73 grill 'painted or Chrome'???

[Tom73]

D,
That was my point. If you are the 15th owner of the car you have no idea of what looked like when it came off of the line. Your only recourse then is to use some guideline for restoring the car. Most will use the NCRS or BloomingtonGold standards as their guideline. Most of the 73 grills have been painted over the years, just easier to do. So if you have a late 73, did it come with the chrome leading edges or with the solid black grills? There is no way to know. So, since the judging standard is chrome leading edges, then most will restore the car to that standard. To me, the only 73 that should have a solid black grill, at least as far as judging is concerned, are the ones that can document the fact that they came from the factory that way. Other wise they should have the chrome leading edges. (Both of my 73s have all black grills. But I may bring the chrome edges back here in the near future.)

tom...

 

[Tom73]

Re: Well then..

Enthusiasts should really try to back trace the car's ownership history. Most people I've talked with assume it is not worth the effort, or they are gearheads, not paper detectives, so there is no interest and/or drive to pursue this avenue. It can pay off with an "as delivered" photo or knowledgeable prior owner.

I have to agree there. On my 73 LS4 coupe, I am the thrid owner. The first owner had passed on but I was able to talk to a friend of his that was with him when he ordered the car and when he took delivery. In fact, this friend was a mechnic who did the service work on the car. But I was unable to get any original pics. The second owner did not see any importance to keeping the original paperwork (who would ever want that old stuff) and tossed it Sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you arn't.

tom...

 

[corvetjerryd]

Man You guys have about covered all the probable and improbable possibilitys of this inconsistancy.
I think Tom73 has the most 'logical' solution...Those production numbers you gave us make sense....If mine was born on the 23rd and yours was born on the 25th and there was 283 between them thats 141.5 cars a day. whew........
Do you know whether the 74 grills were metal or plastic ???Were they black painted chrome or just black??
I noticed in some of the catalogs they have different part numbers then the 73s. The front side marker lights are different too...

 

[Tom73]

Do you know whether the 74 grills were metal or plastic ???Were they black painted chrome or just black??
I noticed in some of the catalogs they have different part numbers then the 73s. The front side marker lights are different too...

The 74 grills were metal. The 73 was chrome plated die cast pot metal. 74 had die cast aluminum.

The side marker lights were made of die cast alloy. During the 74 model year, per the NCRS judging guide, these were changed to plastic. The JG says "It is not unusual to find a 1974 car with both plastic and alloy side marker housings."

tom...

 

[corvetjerryd]

O.K. thats why the different part numbers then. That makes sense about the side marker lights being plastic on some 74s because their are 2 totally different prices $19.00 and $90.00 on the same nos parts. I'm learning more everyday thanx
Jerry

 

[69MyWay]

There is no place here for personal attacks. Please keep the tech thread flowing with tech info. I am amazed at the quality and detail of input by you guys. You have both forgotten more about Vette details than I will ever know. Disagreement on small details is natural in this hobby. The open free and non-personal debate about it is what helps all of us weed through and become better for it. Let's just keep it open, fun, and friendly.

 

[RMS73]

Check the part number on the grille in question. If it is a 73 P/N then it should be chrome plated and painted over black except on the front edge. If it is a 74 P/N then it should be painted black.

My July 23 1973 Corvette has grilles that have a 73 P/N. The original owner stated that he thought the grilles were black when the car was new but has no pictures to support his memory. This supports the late 73 all black grille idea. But, if I were to make it a NCRS car then I would chrome the leading edges since that what fits the P/N. If someone could confirm that their Corvette's grilles are 73 P/N's and are the original and are black then I would not chrome plate them.

My 73 has at least eight 74 items on it including the intake manifold and the transmission. The transmission has the ID tag with the 74 model code and the transmission housing has the correct VIN sequence number stamped into it.

Roger

 

[corvetjerryd]

I just went out and looked at my grills and I couldn't find any numbers on them at all. they have been stripped of all the paint,and they are fairly flakey and pitted ,but I didn't see any numbers. Where are they usually stamped?
I did look them up in the assembly manual and it shows only outer grill #331835-6 and center grill #331834. It dont show L or R numbers.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I dug out a pair of spare early '73 grills from my getaroundtoit pile. Both are chromed then blacked out except for the leading edges. The passenger side is an original removed from a '73 and carries PN 331836. The drivers side is an NOS still in the box and carries PN 331835.

The drivers side grills still appear now and then as NOS, but the passenger side grills are VERY hard to find in good condition. Hold on to 'em if you got 'em.

Anybody got '74 part numbers?

 

[corvetjerryd]

O.K. now my numbers make more sense.....