Has anyone tried chroming front grills? How did they look? Any pictures? I am not sure if pot metal can be chromed. Am I better off just painting them?

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The front edges of the grills on your '73 should be chromed to start with. The grills were chromed, and then blacked out except for the leading edges of the horizontal part. In '74, the same grills were used, but they were not chromed...just solid black.
To answer your question tho...if you have the original style, cast aluminuminum grills, they can be chromed...they were from the factory.

Then again...I may be incorrect...I do know the front edges of the grills were silver on the '73 cars, but after thinking aboot it, I'm not 100% sure they were chromed. I'll have to check now to find out. Either way, they can be chromed, if you wanted them like that.Adams' Apple2008-03-06 11:04:49

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
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I think they would look great.

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The 73 grilles were chromed and then the centers were blacked out. Then can be stripped and rechromed but if there are lots of pits it will not look good. Most of the chrome has peeled off my grilles and they are pitted real bad. No one makes replacement ones out of meteal, just plastic. Those can be chromed too.

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Brian - NCM Lifetime Member

73 coupe L48, Flat-top pistons, Performer RPM Heads, Crane Cam and roller rockers, Holley 650 vac sec. Performer intake,
3.55 gear BTO 200-4R trans,
Leather seats, Seatbelt Plus 3point seatbelts, Pioneer CD player
Magnaflow Exhuast System

Brian's right. When I painted My Girl I taped off the chrome edges, but it didn't look very good as they were pretty pitted. So I just painted them black. I think it looks pretty good that way. I'm not sure if they can be chromed as they are pot metal and usually pretty rough. If you notice I did tape off the edges of the side grills and painted them black. I didn't like the idea at first, but its kinda growing on me. Different.

my7T12008-03-06 14:19:18

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Click on images for Before and After pics!

On "My Classic Car" a week or so ago, they interviewed a big muscle car supplier, and said they now have a process that allows them to chrome anything.  They first paint on a microscopic coat of silver, then plate on top of that.  I am sorry I don't remember the name.

Larry

[QUOTE=krz-fasC3]Has anyone tried chroming front grills? How did they look? Any pictures? I am not sure if pot metal can be chromed. Am I better off just painting them?[/QUOTE] 6880Mike2008-03-07 06:52:15

WHAT SIZE TIRES DO YOU HAVE ON YOUR RED 71, IM TRYING TO FILL MY WHEEL WELLS JUST NOTICED HOW GOOD YOURS LOOKS!

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I found the name of the plater from My Classic Car.  It is Paul's Plating, http://www.paulschrome.com/ .  He says he can plate anything without damage.