Does anyone repair plastic grills anymore? And do you want more?

[Mr Cuda]

Back in the land before time, when there were no reproduction parts,  i used to buy up all the broken grills and fix them.
Does anyone else bother,  if more than something small.  I would use 3-4 sections sometimes.
Maybe you want to relive your youth,  of building plastic models, and build grills?  No glue sniffing allowed!
This could be a thread for that.
Since this is the summer of 71 for me, I got all my broken 71 grills back into solid hunks again. Just have small tab work and  cracks to finish off. 
I have a couple of 2 to make one 70 grills available for those that either need parts or want to fix.
A couple of 71, 72 chunks also.

[Moparmade]

I think someone that plastic welds and wants to play with one could fix one
Up and if the price is right

[cudabin]

Does the 72' grill have a complete passenger side up to the headlight bucket?

[Mr Cuda]

@cudabin
Up to, but not all of the headlight bezel mounts.
I had to rob a part to fix this 72 grill.

[cudabin]

Thanks for the pics but the section I am missing is the mounting points on the passenger side. Do you have any front valance insert pieces for a 72-74?

[Mr Cuda]

I have this small piece,  but i have to get the dimensions to repair my tab.
Creative plastic work can fill in the gaps.  Mine was broken through there, 

[cuda hunter]

Are any of those 70's black plastic?

[RacerX]

I've always heard that Mike Ross at beaparts.com was the "go to" guy for grille repairs...

I recently reached out to him about working on my '71 'cuda grille and he said yes he can
fix it but with the cost and quality of the current reproduction grille it doesn't make financial
sense.   He said sell the original or make it wall art and buy the new one. 

I liked the idea of using my original grille because it "isn't too bad" but his other argument
against repairing the original (other than financial) was that the plastic is now over 50 years
old and brittle making it more fragile than when it was new.   Fix it now, it may still crack again later.

But anyway, having said all of that I think he still buys grilles and grille parts for those that
do want to push through with a repair.

[Cuda_mark]

A guy I now here in CT repairs grilles...I was always amazed at how he could take 3 smashed grilles and make 1 perfect one. This was before good reproductions were available.

I've always wondered what made them crack other than being made from plastic. My car had never had any other front end repair work but there was a small crack on the very point of it. I wonder if they just eventually cracked from road wear or if someone had to whack it with something. And, of course there are always the broken ears on the 70 cuda headlight trim.

[fuscobros]

@Mr Cuda.....do you have any useable pieces of a 71 Cuda driver's side grill?  My original is in good shape except for a portion around the headlight bezel.  Would prefer to do a repair than buy a repro.

Thanks Mark.

[Mr Cuda]

I've always heard that Mike Ross at beaparts.com was the "go to" guy for grille repairs...

I recently reached out to him about working on my '71 'cuda grille and he said yes he can
fix it but with the cost and quality of the current reproduction grille it doesn't make financial
sense.   He said sell the original or make it wall art and buy the new one. 

I liked the idea of using my original grille because it "isn't too bad" but his other argument
against repairing the original (other than financial) was that the plastic is now over 50 years
old and brittle making it more fragile than when it was new.   Fix it now, it may still crack again later.

Call me silly,  but I was trying to encourage people to repair their grill with a grill repair  thread.
  I agree,  for Mike Ross to repair at shop rate, with the potential for complaints,  it's not worth it with new available.
However,  the repair by someone at home, as a hobbyist, is completely worth it and doable. What kind of money are we talking for repair?
To your comment and @cudamark about cracking.  I have several that i repaired 30 years ago in cars with no new cracks.  It doesn't take much misalignment to put stress on plastic, and vibration takes its toll. And who knows what kind of smack it got from road debris.
@fuscobros  no I have no more corner pieces for 71.  That is a simple repair,  although you probably have more stress cracks spread down the front. Hopefully part of your tab is still attached underneath.  I have used sections of junk 4dr satellite grills to fill in curves.  Once shaped, sometimes a little filler to contour is needed.
Finding allthe cracks is key to repairing.

[RacerX]

I've always heard that Mike Ross at beaparts.com was the "go to" guy for grille repairs...

I recently reached out to him about working on my '71 'cuda grille and he said yes he can
fix it but with the cost and quality of the current reproduction grille it doesn't make financial
sense.   He said sell the original or make it wall art and buy the new one. 

I liked the idea of using my original grille because it "isn't too bad" but his other argument
against repairing the original (other than financial) was that the plastic is now over 50 years
old and brittle making it more fragile than when it was new.   Fix it now, it may still crack again later.

Call me silly,  but I was trying to encourage people to repair their grill with a grill repair  thread.
  I agree,  for Mike Ross to repair at shop rate, with the potential for complaints,  it's not worth it with new available.

Not sure why my post rated a snarky reply...    I thought it might be nice to see a data point from
someone that was doing it for money.   Actually still is.   For him, it is "not worth it" enough to be
turning down business but he will still do it if you insist.

If anything my post encourages people to do it themselves even more as the "pro" repair guys
become more difficult to engage.

I won't be sending my grille out for repair, but I am still undecided if I will try to fix it myself or
buy the repop.

[Mr Cuda]

I did say I agree,  and I used your comment to lay out the argument for replace  vs repair. Nothing snarky.
As I was making a post, the other 2 comments came in so I  included in my reply.
  I think several times i mentioned something about a grill repair thread, so am willing to share what I have done that worked,  and what  failed.  I tend to repair vs replace on all aspects of my car builds.
And then there's the paint phase.
Out here, we are 2000 miles away ( minimum) from the "experts" and big time restorers, so we don't run into any of the people, finished products, or know what services are available or what costs are, except online.  So my question still is, what kind of cost does grill repair carry?

[fuscobros]

I've always heard that Mike Ross at beaparts.com was the "go to" guy for grille repairs...

I recently reached out to him about working on my '71 'cuda grille and he said yes he can
fix it but with the cost and quality of the current reproduction grille it doesn't make financial
sense.   He said sell the original or make it wall art and buy the new one. 

I liked the idea of using my original grille because it "isn't too bad" but his other argument
against repairing the original (other than financial) was that the plastic is now over 50 years
old and brittle making it more fragile than when it was new.   Fix it now, it may still crack again later.

Call me silly,  but I was trying to encourage people to repair their grill with a grill repair  thread.
  I agree,  for Mike Ross to repair at shop rate, with the potential for complaints,  it's not worth it with new available.
However,  the repair by someone at home, as a hobbyist, is completely worth it and doable. What kind of money are we talking for repair?
To your comment and @cudamark about cracking.  I have several that i repaired 30 years ago in cars with no new cracks.  It doesn't take much misalignment to put stress on plastic, and vibration takes its toll. And who knows what kind of smack it got from road debris.
@fuscobros  no I have no more corner pieces for 71.  That is a simple repair,  although you probably have more stress cracks spread down the front. Hopefully part of your tab is still attached underneath.  I have used sections of junk 4dr satellite grills to fill in curves.  Once shaped, sometimes a little filler to contour is needed.
Finding allthe cracks is key to repairing.

Thanks for the advice...I'm definitely going to try and repair versus replace!

[Mr Cuda]

@fuscobros  what you have in store for your repair.