im amazed at how flimsy these things were, when everything else on the trucks are bulletproof. lol. im actally afraid to drive it certain places now, like busy grocery store parking lots or chaotic congested city streets, and i stay way back if a tractor trailer is in front of me

 

Your grill looks very nice. I've been thinking of using a powdered chrome on mine.

 

That looks great!!

 

Where did you have the grill redone? Can they fix dents and scraps or can you just by one completely done?

 

contact gangstakr. he is the grillemaster. it had a few cracks in it that he overlooked, but he ended up making it right, and i went out and had it welded. its just one of cases where once in awhile ***** happens.

i couldnt be happier with the grille. it makes the whole truck look better and these 67 ones are getting to be rare. it was the only year where all the cross bars are symmetrical, so be sure to hit him up

 

Hey qman - I just today finished some mods to my 72 grill. You are right, the stock 72 grill leaves a lot to be desired. You may want to try something like this. Cut some expanded metal to fit behind the inserts and paint it (I used chrome paint) - the crossbar is a piece of light gauge metal fab'd to fit in the cross bar space (similar to a 69 Ranger).

 

P, I like this mod!

 

I do have to say, that grille looks awesome. I also have a 68 and I have been kicking around ideas for the grille. So I just bought a polishing kit. I think i'm going to get started next week, after the snow stops. Unfortuantly here in Cleveland it snows and the truck is put away. My grille looks like crap and so do the bezels, but hte rest of the truck shines!!! PS how do you go about attaching pictures???

 

How did the chrome paint work out for you, Phil? I haven't found one yet that really shines properly; they just look like bright silver. I'm working up new inserts for my '72 (I tend to get carried away with DIY) and I'd like to get a close to chrome finish.

 

Not a good picture but this is where I'm headed with my new inserts.....I like the look of the billet bar style grilles but

A) they are too symmetrical for me (I'm using 4 different diameters of rods in mine),
B) they're pretty pricey and
3) I really prefer to build rather than buy wherever possible

 

well, so far it looks fine to me. It does have the bright silver look, but so does the aluminum grill. Just one of those things where "whatever makes your boat float" applies. I didn't want to continue throwing money into the truck so not gonna bother with chroming - will just re-spray it as it needs it.

 

id like to see it when its done and installed

 

i might pick up some expanded metal, they have like 10-12 kinds. Then i would paint it black and insert it behind the grille.

 

I'll definitely post pics once I get it done. I took my first shot at assembly last night but this is my first time using a wirefeed welder and it looks like it's gonna take some practice. I haven't used a welder of any kind for 30 years and this is a bit different than welding 1/4" plate with a big arc welder.....

 

So, I decided that rather than wait until I figure out how to weld I would go ahead with a middle step and modify the stock inserts. I stole Phil's idea for the insert strip but painted it with the color changing clearcoat so it ranges from dark charcoal to jade green depending on the viewing angle. The rest of the shell is just gloss black. I may try silver when I do the other side but it will be a couple of weeks before I have enough time at home to get after that side.







I played around with using different diameter rods for the diagonals but it looked best with all of them being 3/16"