70 Cuda grille questions-

[Mitch]

My stock grill seems to have been altered from pictures I see of new grills-and the issue is the long center rectangular grill areas both left and right which have the cross hatch sections-both sides of these are missing in this area-and this grill has been repaired before but where these cross hatch pieces would attach it seems the plastic is totally factory smooth-so if someone in the know can tell me is this area a separate grill piece or have these been cut out in such a way to make the plastic look originally smooth? Close up pictures if available will be helpful- thanks

 

[Mitch]

 

[moparleo]

Yes. Someone has removed the entire center sections on both sides

 

[Mitch]

Is this even worth fixing? Also I see you do hinges- I bought new 70 cuda hinge pins and bushings is this all that is needed to rebuild a cuda door hinge? I have done some older Chevy trucks with same process but I just do not see any info or details for doing a Cuda door hing but they sell the parts-

 

[moparleo]

You would need a donor grille for parts. Not easy to find. There is no info because there really is no factory rebuild kit. Just parts in a bag. Mopar door hinges were redesigned in the late 70's early 80's to accept a lower bushing. They only used a pin before that. If you drill out the lower hinge to fit the bushing into, you ruin the hinge by drilling it too big for a pin. The proper way to tighten the lower hinge is by drilling and reaming the lower hinge pin hole to the next over size. I use custom made oversized pins for the bottoms. I also replace the door check pins and springs (for the rollers) Look back at my add in Aug 2016 for more details.

 

[Mitch]

Not sure then what I bought on eBay-said 70-74 Cuda hinge pin kit-came with 4 pins and 8 bronze bushings-no instructions-

 

[Mitch]

[Back to the grille-I did see a broken in half grill with the centers on ebay that was fairly cheap-but-somehow gluing all those slates might be a PITA-what type glue for repairs and or fillers that are easy to apply and use would you recommend? I think it would be easier to buy a new grill-

 

[rklein71]

Don't use "glue". The best repair for ABS plastic pieces like your grill is to chemically weld the pieces together using a solvent, I used acetone. The best way to do this is to melt pieces of grey abs plastic in a bath of acetone to make a what I call glue goo. I bought a small piece of abs plastic off of Ebay but if you have some old grill pieces, you use that as well. Chemically welding is very strong and virtually undetectable when done right. You can use body filler to make the repair ready for primer.