Re: paint

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 2006-01-27 at 04:40, farna@xxxxxxx wrote:
> I agree with you -- the "gray up" looks better, even if it is 
> tradiationally "backwards". The gray is light enough it 
> shouldn't affect inside temp much. With the hub caps and 
> trim rings consider keeping the wheels white, then paint 
> the bumpers and grille gray, and any other contrasting 
> pieces in the white (and if any in the gray, white).
>  You could blast the hubcaps to give them a brushed aluminum 
> (maybe a wire wheel on a drill?) or matte look, I think. 
> If you want to get fancy with the grille, paint it gray 
> then paint all the recessed areas white (or vice versa
> -- paint white and all raised areas gray). That would
> look good, but be a lot of work. 

The Hornet grilles are painted black (one bar left clear). It's a
terrible shame, as underneath that paint is beautiful clear anodized
aluminum. It seems clear to me the car was designed for the clear
anodized color, then a last minute style decision that it looked too
1960's (where that sort of grille was very common -- early Impala...),
and in '73 of course they went to the contoured black plastic grille.

I really want to keep it unpainted; the problem is the craptacular
plastic headlamp doors. I need to find a way to paint them to look just
like (not just "close") anodized aluminum. It's hard! To make things
worse, they're made out of a really crappy plastic, and being on the
corner of the car, are usually badly cracked. It's hard to find good
ones cheap (I will have to spring $$$ for NOS ones if they are even
available).

Also,I  flip-flop on the painted vs. chrome bumper thing. One of the
things that makes 60's cars stand out is the nice bumper! One of my
biggest beefs w/modern car style is that practically all of them look
like a plastic bag of modeling clay in back. Wearing diapers, with a
full load. Cheap! But getting my bumpers rechromed will not be cheap!
Back and forth I go...

THat and AMC corporate logo hubcaps. I've got a decent set
(mix'n'matched many!) and they are so defiantly non-modern, with all the
opinionless and cookie-cutter aluminum wheels out there.

I like the 14" wheels, if I ever have the money for it I'd like to have
a factory 5.5" wheel widened to 7". Then I could run fat tires and
dogdish hupcaps! It's under $150 a wheel, which is pretty cheap for a
wheel, plain as this one might be.