Grill paint?

[1BAD68]

anyone have the paint code for the silver on a 68 Charger grill?

[Shakey]

There was / is a few posts on this.  If you use the search feature you'll be able to find it.  I posted it once before, at least the paint I used on my '69 but can't recall at this moment.

[Bob Hanner]

http://www.totallyautoinc.com/paints.html

Totally Auto sells what is supposed to be the correct silver in a spray can. Scroll halfway down the page to the 68 Charger grill. Haven't used it so i don't know if it's completely correct or not, Has anybody tried it??

[bandit67]

Thanks for the link, Bob. I , too, am about to repaint the grills on my 72 and had planned on just getting some Argent silver mixed. Saw their silver in a can listed as textured argent. Not sure what that is but will investagate this further.  The argent silver codes are listed on the bottom of most late 60's and early 70's GM and Mopars PPG paint chip sheets.  Does anyone know all the years of Mopars that the argent would be correct of the grills........thanks.........J

[69 OUR/TEA]

http://www.totallyautoinc.com/paints.html

Totally Auto sells what is supposed to be the correct silver in a spray can. Scroll halfway down the page to the 68 Charger grill. Haven't used it so i don't know if it's completely correct or not, Has anybody tried it??

   
             Couple years ago while doing my grill,sprayed some out to try.Totally NOT correct,way to silver.Supposed to be more like an ash grey metallic.Took some time and spray outs,but made my own mix going off my NOS grill along with my original.It is PPG laquer that I used,if you have a PPG store near you and you are interested let me know and I will dig out the formula I used.

[Silver R/T]

Argent Silver

[Recharger]

I'm definitely interested in that paint code if you don't mind sharing, 69 OUR/TEA, I'll shoot you a PM.  Do you know if that shade of silver/gray was the same from 68 to 69 (or 70 for that matter)? 

[Chatt69chgr]

I tried to get some of the PPG Laquer mixed in Chattanooga and was told that all their laquer mixing stock had just about dried up so they couldn't help me.  They said they only mix the base coat/clear coat stuff now.  Said for me to bring the grill down and they could image it and get a formula for what they do mix.  Said they needed about 4 square inches to image.  I will say that my grill is not silver.  It is the same color as mentioned by 69 Our TEA.  Now that is for a 69.  I don't know if 68 grilles were silver or not.  Also don't know if the color was maintained through the entire 69 model year.  My car was a end of year 69.  They said the top coat can be satin, semi-gloss, or shiny clear for the base coat/clear coat system.  I kind of shelved that project for a while.  Will have to have some mixed eventually and do some experiments on junkyard plastic until I match what is on the car grille now. 

[69hemi]

I used the Totally Auto Argent Non-Textured and it worked pretty well. It was a good match to a NOS piece I has and if you can keep the tips clean it sprays pretty well.

[bandit67]

Geeeezzzz , guys , what to use........textured......non textured........can't get lacquer mixed any more..........what paint should we shoot for , for our grills.  I have a 71, 72 and 73 that needs grill and tail panels repainted.   I would love to have a paint code to present to my mixer if possible.  And not to hijack 68S thread , what color /code should he be shooting for.  And can anyone shed some light if the late sixties and early seventies  HAD the same color silver/gray grills........tailpanels.........thanks ........John

[HITMAN 149]

i personally like the way they look all blacked out!!!!!!

[RT/SE]

I agree with 69 Our/Tea.  During one of my trips to Carlisle, I asked Totally Auto for the correct paint for my 69 Charger Grill.  They recommended their grill silver + some black rattle-can paint they sold for a factory appearance.  Given that they are a big resto shop, I figured they probably have done their homework so I bought the paint.  Well, I was dispointed in my results.  First, I had serious problems with clogging on the cans. Given the high cost they charge for their rattle-cans - I think better tips should be used.  Second, when I had the chance to compare my grill to an original NOS grill - it was not even close.  The silver was way too light and the black was too flat.  I could have achieved the same results by using rattle-can paint from Walmart. Doing more testing for a 1969 Charger Grill - this is what I would recommend in rattle-cans if you don't have a paint shop to mix up a batch of 69 Our/Tea's formula (I've seen 69 Our/Tea's restored grill in person and it is right on the money).  I'm not sure if a 68 grill is exactly the same as a 69 but if it is you are good to go (The 68 experts can jump in here).  For the silver part, I would use Eastwood Argent Wheel Silver paint.  For a rattle-can paint, this stuff is pretty close to original.  For the black part of the grill, I would use, SEM Trim Black Part #39143 which is the rattlecan version.  The SEM Trim Black sprays very well and the finish is beautiful. Hope this info helps out.  Good luck with the restoration of your grill..........RT/SE

[Recharger]

...I'm not sure if a 68 grill is exactly the same as a 69 but if it is you are good to go (The 68 experts can jump in here)...

Anyone out there know for sure? 

[bakerhillpins]

Some food for thought...

It's entirely possible that the color was just simply inconsistent directly from the suppliers that Dodge used. As a result your grille color is going to directly depend upon the NOS part you obtained. If Dodge had multiple parts vendors and/or ran multiple production runs of the grilles through their suppliers it stands a pretty good chance that they were inconsistent with batches of paint.

In recent years my other hobby (pinball machines) has seen an explosion of reproduction parts, and the most consistent trend to emerge with those new reproductions is that it pointed out how inconsistent the manufacturers were with their parts. And the guys making the reproductions were very engaged with the community while making the reproductions to try to get them as close to original as possible.


Bryan

[69bronzeT5]

This should help

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,38640.0.html

[dkn1997]

sem titanium metallic paint is a dead ringer match for the silver that was on an original 69 driver's side headlight bucket that I bought.  This grill was original and had factory paint on it. 

[hemi-hampton]

My info says the paint code for 1968 is Aluma-Hide Silver #DX-85555. In 1969 they call it Argent Silver but still #DX-8555. For 1970 they call it argent silver but different #8355. 1971 has 2 different silvers, A argent silver# DX-8555 & a Medium Textured argent silver # DNA-8575. The description for use does not specifically say for grills but mentions other items LEON.

[1969chargerrtse]

All I can say is don't use the Totally auto grille silver as listed below/ or above because it is to light.  It's nothing more than rally wheel silver on GM cars. To light, to light and to light.  Many people use it but it's to light.  No really to light.  Did I mention it's to light? But that's just me ( to light ). 

[dkn1997]

All I can say is don't use the Totally auto grille silver as listed below/ or above because it is to light.  It's nothing more than rally wheel silver on GM cars. To light, to light and to light.  Many people use it but it's to light.  No really to light.  Did I mention it's to light? But that's just me ( to light ). 

eastwoods argent silver is too light also.  I did my 68 with it years ago.  after my accident, I had to get the drivers side bucket.  It was from a 69.  the factory silver was not even close to the eastwoods stuff.  in fact, I wouldn't even call the factory stuff silver.  It's more gray to me. Try the SEM flexible paint, titanium metallic.  It's 12 bucks for the can, but it's nice paint and the nozzle is very good.

[Mike DC (formerly miked)]

   
The factory original paint on these grilles also sunfaded & wore down a lot.  The color on the exposed surfaces is probably not factory-correct anymore on any grille that's been outside on a car for more than a few months in the last 40 years.