it all back together.

DPO Pedro would not recognize this car if he
saw it parked at Sears. LOL

 

[Harry_Ward]

Looks good to me Dale. I also like what Shawn did as well. I'll stick by my last statement as far as Paul's grille is concerned though.

 

[Brosky]

Thanks Harry. I think that you are right. Scheduled to get it into body shop next Weds. Front bumper is easy, but rear is a pain and I don't want to scratch the paint.

We're also going to paint the inside of the doors with Eastwoods rust inhibitor to prevent any future issues. I want to replace the inside door skin sound insulation while it's all apart, so I might as well get that phase painted while it's wide open. I noticed that it was crumbling a bit, so off it comes.

That annoying right door glass needs tweaked too, so It's time to get this done before the nice weather gets here.

Then the decision about when and what to paint on the chassis. After I do my little clutch rod trick and get the tri-carbs installed.

 

[AngliaGT]

I did my grille myself.
Bead blasted it,painted it,& put it
back together.
If you do the rear bumper R&R,have
at least 2 people do it.I didn't,& have
the scratches on the body (car-not mine)
to prove it.

- Doug

 

[TR674]

Paul
I have just painted the insides of my doors with silver epoxy enamel. I used silver as it will easily show up any future problems.
Dale, get a front air scoop, it tidies up the lower front end. I think these were 'standard issue' on later TR6's.
Regards
Craig

 

[swift6]

Nice pics.

Say Shawn, y'all got snakes up in that there grassy rocky hillside? The kind with fangs and poison?

Why yes, yes we do. The kind with little noise makers on their tails. They also like to lay in the middle of hiking trails during the day to soak up heat. Adds a little 'excitement' to hiking. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

 

[Brosky]

First step is coating with Eastwood Rust Converter to get any rust out of any of the seams and welds, if it exists. Then coating with Eastwood Red Rust Encapsulator. I picked red for no special reason. The chassis and under body will get the same, but then a final of the EW Chassis Black.

That will be later in the summer. Much later, after much driving...........

 

[Tinster]

Thanks for the tip Craig, but I think
since Crypty has so many various year
parts on him as it is, I better skip
the 1973 air spoiler and leave the
front mostly stock 1969.

d

 

[DNK]

Had mine Pc'd,the people had a heck of a time trying to soak all that paint or rubberized covering off it. As a matter of fact I just started to put it back together last week. Spooky! Bill,it has been so long since I took it apart,the chrome strip was riveted on at the ends??