Grill refurbish

[Powerhouse Ranch]

finally mounted the grill a few days back. here are some pics. argent silver for the light portion, and i settled on eastwood detail grey as the best match for the inset portion.

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what is a good aftermarket grille to buy ('88 gmc) because they don't seem to come with the GMC, what would be the correct lettering to match? want to replace my grille and actually have a GMC.

 

[Curt]

Lmc shows to have your GMC grill.I just glanced at it.They have the lettering to.Normally I don’t recommend LMC,but the grill I got was certified GM restoration part.I was working on it yesterday.

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[Powerhouse Ranch]

Lmc shows to have your GMC grill.I just glanced at it.They have the lettering to.Normally I don’t recommend LMC,but the grill I got was certified GM restoration part.I was working on it yesterday.

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Just checked, seeing different. The one I want (the bottom one) is there but unbuyable. The top one is emblemless and the note at the bottom says "Grille Emblem Cannot Be Fitted to Reproduction Grilles" ????? Anything else?

 

[80BrownK10]

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Just checked, seeing different. The one I want (the bottom one) is there but unbuyable. The top one is emblemless and the note at the bottom says "Grille Emblem Cannot Be Fitted to Reproduction Grilles" ????? Anything else?

When I was looking for a grill for my 1980 was that it didn't exist. They have a generic one that's like 78 to 79 but it didn't have the bowtie. I got a factory 79 from the junkyard to just have a real chevy grill. I fixed the cracks and painted it. The top has a spot busted out but I don't really care. I had to buy the bowtie which was not cheap. Then less than a year later I see the 1980 is now repopped. With the bowtie. It wasn't much more than I have in the gm restoration bowtie, the junk yard grill and a few cans of spray paint....well it cost more but I wouldn't bhave a few hours of dinking around.

 

[just_some_guy]

I "refurbished" mine by buying a new grille, new pair of headlight bezels, new Bowtie emblem and spacers. I would have liked to have done a refurb like the ones in this thread but my grille was actually busted. One of the vertical "teeth" on the top row was knocked out and the very top horizontal row was cracked and loose in two places - one on each side. Probably could have glued the cracked top but the missing part I couldn't find to try and glue back together. Someone with some busted up grille pieces could probably fix mine with some epoxy and spray paint.

Here is what will be getting replaced.

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[Powerhouse Ranch]

When I was looking for a grill for my 1980 was that it didn't exist. They have a generic one that's like 78 to 79 but it didn't have the bowtie. I got a factory 79 from the junkyard to just have a real chevy grill. I fixed the cracks and painted it. The top has a spot busted out but I don't really care. I had to buy the bowtie which was not cheap. Then less than a year later I see the 1980 is now repopped. With the bowtie. It wasn't much more than I have in the gm restoration bowtie, the junk yard grill and a few cans of spray paint....well it cost more but I wouldn't bhave a few hours of dinking around.

80s were rare, but as you said LMC makes them now haha imagine that. always wondered about the quality, as i plan on buying an '88 GMC grille from them soon

 

[just_some_guy]

80s were rare, but as you said LMC makes them now haha imagine that. always wondered about the quality, as i plan on buying an '88 GMC grille from them soon

I can't speak for the GMC version, but the LMC "Premium" (whatever that means) Chevy grille and matching headlight bezels for my '85 look pretty nice as far as I can tell. I also got their emblem spacers to match but their emblem was "backordered". I never mess with anything that is backordered so I found an emblem on eBay from some place called "Trim Parts" in Lebanon, Ohio. Before I ordered the emblem from them I was going to tape over the black and chrome parts on my old emblem and then rattle can the faded gold Chevy Bowtie part with some "Chevy Orange-Red".

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

I can't speak for the GMC version, but the LMC "Premium" (whatever that means) Chevy grille and matching headlight bezels for my '85 look pretty nice as far as I can tell. I also got their emblem spacers to match but their emblem was "backordered". I never mess with anything that is backordered so I found an emblem on eBay from some place called "Trim Parts" in Lebanon, Ohio. Before I ordered the emblem from them I was going to tape over the black and chrome parts on my old emblem and then rattle can the faded gold Chevy Bowtie part with some "Chevy Orange-Red".

hhmmmmm very intersting idea

 

[just_some_guy]

hhmmmmm very intersting idea

I might still do it since I have a new emblem I can use if I screw something up or put it away for a rainy day if the spray paint job actually looks good.

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

I might still do it since I have a new emblem I can use if I screw something up or put it away for a rainy day if the spray paint job actually looks good.

yeah that's what i'd do dude

 

[BigDaddy72]

That is nice work my friend. Very nice quality restoration.

Heres a few GMC grills I restored awhile back....it takes time to really make them pop.

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[Backfoot100]

Reviving this thread because its the only thread I could find that had the most posts about what paint to use.
Just got done doing mine. Used Krylon Fusion Metallic Silver and Satin Black.
I think it turned out pretty good.

 

[Ron Sebastian]

No paint just a chrome strip and centennial badge

 

[TPISly-C10]

Duplicolor rally's métalic paint

 

[Grit dog]

Not that anyone just has this laying around, but Chrysler Light Driftwood Metallic is a great option for Argent, IMO. I painted a whole truck that color 20 years ago and have been using the leftover paint for, about 20 years for stuff like this.
Sprayed these, last year. It's just basecoat so not durable and clear would be shiny unless you did matte clearcoat. It does have some gold flake in it, but...

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