Re-chromed grille surround wont fit - advice pse

[jameshoward]

My grille surround was dented quite badly and the star broken and so I had it, together with my rear bumpers (also dented) repaired and rechromed by a guy in Belgium that I found through a friend who works a lot with US cars from the 50s and 60s and US dukeboxes or the same era. He uses him a lot.

The repairs seem very good and I think that his chroming is excellent. However...today I finally got around to putting the grille back together (I'm part way through a post with advice on how to do that, and some links that others sent me and that I've found for the hardware needed; to follow) and it really doesn't fit (see pics). I'm assuming that when doing the repairs, which were reasonably challenging, the geometry of the surround has changed. Anyway, regardless of what's happened, the grille surround doesn't fit. I can force it into place, but I mean force it, and there's no way on Earth that the rather pathetic little screws would hold it there. It would take bolts to hold it. Naj and I had talked about rivnuts and I was drying fitting it today to prepare for a trip up the road at some point to employ them. But there's no way they'll hold it either, I think.  

The first pic shows the gap on one side when the other side (2nd pic) is in the correct place. As you can see, it's not small.

I have no experience of body work or chrome or grille surrounds. Can anyone offer advice on this? If anyone has been there, and is about to write 'take it to a good body shop', that's fine, but I'd like to know what they're going to do that I can't do. I do brute force well (it's been my living for 23 years) but I doubt the answer lies down that path in this instance.

Any advice gratefully received.

James

[andyburns]

James i had the same issue with mine when i purchased the car.  The previous owner had it repaired and the fit was terrible.  Very similar to yours with a rediculosly tight fit and side gaps. I had to cut it clean through in the center and carefully grind and the rebraze to get it to fit.  Lof course it meant rechroming which probably isnt what you want to here.

the only other thing i can think of is did you use the two factory spacers to mount the star.  The add up to about 8mm and if they are missing you end up pulling the frame slightly out of shape.  But looking at your photos it seems that your grill is out from side to side rather top to bottom.  Worth checking.

I can certainly sympathize with you.  The guy who did this work has obviously significantly changed the shape of the frame without having the oposing mating surfaces to check against.  Pretty basic and obvious mistake that you would expect an apprentice to make not an expereienced tradsmem.

[66andBlue]

James,
try this first. Take the center star and side bars out and then see how the outer frame fits. You could bend and twist it a bit to fit it in.
The screws are not that "pathetic" and will hold the outer from in place. Leave it there for some time and hope that it adjusts.

[jameshoward]

Andy,

Reading your post makes me feel sick. The prospect of cutting and rechroming fills me with dread. I'm using the correct spacers.

Alfred,

Trust me, the screws won't hold it! I tried the grille without the side bars; no different, sadly, but thanks for the idea. I'm thinking that I may need to bolt this in. I can't afford to rechrome the thing again.

I wondered if there were any bodywork ninjas out there who may know some tricks of the trade.

JH

[Shvegel]

I am afraid your least expensive remedy is to have the chrome stripped, re-fit the shell to your car and have it re-chromed.  Chrome doesn't stretch very well.  As a last resort I would try pushing up or down the top flat section closest to the radiator.  That might pull the ends in and if the chrome cracks it will be in a spot where you would have to be on your knees to see it.

[stickandrudderman]

It's too late for you I'm afraid. During my restorations I always offer the grill up to the body and make adjustments before it goes to chroming. On one occasion a grill came back from chroming and had changed shape, probably due to being overworked by the chrome platers. It had to be adjusted again and re-chromed.

[Cees Klumper]

Speak with the platers; they will likely want to make this right for you and work out a reasonable price. Some/much of the issue lies at their end.

[perry113]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
I would take the car and the grille to a reputable body shop and have them evaluate the situation.
They will either be able to work with what you have and fit the grille to the car. It's possible that the grille may, in fact have to be cut and refit.
I work for a bodyshop and can tell you that a good bodyman will assess and come up with a solution that will work.
Good luck!
Peter

[ctaylor738]

Well, just in case the body guys and the platers don't work out, I saw today that SG Bumpers in Viet Nam are now making Pagoda grille pieces and bumpers.  They have an ad on mercedesheritage.com I haven't seen these parts but the bumpers that they do for Pontons have received good reviews from buyers.  They are inexpensive, like $1100 for a set for a 220S (that's a lot of metal).

web site is http://www.sgbumperscar.com.

Just a suggestion.

CT

[Benz Dr.]

When your car was new the grill fitted like a second skin. The fit and finish on a 113 was very high indeed. It's very easy to change the shape of the grill shell - probably done without even being aware of small changes. If you want it perfect, you should try a test fit before chrome plating. A small amount should be added for chrome thickness but for the most part, copper plating should be very close to the finished product. If it doesn't fit in copper, it really won't fit in chrome.
Because this is such a delicate part, it's very easy to screw it up. It takes a lot of extra time to get it right and some/many places simply can't or won't get it right. If you find someone willing to get this right, expect to pay for all this time and consideration. In many cases, a new part might not be a bad idea. Your part may of come off straight but it probably won't come back that way from the plating. Not what you want to hear but I think it's more often the reality today than a perfect job.
Tell your plater exactly what you want and that you're willing to pay a premium to get it perfect. Otherwise, you will get an average job.   

[andyburns]

Buying a new one may also not solve your issues.  It could in fact make it worse.  If you have ever had a frontal then its also likely that the nose cone that the grill mates against has been repaired and reworked with body filler.  When this happens I am picking its normal for your panel beater to get the grill back and then modify the body work to match.  If either deviate from the factory line then your in trouble.  This is exactly what happened to me.   If you want to guarantee a factory fit then pull out your wallet.  New front panels, grill panel and paint.

The chrome company I work with actually remembered the grill from the mid 1980's.  They recounted to me how much time and effort had been spent in repairing it after a minor frontal.  When the stripped the chrome off they took some pictures which I then mated up with the damage that had been done to the top of the nose cone.  I stripped it back to bare steel and did my best to beat it back into a shape where the least amount of body fill would be required to mate it back to the grill shell.

When I first took my grill out there was evidence that something was wrong.  The grill was very very very tight and the side gaps were far too large just as your appear. 

It still isn't 100% perfect but if I didn't point it out most people don't notice which is good enough for me. 

I think you should contact your plater and discuss with him the issue.  I don't believe for a second that just a thin layer of nickel copper and chrome would distort the shell that much.  Thicknesses range from 0.002 to 0.02 mils.  I would look at the repair he did as the source of the distortion.   A good repairer would be very aware of the impact of any bending and flexing on the overall flex and would steer well away from it without the car to get some datums from. 

Perhaps you can run it past him and agree on an affordable 'meet you in the middle' job to redo the work.  This time get someone local to repair the shape issue and send it to him just for the chrome.  This time tell him to handle it with kid gloves.  I can imagine something like a grill falling off one of the hooks they hang the job on onto the concrete floor.  Even this sort of event would likely put the thing out of shape.  I often tell these guys the value of a replacement part to keep them on their toes.  Might seem arrogant but at the end of the day if you dont you end up with not only the problem but the cost to resolve it.  I hate the all care no responsibility business mantra with a passion.