Almost completed. Almost

[69grandecj 0]

The restoration is almost completed. The power steering pump has to be rebuilt again but should be done by Saturday. Couple of trim pieces, adjustment of the exhaust and it is ready to go. That said a couple of things will need to be redone but nothing that will keep me from going to the MCA National show in Vegas.

 

Notice the chrome grille. Not sure if it is correct or not but I'm going to use it. I've heard that some Grandes use it but nothing has ever been confirmed.

 

Also has front bumper guards. Not sure if I like them or not. Anyone else have bumper guards on their car? They are somewhat rare.

 

Also how do you like my bling/hubcaps? Totally sleeper with these things. Probably more sleeper than a set of dog dish hub caps since a lot of musclecars used the dog dish caps.

 

 

 

 

[bswor 73]

Wow thats a very clean looking resto, congrats!

[bnickel 10,004]

awesome...truly awesome. the wire caps definitely complete the sleeper look. i've seen the chrome grille on boss 9's even. i missed out an ebay auction a couple weeks ago for one. my idea was to use the chrome grille and polish the hood scoop grille and blackout the insets to match the chrome grille but we went to dinner that night and i forgot to bid on it before we left.

 

one thing i noticed on your car is the green kick panels, those definitely have to be changed to black to match the rest of the interior. otherwise i think the car looks kick ass. will be a definite winner in the ol' stoplight grand prix.:sleep1:

[69grandecj 0]

awesome...truly awesome. the wire caps definitely complete the sleeper look. i've seen the chrome grille on boss 9's even. i missed out an ebay auction a couple weeks ago for one. my idea was to use the chrome grille and polish the hood scoop grille and blackout the insets to match the chrome grille but we went to dinner that night and i forgot to bid on it before we left.

 

one thing i noticed on your car is the green kick panels, those definitely have to be changed to black to match the rest of the interior. otherwise i think the car looks kick ass. will be a definite winner in the ol' stoplight grand prix.:sleep1:

 

I notice the color of the kick panels. :blush: May be the lighting or the underdash light being on. I'll check on that. Thanks

[bnickel 10,004]

I notice the color of the kick panels. :blush: May be the lighting or the underdash light being on. I'll check on that. Thanks

 

those are definitely from an ivy gold interior, i couldn't miss that color if you paid me. :wacko: notice the difference between the kick panels and the vent handle? the vent handles were all black no matter what color the interior was. there is a definite color difference between the vent handles and the kick panels. my car was like that too, my kick panels are now black to match the rest of my black interior. sorry to add more work to your list of stuff.

[69grandecj 0]

those are definitely from an ivy gold interior, i couldn't miss that color if you paid me. :wacko: notice the difference between the kick panels and the vent handle? the vent handles were all black no matter what color the interior was. there is a definite color difference between the vent handles and the kick panels. my car was like that too, my kick panels are now black to match the rest of my black interior. sorry to add more work to your list of stuff.

 

If need be I'll just "borrow" the kick panels off my SportsRoof until I find a nicer set. I've already taken the washer bottle and fuel filler neck off of it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[351carlo 10]

Car looks REAL good. Congratulations on putting that much effort into it, because it really is paying off for you now. Looks excellent.

 

As far as the interior, don't worry I was in the exact same situation. Headliner and dash were already changed, I had to change the seats, carpet, and inside panels to black. It was a pain!

[Pakrat 1,043]

Real nice job, looks great!!! I was going to mention the kick panels too, that and the armrest on the console looks like it could use a shot of spray dye to be perfect and that's being real picky because again, it looks great in every detail you have chosen!

 

I like the fact that it is not often you still see someone with an original chrome grill as I do not believe you can get this repro but personally I find it to be a little too much. I always thought a perfect touch would be if just the horizontal bars were chrome. That's something I am trying to fake in my resto just to give it that little extra special touch just not sure yet on the method to use that will look best.

 

BTW, since you have a perfect shot of it let me ask a question to the group, has anyone ever wondered why the wide flat trim around the grill is painted argent? I have been refinishing mine recently and the material underneath seems to be made out of nice stainless steal so I have to wonder why the factory ever decided to paint it in the first place?

[bnickel 10,004]

sorry again to add to your list of stuff to fix but glad i was able to point it for you rather than a show judge.

