News:

It appears that the upgrade forces a login and many, many of you have forgotten your passwords and didn't set up any reminders. Contact me directly through helpmelogin@dodgecharger.com and I'll help sort it out.

Main Menu

69 Grille repair advise needed.

Started by 1969chargerrtse, December 18, 2007, 06:54:32 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

1969chargerrtse

O.K, so I broke apart my 3 main pieces of my grille today.  I have splits and cracks on all 3 pieces.  Please look at the pictures and advise how you would repair these parts?  The brand product name etc...  Also I have the little slit pieces broken or missing on the center grille.  Does anyone have a used wasted center piece I can cut ribs from?  Does anyone have  any of these 3 pieces they would part (sell) with?  Also, I need a few clips for the straight trim and 1 for the I piece, any ideas or part numbers?   As always, any help appreciated. :yesnod: 
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.

Shakey


When I restored/repaired my grille, I had a few broken ribs and some minor cracks but I think you might be better off looking around for used pieces.  Repairs to the two broken ribs as shown in your third photo look doable but when you start repairing all of them, like shown in your first photo, you're just looking for grief down the road as the first bumble bee that smacks into that or the first major bump you hit, all of the ribs are just going to break again.

I used some plastic repair kit (two part epoxy) for some slight repairs but what you have there may be beyond savable.  Well, it may be saved but may not be durable enough for use over a long period of time.   :Twocents:

Winged 1

:Twocents:
I am with Shakey. It might take awhile to put together but your going to be way better off taking the time to find some other newer pieces. Keep an eye on ebay. There is always one or the other for sale pretty cheap. Going to last alot longer than a patch.
Best of luck.
Eric

1969chargerrtse

Yea, thanks guys. I guess thats the way it may have to be.  Many thanks.  What sucks is that repros are out there, but lets not travel that road, because no one seems to know how to actually get one, or know of anyone that has had one?  Crazy. :eek2:  On the one that has all the broken slits, if I can expoxy the main part together, the slits line up, kinda saveable?
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.

Shakey

Quote from: 1969chargerrtse on December 18, 2007, 09:21:25 PM
Yea, thanks guys. I guess thats the way it may have to be.  Many thanks.  What sucks is that repros are out there, but lets not travel that road, because no one seems to know how to actually get one, or no of anyone that has had one?  Crazy. :eek2:  On the one that has all the broken slits, if I can expoxy the main part together, the slits line up, kinda savable?

Since you've got nothing to lose, try your hand at repairing it while you shop around for a replacement.   :thumbs:

1969chargerrtse

Quote from: Shakey on December 18, 2007, 09:26:32 PM
Quote from: 1969chargerrtse on December 18, 2007, 09:21:25 PM
Yea, thanks guys. I guess thats the way it may have to be.  Many thanks.  What sucks is that repros are out there, but lets not travel that road, because no one seems to know how to actually get one, or no of anyone that has had one?  Crazy. :eek2:  On the one that has all the broken slits, if I can expoxy the main part together, the slits line up, kinda savable?

Since you've got nothing to lose, try your hand at repairing it while you shop around for a replacement.   :thumbs:
Kinda where I'm at, but as you know, sanding preping, taping , painting, can take a lot of time.  Tuff call. :scratchchin:
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.

NMike

my buddy has a platic welding kit. i can't remember the brand name. it is basically a large soldering iron that has a tube to feed in plastic welding rods. i am going to try this on my grill in the spring time. i figure it will be a stronger repair than the epoxy version

69chargeryeehaa

I'm in the same boat.  I have one nice crack just above the drivers headlight, actually it's completely separated.  So i removed the grill from the car, and i plan to paint/restore the whole grill.  After looking into all the repair methods, I've settled on using JB weld, and some fiberglass cloth.  I plan to rough up the surface, and make the repair on the inside, first using jb weld, then the cloth, and several layers, I'm sure it will be strong as hell, since i have yet found something JB weld doesn't fix!!!!  There are alot of other methods to repair these grills, problem is i don't want to experiment with a new glue/epoxy that I'm not familiar with.  Your cracks look clean and should be really easy to repair.  I'll let you know how mine turns out.  I have no doubt it will be good.   :cheers:

69_500

I have a spare center section, just laying around. I will try to get time in the next few days to take some photos' of the spare grilles I have, and if you are interested in any pieces off of them, or entire ones let me know. I know I said the same thing in another thread, but with holidays and all I don't get much time to get out to the garage and take the pictures, spend too much time doing everything else.

1969chargerrtse

Quote from: 69_500 on December 19, 2007, 05:27:08 PM
I have a spare center section, just laying around. I will try to get time in the next few days to take some photos' of the spare grilles I have, and if you are interested in any pieces off of them, or entire ones let me know. I know I said the same thing in another thread, but with holidays and all I don't get much time to get out to the garage and take the pictures, spend too much time doing everything else.
  Awesome, I :notworthy:'ll PM you.  Thanks.
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.

69_500

Okay anyways I think this is one piece you said you needed. Here are a few shots of the center section I still have.

69_500

Here is a spare right headlight bucket piece.

69_500

And the other side. I tried to post photo's of every crack or flaw that I saw. Some should be easy repairs, others well to me aren't work fixing.

69_500

Some parts that are the flip up part of a grille. A LH and a RH.

69_500

Another RH side. but this one has a small flaw on the bottom. pictured below.

69_500

Trim pieces to go around the headlights. Both are broken, but probably repairable.

69_500

Do you need the vacuum pieces as well? RH and LH sides.

69_500

Or how about just a scrap one that I have laying around, that is half of a center, and the LH bucket.

69_500

Or a complete grille with frame. Not perfect, but I don't see any cracks in the trim pieces. The chrome is shot, but nothing is broken as far as I can see.

69_500

More of the complete grille.

70 Charger RT

From what I see in the pictures I think it is very repairable.  I would look for some plastic that is made from the same material and use it as patches to reinforce the cracked areas.  Two part epoxy works fine for me.  Just got to spend some time on it.
70 Charger R/T - 440/6
07 BMW 328iS
04 GMC SLE 2500 Diesel

1969chargerrtse

Well, if things work out with 69500's part I won't have to worry about all the work, but then I can post my grille and part it out in pieces for people that were in the same jam as I was (broken ribs).
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.

gasoline_24


1969chargerrtse

Quote from: gasoline_24 on January 07, 2008, 09:07:23 PM
I would try to use Plasti-Fix.  This is what I used on mine and it allows you to recreate broken tabs etc.  I was real happy with it.  Here is a link.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=blended&field-keywords=plastifix&results-process=default&dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_blended_14142907_2&results-process=default
Wow, great.  I have several areas to fix and I was wondering what to use?  Thanks. :2thumbs:
This car was sold many years ago to somebody in Wisconsin. I now am retired and living in Florida.

gasoline_24

Eastwood sells one too, but I would stay away from it as the applicator tip is too big and it makes it difficult to work on these small areas.  After you put on the plastifix I used a small file and sand paper to get the rough shape.  Then I painted with SEM primer surfacer.  You can fix the nicks in the fins and elsewhere with a little body filler and then hit with primer again before the SEM trim black.  Call Totally Auto for the silver.