Hi, i've a 46' buick eight grille in my 48' chevy business coupe (don't ask why ) and i want to cover/hide the letters from it. What is the best way to do this? Filling with body filler (e. g. Bondo) and re-chrome?
You can't chrome over bondo. You could fill and paint though. Is it pot metal or stamped steel? If steel you could fill with brass or lead and re chrome.
A good quality chrome shop would be the place to seek help. A method I ‘think’ could possibly work......the grille would first be stripped of chrome. Then copper plated. The letters filled with silver solder as it is compatible with the copper. The filled areas would be filed/sanded to an even surface, then copper plated again to cover the silver solder. The copper gets prepped for chroming and, voila’.........you have a non-denomination grille! Your chrome shop may have a better idea..... Ray
It could be stainless steel. A good fabricator could cut out the letters and replace with donor metal from another grill. Sand, polish and buff it back to shiney.
A donor Grille is hard to get here in europe, and i would guess that the copper and silver plating approach could be less expensive compared to buy a donor grille. Not so cheap as duct tape for sure
I believe any filling method will leave trace marks that will always show. Better bet is to cover the bar or cut it out & replace it. We aren't seeing the whole car - how would it look to mold the top bar into the body or hood & paint it body color?
Regarding the 'ghost letters'...I thought about that and it is a possibility, but not necessarily a foregone conclusion. Depends on the person doing the work. Also, you mention covering the bar. I also thought about after I had posted, but did not edit the post...been busy this morning. However, using a copper or brass sheet stock, one might form a nice shape that 'caps' the letters and if silver soldered around it's perimeter, the solder would make a nice fillet. Two pieces total....one per side. Installing a Buick engine, as suggested by @lothiandon1940 above is a really good idea! Ray
Just leave it alone. Only old guys would notice it isn't a Buick. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Leave it and keep 'em confused! I had a "Fridgidare" badge on an old beater, I lost count of the number of people who said "I didn't know they made CARS as well!".
Copper plate, then solder ( any solder will do, even "body lead") then copper again and chrome. Not necessary to use expensive silver solder.
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