I haven't been on this board in a loooong time but I need some help. I have an '82 Pace Car (w/9k miles) and just noticed the plastic grille inserts are beginning to rot / break / discolor............. take your pick. I see that replacements are available. Is there only one manufacturer? If not, is there a better brand to get? How is the fit? Will they need to be painted to match the surrounding semi-gloss black area of the Pace Car? Any input is appreciated!!

 

On my 83 when I was cleaning the bugs off I also discovered the poor condition of my grille inserts. The new pair on e-bay is 150.00 dollars and I think since my car is not completely stock I might make my own set out of expanded metal. I believe that the color of those are a flat black rubber. Let me know what you find out. Edward.

 

Edward,
The only ones I saw online were made by OER (Original Equipment Reproduction) so I was just wondering if they are the only game in town and if so how the fit and finish are. Since my car is a low mileage original, I would really like to replace the grilles with the best stock looking grilles out there. Good luck making a pair of custom grilles for your car and thanks for your thoughts!

 

I'm not sure if your insert look like this ? I would need to pull them off to see the condition but iirc there perfect.

 

I bought a set of the OER grilles for my pace car because my originals disintegrated in my hands when I took them off. I have not installed the OERs yet, but they appear to be an exact repro of the originals. As far as I know, they are the only repros out there. You might find a nice used GM set, but more than likely, being 30 years old, they're going to eventually fail. And if you can find NOS GM pieces, they'll probably cost a small fortune.

 

I assume the OER ones you bought are molded in black? Since you have a pace car, is the color of the repos pretty close to the color of the originals? Would you call it a flat, satin, semi-gloss or glossy black? Just wondering if I will need to plan on having them painted to match the surrounding area. But I guess if they are the only game it town, it really doesn't matter.

 

The OERs are molded in black and IMHO the finish looks correct. The grilles on my car spent 30 years outside in the Florida sun. Given the exposure, I'd say it's unlikely the finish (as it appears today) is representative of how they came from the factory. As you said, for new pieces the OERs are the only game in town.

 

Just an update on the OER grille inserts. They fit as good as the originals. They are molded in a hard black plastic (ABS?) not the softer more flexible plastic as the originals. The color of the black plastic is too flat when compared to the original inserts as well as the surrounding area in the nose (the pace cars were black in this area as opposed to body color of other Z28's/camaros). The factory black was more of a semi-gloss. I may paint these new inserts in the future to increase the sheen a bit but other than that, they work well.