1973 Grilles

[Roger S.]

Several days ago I read a post about one of the front grilles NOS being almost impossible to find. Which piece is it? I tried the search feature but could not find it.
Roger

[Joe L.]

Re: 1973 Grilles

Roger-----

I believe that it's the RIGHT side piece, GM #331836. This piece was discontinued by GM in May, 1986. The left and center grilles were available for several more years. Very likely, the mold and/or other tooling for the right side grille broke or otherwise became unserviceable. When that happened, the GMSPO guys decided that it wasn't worth it to repair/replace the tooling for the SERVICE-only market. The right side grille for the 1974 models was discontinued at about the same time, while the center and left side pieces continued being available for several more years. The 1973 and 1974 grilles were manufactured from the same castings---the only difference is that the 73 have a chromed leading edge and the 74 are all black. Many SERVICE examples of the 1974 grilles will be found with "peeling off" black paint. That's because, underneath, the grille, or most of it, is chromed---paint does not adhere well to chromed surfaces. Apparently, in SERVICE, the zinc diecast grilles were chromed for the 1973 application and simply completely painted for the 1974.

Anyway, the fact that the 73 and 74 right side grilles were discontinued about the same time and well before the center and left side pieces further leads me to believe that the tooling was broken or damaged.

[Roger S.]

Re: 1973 Grilles

Thank You - Joe, NM

[rick spears]

Re: 1973 Grilles

the center grill for the 73 is the one that is almost impossible to locate...pretty easy to find NOS or good used left and rights, plus the left and rights are now available aftermarket reproduction...the center is NOT..rick

[Lyle24961]

Re: 1973 Grilles

The reproductions are plastic so for judging if noticed by the judge may not do well. Email me as I know a sorce for rechromed originals and also for a few NOS rights lefts and centers. The lefts sell on E-bay all the time NOS and are bought up by people who don't know that an NOS right shows up about once a year to complete the set. I seen a few 74 grills at Old Town but no 73's with any chrome left on them.

Lyle