VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 grill

my 41 sd coupe grill is in the platers shop ,waiting patiently (not) .i was wondering if anyone has advice on painting the lines red? what paint is best, what brush ,color ,any experienced advice. the center piece really looks to be challenging . if all else works i might attempt the sd side trim and bumper guards as well .still traces of original after 80 yrs. so id like 20 yrs+. then ill be dead ,so i wont be concerned . also need a source for lower stainless molding hard ware . chev of 40s say they have none . thnx in advance for the great advice and continued experience!!

so no one on the site has any experience with restoring the paint on the grill and other trim ? or attaching the lower side molding ?

Pinstripers use One Shot paint. No paint will stick to chrome unless you etch the surface to be painted first to give the paint some "tooth" to grab on to. The body shop that did the restoration on my 38 masked the grill, etched the grooves then shot the red. Ten years later and it's still going strong. The pinstriper put the color in my grill emblem and most of it's gone now because he didn't etch the chrome.

thnx ,kind of what i was thinking . some of the original red is still hanging on after 80 yrs wonder what was their trick ?

I had a sign shop put red tape (may be called something different) in my grill and side chrome. Looks good . Had it installed in 1999. Also Chevofthe40's has the blue and red paint for the trim and the hub caps. I painted my hub caps. The tape is the way to go. JIM

I use Fire Red, One Shot with low temp reducer. I’ve never etched chrome and I’ve never had any paint fail. The thing you need to do is clean the grooves where your painting with the low temp reducer and a lint free towel. Clean them real good, and then once more to be certain. You’ll remove all of the polish from the plater, and any other contaminant that might be there. I use a 00 German brush.