Is it possible to repair a grill on a 1974 Buick Apollo if one of the horizontal plastic fins (not exactly sure what to call them) is broken busted off in a chunk about 3'' across. I also have the grill insets in the bumper a little busted up. Can a body man repair it? Can a grill from a different car (eg Nova, Skylark, etc) be used to repair it? Patrick
As long as you have a little patience, you should be able to repair it yourself. Need a donor grille if you don't have the missing parts. The old pieces should fit right in. Using the donor-trim the edges of your grille so they're consistent on the face of the break. Make a replacement piece by slowly trimming & repeatedly checking for fit. This is where the patience comes into play. Don't rush it. Once you're happy with the fit, use a two part plastic epoxy, clamp or tape in place & let cure. Work one piece at a time. This can be time consuming but an easy job. A Dremel is a good tool to have for this job. Once repaired it's a very easy job to repaint it while it's out of the car.
If you can't find a donor you can use sheet styrene from your local hobby shop. (You will need a pretty good hobby shop to find a propper assortment) I have repaired a 68 grill, which is similar, fin-wise. Requires even more patience than the donor grill plan, but it's an option...
I'll probably be fixing it sometime in the near future. Its not really noticeable when driving so I might leave it til I do some body work on it. Thanks :TU:, Patrick
You ever see a '71 Skylark around, take a look at the grille. If the pieces look close, let me know. I bought a few grille pieces to repair a '71 Custom grille. Pieces I really needed were the mounting studs.
