1Bad69

have any of you removed the flat finsh on the gills?? what did you use and how do they look after??? thanks

micks69

Are you talking about the silver inserts? :)

Burgundy 69

The gray paint on mine has chipped away in a few spots. and I have been tempted to have them repainted. Then I saw that Chevy replacements are about $22 each. Would probably be cheaper in the long run to purchase replacements than to have the originals fixed.

Mark

parttime

gray paint?.......somone painted yours gray :nonod:
it's suppose to be chrome inserts isn't it?

litevette

I'm confused. I've seen a few chrome looking ones but mostly black. Never a grey pair. Anyway, I've always been partial to the black. They don't seem to jump out at you the way the chrome ones do. Just a matter of personal taste. If anyone wants them, I'll sell mine cheap (used/black). I'm going for the open grill, cobra-esque look where you can see the aluminum tranny cooler with the braided lines/red&blue fittings.
OOOPS! Just re-read the thread. Confused the gills with grills. Mine are painted same as the body (red). Wouldn't have it any other way. I like the chrome inserts too, but once again my personal taste is that I love them body color. Looks more open. More shark like. Not mechanical looking. Doesn't pull your eyes away from the body lines. No matter what you decide 69's RULE!!!


[Modified by litevette, 4:08 AM 1/10/2003]

Corey_68

I would comment, but then again I "only" have a '68. :p:

litevette

Corey, I know you absolutely have to be joking. Other than the push button entry, whats the difference?

1Bad69

i thought that they were crome or similar to crome underneath the finish from the factory...

Jon69L46

My gray flat finish is still in good shape. Was thinking of painting them the same color as the car but haven't yet.
BTW. on the one that is not a vent, should the back be black or the color of the car?
Jon

1Bad69

mine is black...doesnt say much though as the car is black too...

rainman69

The three open gills should be body color. The "filled" fourth gill should be body color on all sides and then flat black on the filler panel.


The "correct" look for the TJ2 option (inserts) is shiny chrome lip with a "dull silver" color for the rest.

One insert:


See here for on car:

Astute viewers will notice this is the car in the '69 Registry Member avatar.


[Modified by rainman69, 12:36 AM 1/10/2003]

1Bad69

now, will the dull silver come off with some sort of stripper...and is it shiny underneath it?

69er

My '69's previous owner had gills that were paintless.Probably stripped like you mention.
They were sort of shiny but not anywhere near chromelike.More like stainless.They looked ok.
I've seen guys who have had the inserts chromed.I didn't like the look to much.
I bought a new set of GM repros off Ebay due to some pitting and staining on the ones that were on my '69.
I thought of taking the gray finish off but decided to keep the stock look. :cheers:

Larry B.

I'd search the NCRS achive at.. http://www.ncrs.org . There was a huge thread on these . I think the originals just had a chrome edge but replacements are all chrome. The last gill is blacked out on cars without the inserts.

lvrpool32

When I first bought my 69, the previous owner had stripped the paint from the gill trims, underneath was chrome, but it looked like the metal preparation under neath was poor, so the chrome was "rough". I would say the outer lips where polished "nicely" at the factory with the large flat surface being left machined. They where then chromed and the flat surface painted with the nice chrome lip left exposed.
I repainted mine with the same silver I painted the rally wheels.

cheers
Nick

Corey_68

Yes, I was just poking fun since he said "all 69 sharks", and the '68 is virtiully identical. :D

I have the chrome inserts on mine as well. :cheers:

tshort

Mine has the chrome inserts but the last gill in not open....meaning it's filled in. They aren't all that way??? If not, does this mean mine didn't come from factory with the inserts or that I have a 68 front end?

1Bad69

thanks...i think i will just leave them alone....

Marks69BB

All - This is very easy to do. Just get a good quality paint stripper and the old silver paint will come right off; it will be all chrome underneath the paint (but the finish quality is not great if you wanted to leave them that way). Then, mask off the chrome edges and repaint with Argent Silver (ralley wheel color) and they're good as new! Mine were painted body color by Bubba which had to go IMO since I love the original look. Also, I'm pretty sure the last 'filled-in gill' was always blacked out on 68s and 69s from the factory whether the car had the 69 only inserts or not but purists can chime in since I'm definitely not an NCRS expert. :nonod:

Larry B.

The last gill is closed but painted black so it looks like the rest of them. That's what I meant.