57 CADILLAC GRILL "RESTORED'

[Dennis Branch]

I am looking for a place to send my grill to have it gold anodized again. Any help as always is appreciated.
Dennis Branch
57 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Series

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Dennis,

Call Jamey Maack
       Indusrtial Metal Plating
       Reading PA
       610-374-5107

Their primary business is aluminum finishing with all type of coatings. I’ve had all my anodizing done there and he’s a real stand up guy. There was an issue with the last batch and he did everything to make it right without any question.
Its’ a batch process with a flat rate for whatever fits in the tank.

HTH,
Ralph

[Dennis Branch]

Thanks Ralph, I will give him a call tomorrow
Dennis

[R Winchell]

Does he disasssemble the grille and polish each piece before anodizing???
             Thx Bob W

[Walter Youshock]

Yes.  I was told they have to.  All the original anodizing needs to be stripped to bare aluminum.  Look closely and you'll see lines on the slats--a very fine extruded pattern.   You will lose that detail.   But the grille will be gorgeous when done.

if you're going to ship it, you disassemble it.  Get 2 pieces of plywood and tape the slats to one board and tape the top board to the other one, sandwich the slats between the boards. 

These grilles are a puzzle but not hard to reassemble.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Bob,

I don’t know for sure, but I’ve seen their facility and don’t think they do any metal working. They’ve done the work for me on my 66’s. I had to metal work a lot of the aluminum trim before shipping because it was really bad. Years ago I my ’57 grille done by a company in California which I believe was done assembled. I’ve forgotten their name because it cost a king’s ransom.

Ralph

[Stewart Homan]

Hi Dennis,

I've restored many grills here in England so no help to you but, the secret is in the prep as the coating itself will hide nothing so any blems or pits will show.

It's best to photograph the pre torn down assembled grill and draw diagrams and take measurement - it's important to remember that slats can look identical bar one hole that is crucially located on the final assembly.

57 is a fairly simple grill that interlocks when assembled.

Ideally, you want to strip the original anodising then lay each part on a flat surface and get to work cleaning and polishing (by hand to avoid undulations), ideally you should have a donor grill to improve on parts that won't clean up well. Don't use anything at all abrasive as it's impossible to get it back without ruining the 'line' of the part!

Then send for anodising - choice of colour is crucial and it needs to be the brightest/shiniest finish they do (this should give it a nice sheen)

Then refer to notes and pictures and assemble... It's nice to have nuts bolts and brackets plated too...

It's a very rewarding job especially when you see that bad boy smiling at you!

I did this one 20 years ago on my friends '57...