Removing black accent paint from 68 grille

[OldDanTrucker]

Has anyone every tried removing the black accent paint on the vertical grille bar supports on a 68 aluminum grille?

Is there any way to do that cleanly, without totally trashing the finish?

[kaptnkaos]

You might try "CleanStrip"...

It's a chemical stripper that works really well...
I got it a Wal*Mart for about $5 per can.
I dont know for sure if it will strip it to the aluminum...
I tried to strip the black off of a set of headlight doors...
The black part came off pretty good, but the red (brown) self etching primer they use under it didn't come off at all.

KaptnKA S

[fordman]

the only two ways i can think of right now are sanding or stripper. i dubt if a heat gun would do anything and you wouldn't want to try lye on it that could get on the rest of the grill and strip the anodzation off also. maybe carb cleaner would act like stripper. are you just wanting to repaint it or just strip it forever?

[OldDanTrucker]

no, i'm not going to paint it. i'm trying to strip it forever.

i found a 68 grille that is in good shape, but i want a 69 grille. so i basically want to make the 68 look like a 69.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey OldDanTrucker...

I might have a solution for you...
I have a decent '69 grille (no headlight doors) but want a '68 grille ...
I'm not that far from you maybe we could do a swap???

KaptnKA S

[OldDanTrucker]

That would be cool, except I don't actually have the '68. So far I've only FOUND it, I haven't got to the buying part yet. I was hoping to figure out if I could strip that paint off before I bid on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0045967837

It looks like a decent one, and since it's in seattle I wouldn't have to pay shipping, so I'd have a little more to spend on the grill so I thought I might have a shot at finally winning one of these auctions.

But so far it kind of sounds like I should probably hold out for a 69.

[kaptnkaos]

Ahh... I see

I bought a '69 grille to replace the one I messed up on my '68...
I have plans of stripping and polishing it, I just haven't gotten that far yet.
I painted the aluminum '68 grille I messed up white..
You can see the pics by clicking on the blue link below...

Just a hint...
Don't ever try to clean anodized aluminum with automatic dish washing detergent...
it bonds with the aluminum and creates a white shell, that simply doesn't come off with anything...
I used the coarsest steel wool pot scrubber and 100 grit sand paper to get it smooth enough to paint...
That's why I bought the '69 grille...
I'll try to take a couple pics of the '69 grille...
I might know where there's a decent '68 grille for less than the one that's on ebay...
I won't be able to check on it until Sat, I'll check it out and let ya know.

KaptnKA S

[convincor]

here's another 69 (not mine) but if someones look'n
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... %26otn%3D4

[fordman]

i have a 69 grill i want to sell soon.

[OldDanTrucker]

KaptnKA S, I think that painted grill looks great on that truck. The 68 I was watching on eBay WAS only $50. Without shipping I was hoping that was gonna be a sweet deal. Of course I knew the price would go way up like they always do, but still, every time I think maybe this time no one else will bid. LOL.

Fordman, Keep me posted on the 69 you're going to sell.

[fordman]

i get some pics of it.