@moparedtn It appears your panel has a painted finish on the few areas that would normally be chromed. Was this due to the extensive pitting in the metal? I may have to go the same route with my panel as it is pitted as well. It seem silly to chrome the the whole panel and then cover 90% of it with paint.
Thanks.
Yep.
If you'll refer to the thread I linked in an earlier post in this thread, you'll see what all Bob went through in doing mine.
It is most certainly NOT 100% correct - I sent him two panels to choose from, both with the usual heavy pitting in the potmetal.
He chose the lesser damaged of the two, removed the GTX emblem and set about performing hour upon hour of grinding and
then metal filling each pit and imperfection.
Incredible.
The chrome was also pitted, of course, so he asked if I wanted to put the whole piece through a re-chrome ($$$).
I didn't have the loot...
Once he had a smooth piece, the entire thing was treated with an etching primer, finish primer, sanding and then application of that precious
(and ancient) argent paint, with Bob taking his best guess on how much to thin it and so forth.
It has the original slightly rough texture and sparkles in the sun.
The emblem was reattached after curing.
The finished product is far from perfect and Bob was actually slightly apologetic about it.
I got the panel back from him, opened the box and was totally blown away. He put
so much time and effort and - yes I 'll say it -
love
into it. To me, it simply could not have been more, even if it had been an NOS one.
I knew Bob hadn't been feeling well in a long time but what I didn't find out until later was that he was dying of cancer.
He literally didn't have the time to fool with my raggy old tail panel, but he made the time anyways and put all he had into it.
Bob was doing what he could in his last days for a fellow cancer victim and we spent hours on the phone late nights just so he could
calm his mind when things got quiet.
I still get really emotional telling the story.
I installed the panel and brag on it with pride anytime anyone asks.
To me - it's effing PERFECT.
P.S. Almost forgot - he did the same to the light bezels and even polished the lenses so they "wouldn't take away from his work."
