47-55.1 Grill paint or chrome?

[PDW HOTRODS]

How many are using painted grill compared to chrome? I am painting my truck dark blue metallic and I have a nice paint grade grill. I am thinking if I paint it body color there would be too much dark blue. Maybe paint the bars silver, or just get a new chrome grill. The truck is not going stock, but nothing real wild.

[JoeDude]

I've seen many pictures of grill painted same as body and then inner grill gray. Looks really good. I will be doing mine like that, which is how the truck came.

[mongocanfly]

Even though I'm not a shiny chrome guy, I like the chrome better....my opinion is you can have to much of one color..my truck is painted dark green and the grill is black...
I have a chrome grill for mine now...and
I REALLY like what Marc (youngrodder) did to his chrome...I will be doing that to mine as well when the time comes

[mick53]

I have a restored original chrome grill.

[PDW HOTRODS]

I'm thinking chrome, but most I see have chrome, and paint would be a little deferent.

[mick53]

The nice thing about having an original grill chromed is you can get it as heavy as you want. Some of the repop's I've seen have what I call "flash " chrome. Mine ended up about $100 more to have an original repaired with show chrome than an aftermarket. You can really tell the difference. The chrome looks like it could drip off at any moment.

[mr48chev]

If you have 5 really nice bars I'd go for having them rechromed before I bought a repro. It isn't going to cost less than a reproduction unless you have a buddy or relative that owns a chrome shop But the quality of the chrome is indeed better.

That said, it is something that you could do a year or two after the truck was together and change the look for a fresh look if that 5 or 600 bucks hit the budget too hard. Or just keep it painted because the look grew on you. I need to come up with bars to replace those that got bent on mine and have the grill bars and my bumpers replated after I do some rework and fitting on the bumpers. (Not Chevy truck but not gaudy) I'm going to have to sell off some extra stuff to swing that or get real busy welding up some trinkets to sell.

[MiraclePieCo]

Chrome will look good against the blue.

[greg_h]

The repro 54 grilles are over chromed. The bottom bar that houses park lights was originally painted. Top (frown bar) chromed, center horizontal bar chromed, and vertical bar chromed only originally.

[jweb]

What are you using for bumpers?

Maybe you could have your grille bars and bumpers powder coated. I have seen a few with "Chrome" powder coating, which has a satin look to it. That might look good with the dark blue paint.

https://thepowdercoatstore.com/produ...me-powder-coat

[bosco]

Depending on the look you are going for in the end. I have seen both that look fantastic. I ended up going chrome, as I went with chrome wheels and bumpers. It's a Repop, but looks really good.

[DPete]

Originally Posted by bosco

Depending on the look you are going for in the end. I have seen both that look fantastic. I ended up going chrome, as I went with chrome wheels and bumpers. It's a Repop, but looks really good.

Very nice !

[1project2many]

I don't know what year truck you're painting so I'm going with your avatar. Chrome was a distinguishing feature when these trucks were built as everything in the war years was painted. Even up to about 20 years ago chrome was considered "rare" but it's much easier to get now so it's important to think about the complete look. The grille and bumper of the AD truck is a huge part of the visual for the truck. Don't underestimate how these pieces affect the appearance of the entire truck.









Highlighting the grille seems to reinforce the box shape of the grille and the grille opening. For me this will bring to the front any misalignment of the hood, fenders, or bumper. And we know how difficult it is to make the body panels on these old trucks play nicely together.

A well thought out monotone or two-tone exterior paint job scheme will downplay the grille and bumper and will allow the lines of the truck to speak for themselves.