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On the front grilles


Guest Anonymous

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Guest Anonymous

surprised if the later grilles fit the earlier openings exactly (or vice versa). And I'm almost positive the center grill is different enough so they won't interchange. Never tried it though...

Mike

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Guest Anonymous

On square tail car the side grille runs all the way to the center grille. On roundies there is sheet metal between the side grilles and the center grille.

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Guest Anonymous

I thought the earlier ones all came with the chrome grills, while later ones had black ones- my 69 has black ones, and my 71 1600 has the chrome ones-- but looks like they both have the same front clip

can anybody enlighten me on the subtle differences?

TIA

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Guest Anonymous

Were the black ones painted? When i bought my '72tii it had a grill that had been painted black to cover the pitting & other age-related issues. Early cars didn't have black grills.

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Guest Anonymous

All 1600s used chrome center and side grilles (67-71)

68-69 (and perhaps early 1970) 2002s had side grilles with slats painted black (guaranteed to chip) and the center grille with black anodized slats

70-73 side grilles had black anodized appliques glued over the bright metal slats. Also mid-72-end of 73 production had headlight surrounds about an inch shallower than the earlier grilles. Center grille with black anodized slats (not appliques)

74-76 All used the plastic side and center grilles.

Cheers

Mike

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Guest Anonymous

The riviera 71 w/ 52,000 original miles that I know of does. Prolly when they were getting ready to pull the plug on the 1600 for the US market.

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Guest Anonymous

standard.jpg

just went in and replaced correct grills with whatever they could find cheap or that they had on hand. Mike's primer on grill configuration and car years is right on. You will find a lot of cars that wander from that list. Finding correct grills in new condition now is very difficult and expensive. I have been keeping my Sahara grills looking OK with a broad tip permanent black marker for years. I need the appliques, but i missed them when they were for sale and well... my Sahara grills have taken some abuse from SUVs and i am just going to leave themn alone for now. Good luck; New 1971 deep bucket applique grill available in my "hood": for $312. That is market price for 1 side . Go figure.... Slightly cheaper from Jaymic, but then there is the shipping that hurts the pocket.

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  • 11 years later...

yes

OK, but a single photo of a gorgeous old '02 (or '00-2) doesn't tell the entire story. First, how do we know that that is a 2002 and not a 1600-2? Do we know its VIN and manufacturing date?

Assuming it is a factory 2002, and not a 1600-2, how do we know those grilles are original to that particular car, e.g., is it a one-owner example with all records from new AND that original owner recalls convincingly that he/she purchased a 2002 with bare anodized aluminum grilles? The car certainly appears to have been re-painted; if so, are we certain it retains all its original mouldings in their original condition? Didn't all 1600-2 and 2002 cars from '66 through '68 have the embossed front hood molding as shown on the August '68 brochure below? The car in the photo appears to have the post-'68 smooth front hood molding, so I'm not immediately convinced the example above is entirely "factory-original."

It could have happened -- a 2002 leaving the factory with bare anodized aluminum grilles -- but I've yet to see or hear convincing evidence that early 2002's came without black-painted grille slats. If it did happen, the only external indicia that a given car was a 2002 rather than a 1600-2 would have been the rear-mounted emblem. That's mighty subtle from a marketing perspective.

Regards,

Steve

post-41123-0-50650300-1414921258_thumb.j

Edited by Conserv

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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