1971 Challenger grille restoration video needed

[Tirekickertoo]

Hello,
I have a 1971 Challenger grille assembly that has a crack in the lower plastic/argent painted section underneath the drivers side head lights. I’ve been told that this can be repaired fairly easy. Is there a YouTube video or instructions available somewhere that would show me how to fix/restore the damage and to restore the grille.

Thanks in advance,

Tirekickertoo

 

[Adam]

With the grill off the car you can repair it from the back side, and add some reinforcement. This will minimize the cosmetic repairs to the front side. The best, toughest, product I know of is a flexible bumper repair adhesive like this:

Fusor® 152/153 Plastic Repair Adhesive (Medium)

In a thin, compromised area you can even embed a strip of sheet metal into the adhesive, if there is sufficient clearance.

Yes this stuff is about $50, but it is very strong, and semi flexible. It is not brittle like epoxy or fiberglass, which I have tried on similar projects. And a tube goes a long way, I have used the stuff on several different projects and it has never let me down.

My grill had many cracks, splits, and gouges. I sanded the backside of the cracks with 80 grit and applied the adhesive over the area and into the cracks. Leave it kind of thick to add some strength. (it sets up really fast so don’t mix it until you are ready to apply it).

Then on the front side I filled any tiny imperfections with epoxy or bondo. I primed the whole grill with a high fill primer, poly-primer, and wet sanded it with 400 & 600. Then top coated it with Hot Rod black. Since you have an argent grill the front repairs might be easier to hide. Good luck.

My argent inserts had a few broken mounting tabs, so I removed and repaired them separately. They were a much bigger pain, because of the trim and grooves.

 

[Tirekickertoo]

Hi Adam.
Thank you for the reply and the materials/technique shared to repair my grille. I talked to a guy last summer at a show and he mentioned using 3M Venture Tape. It is a high tensile strength aluminum foil that you would normally wrap around duct work and fire place chimney pipe joints. He said to tape it to the back side of the crack to add strength. I did not know about plastic adhesive you mentioned. I'll be buying this next. Pictures of your grille look great. Looks like you spent a lot of time on it. I would prefer to go the same color route as you did. I used the word "Argent" to describe the color of my grille. It has a black non-gloss back ground with tiny sliver specs in it. It has a rough finish and would hide a lot of imperfections. I like the texture but would like the color to be a darker. When the car was new, it probably was. Question, where did you purchase the rivets to attach the inserts to your grille? Mine look original, are painted black but a few are missing. Were you able to find the correct size and painted rivets from a vendor or is it something purchased at a hardware store and hand painted black?

Thanks for your help,

Tirekickertoo

 

[Adam]

I will have to look at how I attached the inserts, but I believe I just used small bolts with nyloc nuts, then painted them with a touch up brush.

Also, I believe the flat surface on the grill, under the inserts, is supposed to be argent to be correct, but I never bothered to correct it.

 

[Cuda Hunter]

I think it's supposed to be dark argent and not light argent.

I had a guy that would repair grills for me. He was a dentist and used dental glue used for crowns. Absolutely the best product I've seen used for repair. lasted on the road without cracking. Sorry, not sure what the name was but it was a product he would purchase from a dental supply place and not the rite aid or walgreens tooth fix glue. Better than that stuff.

 

[moparlee]

I think it's supposed to be dark argent and not light argent.

I had a guy that would repair grills for me. He was a dentist and used dental glue used for crowns. Absolutely the best product I've seen used for repair. lasted on the road without cracking. Sorry, not sure what the name was but it was a product he would purchase from a dental supply place and not the rite aid or walgreens tooth fix glue. Better than that stuff.

In '71 dark argent for R/T's and light argent for others.

 

[Tirekickertoo]

I think it's supposed to be dark argent and not light argent.

I had a guy that would repair grills for me. He was a dentist and used dental glue used for crowns. Absolutely the best product I've seen used for repair. lasted on the road without cracking. Sorry, not sure what the name was but it was a product he would purchase from a dental supply place and not the rite aid or walgreens tooth fix glue. Better than that stuff.

Hi Cuda Hunter, interesting comment about a dentist using dental glue repair one of your grills. I wonder if he used an ultra violet light to cure the glue?

Thanks for the reply,

Tirekickertoo

 

[Tirekickertoo]

In '71 dark argent for R/T's and light argent for others.

Hi Moparlee,
Thanks for the reply. Do you know if any vendors that sell the dark argent?

Thank you,

Tirekickertoo

 

[moparlee]

Hi Moparlee,
Thanks for the reply. Do you know if any vendors that sell the dark argent?

Thank you,

Tirekickertoo

Roseville Moparts and Herbs Mopar Parts sell the argent textured paint. They also have the non-textured light and dark argent.