 

Pak, the center grille trim is actually anodized aluminum not stainless which is probably why they decided to paint the outer portion argent. presonally i've been considering painting black to match the rest of the blackout treatment, that's why i thought the chrome grille with the hood scoop grille polished with the insets painted black would look so good. i may try to find out if Eric still has his extra one since i missed that last one on ebay when he gets back from sub duty.

[69grandecj 0]

Real nice job, looks great!!! I was going to mention the kick panels too, that and the armrest on the console looks like it could use a shot of spray dye to be perfect and that's being real picky because again, it looks great in every detail you have chosen!

 

BTW, since you have a perfect shot of it let me ask a question to the group, has anyone ever wondered why the wide flat trim around the grill is painted argent? I have been refinishing mine recently and the material underneath seems to be made out of nice stainless steal so I have to wonder why the factory ever decided to paint it in the first place?

 

I decided to go with the original console lid since it is not too bad and the reproductions don't look right. Not sure I would want to dye it. Might make a bigger mess.

 

I think Ford decided to paint the trim argent because if they didn't there would be too much of a shine. The sun hitting that area would cause a big reflection.

[Spoofty 10]

sorry again to add to your list of stuff to fix but glad i was able to point it for you rather than a show judge.

 

Pak, the center grille trim is actually anodized aluminum not stainless which is probably why they decided to paint the outer portion argent. presonally i've been considering painting black to match the rest of the blackout treatment, that's why i thought the chrome grille with the hood scoop grille polished with the insets painted black would look so good. i may try to find out if Eric still has his extra one since i missed that last one on ebay when he gets back from sub duty.

 

I painted mine black. That was one of the first things I did. To me i t just didn't look right in argent.:hammer:

[Pakrat 1,043]

Pak, the center grille trim is actually anodized aluminum not stainless which is probably why they decided to paint the outer portion argent.

 

Ok so I miss ID'd the base material but explain to me why because it's actually anodized aluminum is why they painted it? I don't see the logic in that. If it was for the reason 69grandecj said then I still have to wonder, why waste good looking aluminum then if you are just going to paint it anyway?

 

BTW, I know what you mean Spoofty, I had considered that myself originally but opted instead to paint my innner black headlight trim argent as well to tie it in since I felt that there was then too much black in the grill. If I do like the way my faux billet looking grill comes out though then I will probably have to paint them originla black again for just the opposite reason.

 

By the way 69grandecj I can tell you first hand that when prepped correctly vinyl dye actually works very well. Almost all of my hard and soft trim while still in very good shape had alot fading to it in random spots. Likely due to years of the top being down in the sun I'm sure, so rather than replace it all I decided to refinish it and every single piece came out fantastic. It did take some trial and error though for me to get the color exactly right. I could only find black dyes in either gloss or flat and neither was just right when using my new dash and radio bezel as a go by but I found that using the gloss for the main coat and then a final light mist finish coat in the flat gave me a perfect match, FWIW.

[bnickel 10,004]

Ok so I miss ID'd the base material but explain to me why because it's actually anodized aluminum is why they painted it? I don't see the logic in that. If it was for the reason 69grandecj said then I still have to wonder, why waste good looking aluminum then if you are just going to paint it anyway?

 

BTW, I know what you mean Spoofty, I had considered that myself originally but opted instead to paint my innner black headlight trim argent as well to tie it in since I felt that there was then too much black in the grill. If I do like the way my faux billet looking grill comes out though then I will probably have to paint them originla black again for just the opposite reason.

 

By the way 69grandecj I can tell you first hand that when prepped correctly vinyl dye actually works very well. Almost all of my hard and soft trim while still in very good shape had alot fading to it in random spots. Likely due to years of the top being down in the sun I'm sure, so rather than replace it all I decided to refinish it and every single piece came out fantastic. It did take some trial and error though for me to get the color exactly right. I could only find black dyes in either gloss or flat and neither was just right when using my new dash and radio bezel as a go by but I found that using the gloss for the main coat and then a final light mist finish coat in the flat gave me a perfect match, FWIW.

 

 

Pak, big pieces of anodized aluminum tend to get hazy over time from the sun. i think the look they were going for was just to have the rear raised part of that trim piece to look polished and with the outer trim pieces to match you have a shelf of sorts that is painted argent.

 

Grande, there are satin vinyl dyes that would perfect for the console lid. SEM and mar-hyde both make a satin finish black as does VHT i think, not that Pak's method wouldn't work as well but that add's an extra step that is unneccessary if you can find the right dye to begin with.