As much as reproduction parts have improved over the years, many Mustang owners believe there's nothing like the original parts. Whether you're building a concours car with all N.O.S. and original/date coded parts, or you're just on a mac and cheese budget and want to keep as many original parts in your build as you can to save money, original parts are often the best choice. Not to mention there are still many items not reproduced and you'll have to use the original part (or find a good used replacement) for your restoration.
When it comes to the first generation of Mustangs, the '65-'68 models used metal grille assemblies. These grilles were made from aluminum and were bolted to the headlight buckets and lower grille support (or stone deflector on later cars) and the familiar horse and corral, and fog lamps if optioned, bolted to the grille itself. Over the years these metal grilles get beat up from road debris, service work in the engine bay, accidents, and more. Usually the damage isn't severe enough to warrant full replacement. With a little bench work, cleaning, and refinishing, you can make your'65-'68 Mustang grille look factory fresh. We're talking nothing more than some hammer and dolly work, a can of spray paint, and a few hours out of your Saturday.
We grabbed used '65, '66, and '68 Mustang grilles from our friends at Classic Creations of Central Florida (www.classiccreationsfl.com; 863/665-2322) and we're going to give them the once over here for our story to show you just how simple this work is and how rewarding the results are. With reproduction grilles often costing over $100, why not put that money where it will do your restoration some good and fix that grille up yourself. There's nothing like having an original part on your Mustang, as not everyone can say that they do, but you'll be able to with a smile on your face as you point to your restored grille on your Mustang!
1 For the typical bends,...
1 For the typical bends, kinks, and tweaks found in a four decade old Mustang grille, a basic body hammer and dolly is your best tool for the job. Even if you've never performed body work before the work we'll be doing on these grilles is fairly easy.
2 For our '65 Mustang grille...
2 For our '65 Mustang grille there were several high spots created by the grille being bent from either improper handling during removal or from long term storage. Using the dolly as a backer, the body hammer is used to push these high spots back down with a few light hammer blows.
3 The finished work shown...
3 The finished work shown here only took about two minutes of light hammer work and repositioning the dolly a few times. Stop and check your work and don't swing with wild abandon. Finesse is your friend. We had about four or five high spots like this to knock down.
4 Being no other damage to...
4 Being no other damage to the '65 grille it was time to prep it for paint. A coarse scuff pad is utilized to remove oxidation, loose paint, and give the surface some "tooth" for our fresh paint to adhere to.
5 Finally, a shop towel saturated...
5 Finally, a shop towel saturated in lacquer thinner was employed to clean and degrease the grille's surface areas (front and back) to prepare the grille for a new coat of the specific '65 Mustang charcoal blue grille paint from Mustang's Unlimited.
6 Moving on to our '66 Mustang...
6 Moving on to our '66 Mustang grille we really didn't find any damage or breakage that needed to be fixed. However, we did notice that the grille had been repaired in the past and the incorrect rivets were used (type and size) for the repair. If you're aiming for a concours correct finish you'll need to hunt down the correct semi-tubular smooth head rivets. For a driver type build traditional blind "pop" rivets can be used, just ensure they are all of the same size/diameter for appearance sake.
7 We noticed these corral/horse...
7 We noticed these corral/horse supports were loose on the '66 grille and with little effort popped off due to loose/corroded rivets. A good cleaning with a wire brush and a coat of paint and they were reinstalled with new rivets.
8 The '66 grille we borrowed...
8 The '66 grille we borrowed for this story had been incorrectly painted completely black. To bring back the bright edges of the grille's horizontal bars we used our green scuff pad once again to remove the paint and then followed the process with a fine scuff pad to bring a light shine to the bars. They should not be polished! The '66 grille was then cleaned and prepped for paint like the '65 grille was.
9 The '68 grille we had to...
9 The '68 grille we had to work our magic on came to us with its horse and corral still in place. Be sure to remove all chrome trim from your grille, including grille bars, fog lamps, and so forth for a better refinishing job. It's a few minutes with a ratchet versus wasting time and tape trying to cover everything for painting.
10 Our '68 grille was by...
10 Our '68 grille was by far the worst of the bunch, mainly because the '68 (and '67) grille is also the most fragile of the early Mustang metal grilles. This particular specimen had breaks top and bottom right at the factory bend point in the middle. We cleaned these areas with 60-grit sand paper to use a repair epoxy.
11 After mixing the epoxy...
11 After mixing the epoxy according to its instructions we applied the epoxy with the tip of a small screwdriver. Once dry we applied a light coat to the outer grille surface as well. Lightly sand the dried epoxy to level it out and then we cleaned and prepped the grille as we did the others for paint.
12 The '65 Mustang grille...
12 The '65 Mustang grille requires a specific charcoal blue color that you'll only find through Mustang vendors like Mustangs Unlimited. The '66-'68 grilles use a low-gloss black paint (some call it semi-flat, others call it satin) and Mustangs Unlimited can hook you up there as well. Like all painting, light and even coats with proper drying time is the key to the proper look when dry.
13 If you're on a budget...
13 If you're on a budget or really trying to keep your car's original parts you can give your grille's original chrome parts a good cleaning and then polish them up with some fine "0000" steel wool pads. The steel wool will not scratch the chrome, yet it will remove paint overspray, oxidation, and light rust. They're great for cleaning all the chrome on your Mustang!
14 Our completed grilles...
14 Our completed grilles are ready for many more years of service thanks to a little repair work and a fresh coat of paint. If you really want your handiwork to stand out then be sure to pick up the correct fasteners for your grille from Mustangs Unlimited as well. You do want all of the screws to match right?