I have been wondering this for a while. I thought that the grilles for 67-68 were silver with the black inset? Did they do an all black from the factory? Seen birds with the black. My new bird is black but you can see where someone painted it.I plan on going back to original. Was just curious. Thx joe

Try the Frequently Asked Questions here on the FGF site.

I think TAs came black.,..the others "Argent" = silver
400`s with chrome trim

'67 's had black grilles with light silver surround. '68's had black grilles with argent (darker silver) surround.

The two colors are pretty close to the two silvers for rally II wheels.

All black grills are likely repops. They come all blak, and you need to paint them.

ahhh, duh, I kept thinking 69....

It's OK Bjorn. We understand the aging process!

yup, its tough sometimes! lol

and some understand better than others !c

Not trying to doubt you, but the FAQs say the black and siver areas were reversed between 67 and 68. I don't know who to believe! Could you verify what you said, please? I just want to get the facts straight.

Larry

I think when they say 'reversed', they mean changed. I have some pictures on my photobucket showing both. The pictures are a bit dark in the grille area, but I have one picture looking at the front of both cars, and you can see the surround is darker on the '68 than the '67.

There is nothing to 'reverse' in the color scheme, so I'm not sure what the FAQ's was trying to say.

Sorry, the "Reversed" term was mine. The FAQ's say:
"1967 - Argent Silver outer, with a Black center.
1968 - Charcoal outer, with Argent Silver center."

I can see how the 68's outer part has a little darker shade of silver on yours. I never paid attention on other pictures.

I've always liked a totally black grille on most cars. Guess I need to decide how correct I should make it!

Ill be doing that this spring. hope there are 68s I thought they were. they still have their original colors on them the silver is darker and there is a light silver stripes on them.

Let me toss in a wrinkle.

I have a set of NOS '67 grills I bought in 1998. The centers are black and the outers are charcoal.

AND the center (larger) horizontal rib which gets covered by the 400 "hockey stick"...

is painted silver.

These sound like '68, not '67.

From memory 67's have silver outers, and 68's are charcoal.

Sorry to hear they may not be the parts you thought. I will gladly take them off your hands!

My '68 grilles have holes drilled in them where it appears fog lamps or something were mounted at one time. Can these be repaired so that they look good? I've already bought repops and was headed down the painting path. Trying to figure out what color charcoal gray was exactly.

But if my NOS set is indeed for '68, how come the verticle center rib section is black and not silver - except for the larger center rib?

I don't think anybody is going to want mine. For some reason the outer sections were different shades of charcoal so I repainted them to be equal. Then I drilled holes in them to mount new hockey sticks.

I am prepping grilles right now. I have 3 sets of original unrepainted '67 non-400 grilles, one piece of '68 non-400 grille, and one set of '68 400 grilles. I also have a brand new OER set labelled for '68.

The center rib is the same size on 400 and standard, the difference being the three holes, two in the rib and one on the side.

The '67 and '68 both have a flat black grate that matches well to SEM Landau Black, and bright silver piping on the raised area around the grate. The '67 has a silver surround, the '68 has a charcoal surround. The colors are the same regardless of standard or 400 for the respective years.

The OER are sorely flawed. They have the right color charcoal, but it is applied to the grate rather than the surround. The silver piping is a good match. The surround is gloss black and looks ridiculous. The hockey sticks are decent castings.

Has anyone located a great match to the original '68 grille surround color?

I can post photos of all if anyone is interested.

Yes, post the colors. My 68 grilles have never been painted.

Here are a few shots showing color and trim. If anyone has a dead match for the original '68 surround color, please let me know.

Left: New OER '68 400 Right: Original '68 400


Left: '68 OER, Right: '68 Pontiac


Left: '67 Pontiac std, Right: '68 Pontiac 400


'67 original


'68 original

Yes, posting the color here would help me out also.

I have paint color recomendations for the '67 grills here:

http://john.my67.net/body4.htm

Assembling the front bumper assembly tonight, I'll post pics and paint codes when done. I tried five different paints before finding the best match. Slightly used spray paint, anyone?

Vikki,

Are you using a special type of paint because of the plastic? What brand paint gun do you like? I've been looking at SATA guns.

Now I will have to look at mine tonight when I get home. I was planning on pulling the headlights to rbuild the adjustment stuff as they wont adjust up high enough. This looks like a nice basement project.

Forgot to say that I would like those paint colors to Vikki.

Here is the finished product.

Grille color details:
Grill center, SEM Landau Black (low luster)
Grill surround, Dupli-color Perfect Match BGM0522, Storm Gray Metallic
Silver piping, left painted as OER delivered. Would be the same as John's recommendation for '67.

Prep:
Remove hockey sticks if installed. The thin sheet metal retainers are better snapped off than removed. Be careful not to break the posts on the potmetal hockey sticks.

Mask silver piping carefully, following the inner edge of the silver. Tape newspaper to the grille area, front and back.

Scuff surround area until evenly dull with red ScotchBrite pad. Wipe with dry rag, then with a damp cloth to remove all dust and allow to dry fully.

Remove the paper mask and discard. Verify that the silver is fully covered. Spray the grille area with Landau Black and allow to dry. Spray the hourglass fillers with Landau Black.

Remove masking, and apply tape to the outer edge of the silver piping. Apply heavy masking paper to both front and back of the grille area. Spray with Storm Gray Metallic, several light coats until fully and evenly colored. Allow to dry completely.

Remove the masking and reassemble. I prefer to remove the masking about 15 minutes after the last coat of paint.

Hardware: we used a grille hardware kit that was part of a complete concours body fastener kit. I sell the grille brackets, so I did not have to wrestle with old rusty bent ones. To attach the rubber filler, a Helicoil insert can be installed in the hole on the outer top of the grille. This will allow the filler to be removed without removing the bumper or grille.

OER brand repro, painted in original colors


How to attach the rubber filler? Helicoil!

Painted mine today, a definite improvement over the unpainted OER's. Thanks for posting.

Wanted to resurrect this thread as Vikki refers to the silver paint that John used as a good match. Yet when I try John's link, it is no longer good. Can anyone recommend the correct silver paint shade/luster can of spray paint?

Thanks!

Dave