Paint used for 71 R/T grill and taillight panel

[CrispyK74]

Hey all,I have been looking for the paint code, and what color/style of black that is used for grill and taillight panel for an r/t 71 challenger. I have had no luck with this so far and would love all the help I can get.
Thanks

 

[challenger6pak]

I am not at the shop where I have the paint codes. The grille is an easy one. It was cast in black plastic and was left without paint for the 71 R/T. The only black paint on the 71 R/T grilles was for trim such as the black line on the grille ovals. The silver on the ovals is the same as the silver on the rallye wheel face.

 

[moparleo]

The textured paint is called Argent. It comes in different shades.

 

[CrispyK74]

Thanks for the replies. I don't know where you are located but where would be a good location on getting this done or how do you do it your self and it the same process for the tail light panel. Also, the paint that goes on the body that's below the trunk and above the taillight panel what kind of paint is that. Sorry for all the questions at once just trying to make sure it's done correctly.

 

[challenger6pak]

The textured paint is called Argent. It comes in different shades.

The 71 R/T did not use the textured silver or gravel silver. Chrysler used both names. Argent just means silver. What I don't remember is if the 71 R/T had the textured silver painted on the rear panel and then had black over it with silver trim or if the panel was just sprayed black with silver trim (non texturred) around the tail lights. Again, I am not at the shop. I'll have to start answering post from there where I have pics and books.

 

[Adam]

My grill was kind of rough and had several cracks. I repaired the cracks from the backside with Lord Fusor panel bonding adhesive (good stuff). I used a little filler on the front where necessary, shot it with a 2K primer, wet sanded the primer and topped it with Hot Rod Black urethane...

 

[Adam]

The grille inserts were a major pain; they were bulging where the trim clips attach and had a few mounting tabs broken off. I repaired the bulges & tabs and sanded the outsides to remove the casting lines, also needed a little filler. Originally they appeared to have been a silver with no texture in it. To help hide the flaws I shot em with some left over Textured Argent I got from Year One about 12 years ago! Still good, just had to stir the crap out of it... they turned out well, imo.

 

[moparlee]

Adam, you did an awesome job on that grill. It looks fantastic. Very nice work.

 

[DetMatt1]

Wow Adam, nice work!

 

[70Hardtop]

That grille looks a million bucks!! Great job! Have some questions...I'm in the process of doing mine now, but have stalled -not sure where to start. It is in perfect condition, just needs painting. I see you took the centre ovals out -but how did you do it? Just drill those large hollow rivets out? I am reluctant to do that for fear of damaging the surrounding plastic (eg heating up and melting) and 16 rivets to do!! Also, what rivets did you replace them with, do they sell them new? Normal pop rivets wouldn't work I don't think.

Also, what type of black urethane did you use? Here we call it 2-Pack as a hardener is used. It looks like a satin (mild semi gloss) color,.

Sorry for all the Q's

Lastly, were you going to paint the silver areas above and below the ovals (as shown with arrows). As all RTs I have seen have this area in silver

thanks

 

[Adam]

I used a cut off wheel on a Dremel to grind down the rivets, if you try to drill them they will spin and cause damage. On my grill this was necessary to make repairs, you might be able to leave yours intact. I reassembled it with small stainless Allen head bolts painted black, and Nyloc nuts...

I used "Hot Rod Flatz" urethane, but there are other brands used for rat rods and such...

I will paint the flat area silver when I shoot the silver light recesses on my tail panel...

 

[70Hardtop]

Thanks for all the answers . I was holding off using a drill on those rivets until I had read how you did it. So I won't drill them now. I have needed a Dremel quite a few times, but they aren't cheap, might go down to a body shop and ask them to do it for me. Also amazing is that you chose the same reattachment method as me - A few days ago I just bought the same thing! Except I bought black oxide Allen bolts with Nyloc nuts. Maybe I better ask them if they rust easily once exposed to water , as I might have to swap them for stainless steel ones also. At least these ovals are easy to remove now, so you can paint the silver top and bottom. It could be done with them in place but it's a masking nightmare. Removing them makes it so much easier.

 

[Adam]

If you paint them they should be ok... Btw, go buy a Dremel, you will not regret it, I use mine for many things i couldn't anticipate.. get the little fiber reinforced cut off wheels.

 

[CrispyK74]

Thanks for the info guys, haven't been here for a while. Been busy with the car. I finally got my grill and headlight bezels, thank you Fall Fling. I don't know if any of you guys went. Now to start getting it to look like an R/T grill.

 

[Adam]

Very cool car! looks like the one with the rubber bumper on pg 1 of this thread. Are you going to black out the tail panel behind the lights? I went to the Fall Fling too... I saw Leo's hinges there.. he does nice work.

 

[moparleo]

Thank you. It was a beautiful day at the park.

 

[CrispyK74]

I don't know yet, I have seen it done but I'm still not sure. I like the look on both though and leaning on painting it. It was a nice day at the park, and plenty of E bodies to go around. A few decent projects for sale too.

 

[moparman6874]

could u tell me the ppg number on your can of duracryle i can still get that mixed,i just got a gallon of orgamasol black mixed it might be the last of the good stuff left in my area!

 

[Adam]

My can says QP 8575; this is a PPG paint that Year One had made for resale. Im not sure but the original paint may have been Ditzler. I also found these numbers on another forum: "The silver for 1971 PPG Paint code # is, Argent Silver #DX-8555 or Medium Textured Argent Silver #DNA-8575. If you want the 1970 code it's # DX-8355.