68 Barracuda grill insert colour

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Aussie Cuda

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Hello. I am an Aussie & have a 68 Formula S 340 Barracuda Coupe
I am in the final stages of my resto & am trying to determine the colour that the plastic grilles should be. I am aware of where the black paint is applied But cannot determine what colour the rest of it should be.
Can anyone on here shed some light on the colour?
I have attached a couple of images of it's current state
Cheers, Glen

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First off, WoW nice car. Love the color. The 68s all had an argent silver for the center plastic grilles. I have found that Krylon "dull silver, or dull aluminum" spray paint approximates that really well. Plus it dries pretty fast. A very few of these grilles had the front edges of the teeth that were chrome. Those grilles are pretty rare and were on "spring special" models to "move the iron". You may not have Krylon brand paint at your local hardware store, but could probably find something similar.

BTW what I have found on the 67-69 coupes is they have a good tendency to rust out under the sides of the trunk drip edge on the quarter panel skin itself. I would recommend taking a peek with an inspection mirror in these areas from underneath. I am going to be replacing the tops of the quarter skins on my sons 69 coupe because of this. Bought a cadaver from San Diego California for that metal and more. Note the pix of the rust thru on my sons car, and the rust thru free skins I will have to splice in. These have only surface rust that will easily be treated before I cut and splice them in.

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Thanks for the information, Mat, it is much appreciated.
The Bloke that did my panel work is a perfectionist, so we checked everywhere, including the areas you mentioned.
He melted all the lead out of it, which turned out to be a great idea, as there was rust starting in a few of the areas, including the top of the windscreen pillars.
I have included a few images of the work he did on the front right mudguard. All by hand, as he didn't have an English wheel at the time. He is only 28 & a real craftsman.
Cheers, Glen

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here's the front of my 68 Formula S fastback. i'm pretty sure the grills are correct.

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here's another pic of a correct OEM 68 grill. the silver is "Mopar" or "Chrysler" or "Plymouth" "argent silver."

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I have an NOS grille insert and can post pics if you like?
As mentioned, that is stunning! Your body man could make a ton of $$ selling those fender "caps"!
 
jimharvard said:
here's the front of my 68 Formula S fastback. i'm pretty sure the grills are correct.

View attachment 1715605505

here's another pic of a correct OEM 68 grill. the silver is "Mopar" or "Chrysler" or "Plymouth" "argent silver."

View attachment 1715605512
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Hi Jim.
Thanks for the photos. Mine had turned a greyish colour which I presume is the base plastic colour.
Our car was a Turbine Bronze car too, but was a shade similar to how it is now, when we purchased here in Australia, in 2008.
 
Finally got the Barracuda finished & back on the road. I had the Aluminium sections of the grilles chromed & I decided to leave those sections that were Argent Silver, unpainted. I also painted the plastic grille sections a dark metallic grey. I know this may not suit the purists, but I am very happy with the finished look.

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66fs said:
Nice! Minilites and all. What did you use for center caps on the Minilites?
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They are minilite lookalikes & came with caps. The good thing is that they come from the manufacturer undrilled & the Australian supplier drills them to suit. Not many wheels nowadays can be drilled to the small PCD on the A bodies.
 
That's sweet. The grilles look great without the argent on them. Nice personal touch IMHO. Awesome looking ride.
 
Aussie Cuda said:
They are minilite lookalikes & came with caps. The good thing is that they come from the manufacturer undrilled & the Australian supplier drills them to suit. Not many wheels nowadays can be drilled to the small PCD on the A bodies.
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Thanks, I have a set of Minilites and was told they did not have caps to fit. Was hoping that had changed.
 
66fs said:
Thanks, I have a set of Minilites and was told they did not have caps to fit. Was hoping that had changed.
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I reckon that you could make up a set in Aluminium sheet & get them chromed. I started making a set of centre caps for the wheels that are on the car in the earlier photos & stopped when I decided to go with these wheels.
You just need someone that can weld thin aluminium!
 
As stated earlier in your thread, I would have to graft in trunk rail sections off another barracuda coupe. I am at that point now.

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Aussie Cuda said:
I reckon that you could make up a set in Aluminium sheet & get them chromed. I started making a set of centre caps for the wheels that are on the car in the earlier photos & stopped when I decided to go with these wheels.
You just need someone that can weld thin aluminium!
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I have attached a photo of a Barracuda here in Aus with the same wheels

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Aussie Cuda said:
Finally got the Barracuda finished & back on the road. I had the Aluminium sections of the grilles chromed & I decided to leave those sections that were Argent Silver, unpainted. I also painted the plastic grille sections a dark metallic grey. I know this may not suit the purists, but I am very happy with the finished look.
Click to expand...
When I put 68 plastic baskets in my 67 grilles, I left the surrounds polished out too.
In the end there is a "unfinished" look. Standing in front of the car, look down at the surround. Reflection reveals that factory didn't complete the surrounds. You can see up under the header.
If I ever do need any painting on this car, that portion of the surround will get body color (red).
The mirror will go away. The outer rim of the surround will look more like the 67 trunk trims.
 
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