Plastic Grill Repair

AustinOski

AustinOski

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My grills are in really good condition, except...The passenger side is broken where the screw holds it in near the headlights, on the bottom side. It’s otherwise near perfect condition.

Has anyone repaired the plastic around a screw, where plastic is missing? I’ve googled “plastic welding” and looked for a local professional in this area (Austin), but thought this community might have some experience. I’d just buy a replacement but they are either really expensive or not nearly as nice as what I have (barring the broken bit) or both.

BTW, you can’t see the break. But, it causes that side to pop out just a bit - maybe 1/2”. Not noticeable to most. But, @Peter Coomaraswamy noticed it from about 10 feet away at a C&C here in Austin a few weeks back! Damn aficionados! Honestly, I wish I had that eye for detail. I just don’t. Brain doesn’t work that way.

Thanks,

Joey
 
Check out a product called " Plastex " Eastwood sells it They have 3 colors, black, white and clear, the package comes with a molding compound that you can use to make a mold of a good one and use that to plastic repair yours I use this stuff all the time to repair broken corners or brackets

Thanks, Rick
 
The bottom screw hole on the right side grill of my E3 was broken also. The grill still fit flush with no screw in that position. Maybe your front sheet metal is tweaked a little or the grill warped a little? You might try removing the grill completely and see if you can see anything that would not allow the grill to fit properly. Then put it back in position with no screws and see if it fits.

I drove mine for a couple of months with no screw in that position. Worked fine. I did find another good used grill eventually. If I hadn't I probably would have used a screw with a big enough washer painted black to grab the grill.
 
I had a couple mounting holes that were cracked and coming apart on my '69. I've plastic welded many many times because of a previous business I had so I didn't hesitate to do my grilles. It all depends on the type of plastic and the grille plastic works fine. I "stitch" the cracks with a soldering iron then finish off with JB Weld. You can find YouTube videos showing the stitching technique.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I just took it off and looked at it again. Both screw-holes are gone. Maybe I just need to find a new one and put my chrome on it. The chrome is in really good shape, looks like I should be able to transfer it successfully if I can get a good plastic piece (and cheap, because I don’t need good trim).

In the meantime, maybe one of the suggestions or combination of suggestions would work - a washer, some JB Weld, some velcro tape...

Anyone have one?

C1879981-3023-42EF-BE2D-457E1E561098.jpeg
 
You could probably just use an oversized black washer with a black screw. The reason they break is because the grille never fits the grille opening well enough and there's a gap between the screw boss surface and the surface it tightens against, so the screw pulls that small area very hard and breaks it. You probably already know that, but if you use a washer that grabs more material, about halfway up the side, it will tighten up fine and might not look too bad if it's all black. I small brush with flat black paint might also work.

grille hole broken.jpg
 
The one hole would work with the washer. I guess the picture didn’t show the other side. Here is the giant hole under the headlight holes. I think I need to just fabricate something for now and then figure out my more permanent move (buy one with good plastic, no-chrome or cr*ppy chrome).

05F382FB-F242-45C0-82D8-DDB43420CEC0.jpeg
 
Can anyone confirm whether part number 51131811484 is the correct part number for this? I’m seeing conflicting info in various places. One shows it as a black grill for all years. Another shows it as 1974 and up. But, I think it is a superceding number for all black grills. My build date is 9/1972, if that matters. Thanks!
 
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