Anyone have a spare grill laying around for a '72 Skylark?.. it's the plastic grill. i can supply a picture if needed. all i really need is a bit of that honeycomb area on the sides. I have a couple smallish pieces missing and was wondering if anyone had this part that they could send (i'll pay shipping and if needed a small fee for your time and the cost of the parts). I'm looking at fixing the grill up this summer or winter but i'm missing those couple of pieces. also looking for paint colors and or tips and tricks on making it look original. the owner i got mine from painted it flat black which looks horrid. looks like a big black area in the front of my car that just doesn't fit.
I have a parts grill I could cut some pieces from. Send me a picture of what your looking for. The two colors you are looking for are Argent Silver and Semi-gloss Black. Send picture(s) to: sunbuick@aol.com
Howdy. I just finished restoring my '72 GS grille, which does have a different paint scheme than the Skylark. I took extensive pictures of the original and duplicated it as closely as humanly possible. If you have any questions, let me know. Hope this pic helps! John
Sorry guys, thanks for the info, I will take pictures soon and send to that email. I have been busy trying to get my brakes actually.. err working. :3gears:
curious if anyone knows a good way to clean these grills up? The previous owner seems to have sprayed flat black paint on it... how would you fill any imperfections and dings and such?
I've heard oven cleaner works good, but I would find a test piece first. Cracks etc can be glued with plumbers pvc cement. Good old body filler works well on small dings etc. For cleaning I did it the hard way, fine scothbrite and lots of elbow grease. later Tim
or get a small supply of methlyethylketone glue. i have head u can buy is at home depot in the u.s. i used a lot of elbow grease and "000" & "0000" steel wool cleaning my 72 gs grill.
ok pictures coming soon of the pieces i need.. only looks like a couple from the driver's side cluster of mesh otherwise in good shape with a few major cracks that need to be attended to. I need someone to post some high-quality pictures on here or email them to me of a '72 Skylark grill. i would LIKE to have this thing as close to stock as i can get it. or do you think i should just do the GS style? i'll post a picture of it soonish as soon as my camera battery recharges.. So here's my list of things to get... Semi-gloss Black Paint Argent Silver Paint not sure what kind of glue/epoxy i may need for the cracks would you guys recommend using the glue/epoxy for filling in minor dimples and stuff or should i get body filler? Probably need some very fine sandpaper to take care of extra epoxy and stuff where i am gluing. but i'm still unsure of the best way to remove the old paint... it's been repainted totally black over top of the old paint.. so i have the old and the newerish. any recommendations here? and am i missing anything i may need?
Just remember to use ABS cement to repair the cracks; not PVC glue or pure MEK. You can get it at just about any hardware store or plumbing supply house. Of course, be careful, as the fumes will knock you for a loop, and are highly flammable! Use Squadron Putty according to directions to fill in the cracks once the cement has set up. John
I had no problems with pvc cement, and I used body filler to smooth it all out (hey why not, its already plastic!). Whats the issue with pvc, John? maybe 71's are different? Also, staying from MEK is a good idea if only from your health standpoint (Methyl Ethyl Death) No problems on my 71 repaired this way over 10 years ago... later Tim
Well, the issue is that the 72 grille is made of ABS plastic. There's a Buick technical service bulletin that details using "smoke test" for determining what kind of plastic a part is made of, then recommends that type of cement to make repairs. I'm not saying the PVC won't work; but the ABS cement is the way to go. As far as fillers, I'm sure bondo works fine. I found the Squadron Putty to be real easy to work with, dries very quickly, and stores great in the tube. But if you do a lot of body work and work with 2-component plastic filler a lot, go for it! Also, one of the main ingredients of the ABS cement is MEK, so again, be careful! HTH.... John
ok great tips. i'm adding ABS cement and Squadron Putty to the list. now all i need are good tips for removing the old paint and i am golden and just need to sit down and do it. Thanks again guys. any other useful tips for removing the old paint?
You get anywhere near my 71 GS grille with a match and there is gonna be trouble, John!! :laugh: I'll buy that.....kinda funny doing the burn test, just have to find an extra grille to burn but then hey you don't really know its the same stuff as its a different grille!! :laugh: I think I even have that bulletin around here somehwere... Good info! later Tim
