plastic or aluminum ?

[frank Bernier]

hi guys

does the original grills (front left, front center, front right) for a 69 vette are made of aluminum or plastic ?

thanks
frank

[Henry J.]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

Frank:

I believe that they are plastic.

[Warren F.]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

Plastic for sure.

One of the few anomalies, is that the '70 thru '72 Corvettes, although later built, came thru with those beautiful cast metal grilles. Not often do you see this.

[frank Bernier]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

that was my next question ... in the past i had a 70 vette ... and i know it was in aluminum ... thats weird

[Terry F.]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

Frank, they are plastic. Early cars were plastic with the edges painted silver. Regards, Terry

[Warren F.]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

Another change was the fiberoptic light panel bezel, in 1968 Corvettes it was plastic, changed to a nice metal one in 1969.

[Joe L.]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

frank-----

The 1970 grilles (and 71-72, also) were not aluminum. They were chrome plated, zinc diecast ("pot metal"). 1973-74 grilles were zinc diecast, too, but of a completely different design.

1968-69 Corvettes were the very first Corvettes ever produced with plastic grilles. It was actually a great idea. No structural strenth is required of grilles, so plastic is an excellent material for them. It's far lighter than the zinc diecast used for 66-67 and 70-74.

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

yeah, but the cast look so much better than the plastic!

[Terry F.]

Re: plastic or aluminum ?

Not totally true. Early one's were plastic, later one's were pot-metal. I have also found two different lengths of metal one's and both have the same part number. But one actually fits better. Terry