My Work in Progress

[81hoopty]

Here's some pics and a video of my 1981 Cutlass. It's a work in progress. a couple of pieces for the body and she's ready to paint. i was thinking of having the grille's chrome dipped, since they're in good physical shape, do dents or dings. and good new ones are impossible to find!!! a new bumper cover, a little more bondo, new quarter panel extensions, and some chrome trim for the rear window and we're cooking! also you can see on the passenger side of the motor, where the doof before me took the ac stuff out, and left a big hole where the ac was. i've been waiting for 3 weeks for the ac delete panel from american graffiti to get here so i can fix that up. by the time it gets here, i wont need heat anymore till next year! also you can see where i tried to plug it up with cardboard and duct tape and it caught on fire, melted the bottom of the opening, and melted part of the wheel well. son of a b*tch! anyway, check her out :

Engine

Engine - Drivers Side

Engine - Passenger Side

Interior/Dash

Front

Rear - Passenger side

Rear - Driver Side

Driver Side

Engine start video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMdieVZHxGI

 

[custom442]

good work so far get pics with paint!! :shock: be careful with things close to the exhaust and heater hoses

where do you plan on having the grilles dipped? they're plastic - very expensive to electroplate. You could buy some fake chrome spray, or just paint them if they're that bad

 

[81hoopty]

good work so far get pics with paint!! :shock: be careful with things close to the exhaust and heater hoses

where do you plan on having the grilles dipped? they're plastic - very expensive to electroplate. You could buy some fake chrome spray, or just paint them if they're that bad

are they plastic? they felt pretty metal when i slipped in snow and busted my knuckle on one. how expensive you think they could be? i found a pair of new ones, that were un-used that the guy wanted $499.00. Surely it cant cost that much to have em dipped. basically, ever since i saw this pic in the "g body's and babes" thread, i fell in love with it. it's exactly what i want to do with my car. so i dont really want to paint them any color. and the fake chrome spray wouldnt look right...would it?

 

[81hoopty]

....exactly like this, but with Weld Draglites. that would be SIIIIICCCCKKKKKKK

 

[custom442]

you can have them vacuum plated. It's the 'chrome' trim you see on all the plastic parts nowadays on new cars. They hold up well when polished with soft cloth but it isn't chrome... you can't pull it out of the dirt 10 years from now and expect to buff the crap out of it and get a shine. If kept well they do look nice. But even that isn't cheap.

The chrome paint will look decent enough. If you're not sure buy a broken one for a few bucks, sand it down and primer/chrome paint it to see if it's what you want, if its not you're only out a few dollars

 

[custom442]

....exactly like this, but with Weld Draglites. that would be SIIIIICCCCKKKKKKK

I like the low profile cowl on that car. do you want a soft top?

 

[81hoopty]

you mean the vinyl? no i dont want the vinyl top. actually, the previous owner removed it, and i'm having a helluva time trying to find the chrome trim to make it look right. and as far as the chrome paint goes, is there anyone on here thats done it before that can post pictures? i want it to look right. you know what i mean?

 

[81hoopty]

oh yeah, and i'm a retard. i went out to have a smoke, and when tapping on the grilles, and they're plastic. should've figured. i kinda though it was old enough to have metal grilles... oh well. how expensive do you really think it could be though? 50 to 100 bucks per grill seems reasonable to me.

 

[custom442]

you mean the vinyl? no i dont want the vinyl top. actually, the previous owner removed it, and i'm having a helluva time trying to find the chrome trim to make it look right. and as far as the chrome paint goes, is there anyone on here thats done it before that can post pictures? i want it to look right. you know what i mean?

It looked like yours used to be a vinyl top, and the pic you showed has one so I was curious. Do some searches, theres a ton on chrome trim and taking off the soft top.

 

[custom442]

oh yeah, and i'm a retard. i went out to have a smoke, and when tapping on the grilles, and they're plastic. should've figured. i kinda though it was old enough to have metal grilles... oh well. how expensive do you really think it could be though? 50 to 100 bucks per grill seems reasonable to me.

50$ I doubt it, 100$? I don't know I really don't. It's called vacuum metal plating is what you're looking for maybe you can find some places who do it.

But like I said if you can get to a junkyard find a broken one and make sure you let the guy know its broken. sand it down and paint it see if you like it. Don't ruin your stock grilles, screw up another one first... ask me how I know