Topic: 69 grille & H/L door color

[69 black r code]

Hi, what is the correct color for 69 front grille & H/L doors?  Were they a charcoal like interior pieces? Flat or semi gloss?

Thanks

[J_Speegle]

Original color was a dark charcoal sort of color

Original color is listed as Ditzler #32947 Not sure if you can still get it mixed where you live.

[specialed]

69 charcoal?

[cobrajetchris]

The 69 as far as I can tell the grille and headlight doors were  not painted at all but molded in black and was simply raw plastic. If you have a faded out one I would use a good plastic cleaner and apply a semigloss black made for plastics. The 70 model however is a medium to dark charcoal on the grille and the headlight doors.  CHRIS

[J_Speegle]

69 charcoal?

Guess the color could be referred to as Charcoal - just the sources didn't refer to it in any name

The 69 as far as I can tell the grille and headlight doors were  not painted at all but molded in black and was simply raw plastic...........

Found and have had a number where the paint was peeling off but that may have been someones attempt to improve the coloration. Comparing originals to black ones always left me with the impression that those two finishes were not the same. The chromed faced ones appear to be "more black" than the regular grills IMHO

[Brian Conway]

How to ID a OE grill ?  Any marks, stampings or other birth marks ?  The grill on my 69 NY car seems to be original and is the type of black described.  Raw Plastic.  Brian.

[Andrew@MagMustangs]

How to ID a OE grill ?  Any marks, stampings or other birth marks ?  The grill on my 69 NY car seems to be original and is the type of black described.  Raw Plastic.  Brian.

C9ZB- [FoMoCo] # Molded onto RH rear under the RH head light opening.

[7Lscjracer]

The 69 as far as I can tell the grille and headlight doors were  not painted at all but molded in black and was simply raw plastic. If you have a faded out one I would use a good plastic cleaner and apply a semigloss black made for plastics.

I agree, my SJ 69 has raw black plastic grill and headlight donuts.
Novus plastic polish is great for clears, but should work well for sun bleached parts such as these, or maybe a quick application of Mothers Back to Black would save alot of work.
Anyway, just look at these pieces NOS that show up on eBay now and again, they're unpainted.

[J_Speegle]

Anyway, just look at these pieces NOS that show up on eBay now and again, they're unpainted.

Unfortunately service pieces can often differ from the originals.

[Armond]

The NOS ones came plastic with no paint. The originals, grille and headlight openings were painted semi gloss black.

[cobrajetchris]

I have several original and N.O.S.  grilles stored away and I am going to dig them out and try to confirm or deny this matter. I don't think they were painted originally  or the  replacement parts. The rare chrome faced grille however would have to be painted as the plastic chrome process would chrome the entire panel and then the rest of the grille would be painted just like the instrument bezels.

[Brian Conway]

Well, after I figured out how the ' grill rivets ' came apart, I removed my 69 grill C9ZB-8150-B   3  FoMoCo  $.  The headlight rings, C9ZB-13061 & 13072 had been previously painted and had obvious paint drips.  The grill itself was faded to the point that it was hard to determine raw plastic or paint.  I thoroughly cleaned the grill prior to painting and it appeared to be black plastic.   Brian

[PerkinsRestoration]

 I agree with Armond, The grill and Head light doors were low gloss black from factory. Original service parts were also low gloss black untill late 80's when supplier no longer painted 69 or 70 grills and doors. The 70 grills were serviced dark charcoal from Ford till late 80's. There are also mold revisions in the later service grills, most noticeable in the 70 model.