73 Bav Hood Grills

StephenZ

StephenZ

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So, were these originally chrome in 73, I assume? I put one in the ultrasonic cleaner for a couple runs and the black paint came off and it looks like they were sanded/primed and painted..also sanded through the chrome..damn PO…otherwise pretty perfect..
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PO..:-/.
 
i guess its time to paint them black, which would look reasonably good with granada. either that or you are looking for somebody to do some specialty chrome work. are the grilles plastic?
 
They’re metal, but I definitely don’t want them black…I’ll have to figure out a way to make em shiny again..didn’t some come in black at one time? Seems like an 80s thing. We all seemed to black out the chrome back then..what were we thinking? lol
 
i do remember seeing silver ones a while back. i was trying to remember what was on my 73 sahara. pretty sure they were silver as were the wipers. if they are metal, why not take them to a chrome shop. i think shiny with granada is the way to go.
 
Here are mine on my '72 Agave Bavaria. Came this way from Steve Petersen of Bluntech three years ago.
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They appear to be chrome but I really don't know. Really shiny, not paint.
 
My 72 were silver, but not shiny chrome. About the same as the stock wiper arms. They were not painted. Very similar to the ones you have stripped the black paint off of. I would think that if they were shiny chrome that they may blind you if the sun was in the wrong spot. This is the best picture I have of them unfortunately...

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rsporsche said:
i do remember seeing silver ones a while back. i was trying to remember what was on my 73 sahara. pretty sure they were silver as were the wipers. if they are metal, why not take them to a chrome shop. i think shiny with granada is the way to go.
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Totally agree. The chrome with the red will look nice. I’m just keeping this build on a super low budget (well, budget splurges focused on engine/trans..) and chrome plating has gotten insane..this, and the bumpers, will leave me some future projects to enjoy..
 
Dick Steinkamp said:
My 72 were silver, but not shiny chrome. About the same as the stock wiper arms. They were not painted. Very similar to the ones you have stripped the black paint off of. I would think that if they were shiny chrome that they may blind you if the sun was in the wrong spot. This is the best picture I have of them unfortunately...

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Such a great looking car..❤️
 
On my 72 manufactured car they are just plain alloy finish. I've polished them up with a Scotchbrite pad and they look nice, better than chrome in my opinion.
 
These are plastic and have a chrome finish the same as the chrome-looking plastic cover in the arm rests and handle of the ashtay and the hockey sticks at the base of the front seats. My 72 is all original as I bought it from the original owner and they are plastic. The best you can do is maybe Wurth silver wheel paint and then some gloss clear coat. On other simpler bits I have used chrome wrap to bring them back to the original look.
 
bavbob said:
These are plastic and have a chrome finish the same as the chrome-looking plastic cover in the arm rests and handle of the ashtay and the hockey sticks at the base of the front seats. My 72 is all original as I bought it from the original owner and they are plastic. The best you can do is maybe Wurth silver wheel paint and then some gloss clear coat. On other simpler bits I have used chrome wrap to bring them back to the original look.
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Ok, maybe a difference between Euro and US cars, mine are definitely cast alloy and can be polished with Scotchbrite or similar.
 
Mine were chrome "plated" plastic... not painted. Shiny on the top rib, but more of a brushed or grey finish on the sides. There is also a black plastic mesh piece under them.
 
Interesting that some people have plastic ones. I wonder if they were replaced at some point? Mine are definitely metal with, I assume, a chrome plating. They should clean up great except for the little areas the PO sanded through to the copper base coat.
 
bavbob said:
These are plastic and have a chrome finish the same as the chrome-looking plastic cover in the arm rests and handle of the ashtay and the hockey sticks at the base of the front seats. My 72 is all original as I bought it from the original owner and they are plastic. The best you can do is maybe Wurth silver wheel paint and then some gloss clear coat. On other simpler bits I have used chrome wrap to bring them back to the original look.
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Interesting that you have plastic..mine are 100% metal…and my door handle caps are metal, too. All original car when I got it. Bought from the children of the family that had it since new.
 
This is what the Orange Part Book says:

Chrome plated: Euro 2500 & 2800, US 2500, 2800 & 2800 Bav
Black: Euro All, US 3.0 Bav, 3.0S & 3.0Si
Matt/Dull: Euro All, US 3.0 Ba & 3.0S

So it looks like early silver grilles were chrome plated and I assume Matt refers to later silver grilles.

It was probably dependent on the body color just like the e9. Dark colors used a bright grille and light colors used the black grille. My belief is that in 1973 all grilles became Black but I could be mistaken.
 
HB Chris said:
This is what the Orange Part Book says:

Chrome plated: Euro 2500 & 2800, US 2500, 2800 & 2800 Bav
Black: Euro All, US 3.0 Bav, 3.0S & 3.0Si
Matt/Dull: Euro All, US 3.0 Ba & 3.0S

So it looks like early silver grilles were chrome plated and I assume Matt refers to later silver grilles.

It was probably dependent on the body color just like the e9. Dark colors used a bright grille and light colors used the black grille. My belief is that in 1973 all grilles became Black but I could be mistaken.
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Interesting info..seems it could've been almost anything.. Mine was originally Polaris, so black might make sense, but it's definitely plated underneath, as the copper is showing through on small bits. Also, the ultrasonic cleaner made quick work of the black 'paint' that was on it. No way for me to tell if it was a cheap spray other than the plating being scuffed pretty well for adhesion. Seems odd they'd spend the money/effort to plate it and paint it black, but I guess it could've been easier than ordering different grills to be made?
The strange one to me is that some people have plastic grills and insist they're original. I can't imagine the factory would've put cheap plastic on the hood of the car at that time. Nowadays, of course, everything is cheap trash. Those plastic ones seem like they'd have to be repops.
 
This is how mine look. There is some pitting in the alloy that I could possibly sand out but you only see it from very close up so I'm not too bothered.

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